[PDX] WW's Cheap Eats Section - 2004

[ExtraMSG]

Haven't really looked through it yet:

http://www.wweek.com/Special_Sections/2004_Cheap_Eats/

[duckduck]

Thanks for the reminder. I meant to pick it up this week. And thank you for adding the PDX on your posts. It helps so I can go straight to the posts I want to read and not waste so much time trying to figure out where things are. It's helpful considering I don't own a computer and don't get nearly enough time to do this already. Thanks Nick!

[duckduck]

I can't believe they did a cheap eats listing and didn't include Blue Nile. The african listings have Queen of Sheba and Horn of Africa but not Blue Nile. They are one of my very favorite cheap eats in town! Two of us can split a combo platter and be stuffed for $8. And it's one of the things I totally crave sometimes because it's so good!

[ExtraMSG]

The Middle Eastern listings were much too short, too. Several of the top places just aren't far enough apart in quality to make listing one instead of another seem anything but arbitrary.

[rachaelLK]

Mudai, Sushi to Go (perpetually overlooked), Sivalaya Thai (curries), Red Wing Cafe (baked goods and soups)..did they add Dots? I don't recall. The list goes on and on...

[markovitch]

i guess unless Jim does it it just ain't right.

[trillium]

Mudai, Sushi to Go (perpetually overlooked), Sivalaya Thai (curries), Red Wing Cafe (baked goods and soups)..did they add Dots? I don't recall. The list goes on and on...

Hang on... you'd add Dots? What do you like there? We were there last week and it annoyed me that I was paying over $5 for a burger (without fries) and didn't get to specify how to have it cooked. I did like the velvet flocked wallpaper and the black velvet paintings, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to eat there unless it was past midnight and I needed cheddar fries.

regards,

trillium

[markovitch]

Mudai, Sushi to Go (perpetually overlooked), Sivalaya Thai (curries), Red Wing Cafe (baked goods and soups)..did they add Dots?  I don't recall.  The list goes on and on...

Hang on... you'd add Dots? What do you like there? We were there last week and it annoyed me that I was paying over $5 for a burger (without fries) and didn't get to specify how to have it cooked. I did like the velvet flocked wallpaper and the black velvet paintings, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to eat there unless it was past midnight and I needed cheddar fries.

regards,

trillium

i'm not a fan of dots either.

[rachaelLK]

Dot's burrito bowl is great gringo fare. The bunny burger isn't too shabby either (though it's not Foothill Broilers), and the cheese fries are a great 2 am snack. It could be an acquired taste - I've been eating there since I was a kid (they used to allow minors in there until 10 pm.) You also have to keep in mind that it's bar food. We're not talking gourmet, just grubbing. Just the same, I'd take a meal there over their uber-trendy and ultra-bland neighbor, La Cruda.

[trillium]

I wasn't expecting gourmet, but their prices fall on the high side of what I think of when I think bar food. I speak as someone whose partner insists on going to any bar that advertises great/best chicken and jojos because "it's a cultural experience". Ah well, it's still good to know there is grease and starch available near by for those wee-hour-of-the-morning cravings. And I'm glad to I can spot trendy and bland from the sidewalk (La Cruda).

regards,

trillium

[ExtraMSG]

You're not kiddin'. 49 cent Jo Jos with ranch were probably at least a third of my lunches in high school.

[trillium]

It's funny about jojos. They made a huge impression on my partner when he came home (rural PNW) with me for the first time 10 years ago. While he misses Chicago hotdogs, the lack is nearly compensated by the plethora of places to buy jojos. We don't have the abundent street food that his native Singapore has, but by gum, we have jojos. Recently we had people visit us from Chicago by way of Bombay. They liked Wildwood a lot and the gorge was great, but what one of them especially really loved were the jojos and ranch dressing.

regards,

trillium

Edited April 7, 2004 by trillium (log)

[Suzanne F]

I gotta say, I too was impressed by jojos. I took the Cheap Eats recommendation and went to Reel 'M' Inn for lunch. Two huge pieces of chicken -- brined and freshly cooked, at that -- and 4 jojos (the equivalent of one good-size potato, I imagine) for $5 would have been enough for both me and HWOE together! But I skipped the ranch dressing; had sweet-hot instead, which to me was indistinguishable from honey mustard.

[ExtraMSG]

Anyone know the history of the jojo?

[markovitch]

history? no but i'll check into the etymology...

who knows, i've found weirder stuff in the OED