I’ve done most of the touristy things in Portland, so this post is mostly about the food I ate during this conference.
Multnomah Whisk{e}y Library:
Originally, this blog post contained an angry rant about my experience at the Multnomah Whisk{e}y Library. Upon further reflection, I decided that angry rants don’t really fit the purpose of my travel blog. But if you’re interested, let me know. I’m always happy to rant.
The Multnomah Whisk{e}y Library is a pretentious, expensive whisky/whiskey bar that looks like a library and is unfortunately just not worth it. You can’t make reservations unless you pay a hefty fee, so you have to show up and put your name on a list and give them your phone number. After they call, you need to show up within 15 minutes or they will give your spot to someone else. We showed up on Friday a little after 4pm, when they open. We were assured that we would have a wait of 1-2 hours, so we went to a nearby bar to hang out. To make a long story short, it turns out we had to wait five hours to get in, and when we finally did, the bartender (Justin, if you want to avoid him, which I highly recommend) belittled us and our knowledge of whisky, despite not being so knowledgeable himself. Due to Oregon’s liquor laws, the selection is actually quite limited. They didn’t have my two favorite whiskys from Scotland (Ben Nevis and Shackleton), and the bartender had never even heard of them. There are whisky bars in Washington with better selection, Ben Nevis, and fewer jerks bartending.
Lardo’s: We got hungry while waiting for whiskey and stopped at the nearby Lardo’s, which is an appropriately named sandwich shop. I had the pork belly pastrami, which was supremely delicious. This was one of the rare instances where I felt that perhaps there was too much butter present in my food.
Beer O’Clock: From 3-5pm (which I suppose is Beer O’Clock) you can get $3 craft beers. I had the Finnish rye beer from Falling Sky which was delicious. It’s right next to Lardo’s and Grassa (a pasta place), and you can bring food inside while you drink beer.
Shift Drinks: During our 5 hour wait we got a recommendation for cocktails a block away from the whisky library. I loved this place. It had a very hip vibe with cool mood lighting and high ceilings. Plus, they have happy hour all day, with $6-7 cocktails and really cheap food. I ordered the $5 manchego cheese plate, which came with a surprisingly large amount of delicious cheese, candied pecans, and sliced apple. My Old-Fashioned had a giant square ice cube in it, which made me very happy. I could easily have spent a few hours here.
Blue Star Donuts: I was told that “Blue Star is the new Voodoo,” so of course I had to check it out. While waiting in line, I started talking to some locals who were buying donuts. I asked how they thought Blue Star compared to Voodoo. One of the women laughed and said, “I wouldn’t go to Voodoo even if there wasn’t a line.” Ohhhkay then!! To be fair, Blue Star was delicious. I went there with another grad student attending the conference, and we split the Passionfruit Cocoa Nibs, Blueberry Bourbon Basil, Chocolate Cake Bergamot, and Cinnamon Sugar donuts. My favorites were a toss up between the passionfruit and the bergamot. I love cake donuts, and I paired the bergamot donut with an Earl Grey tea, which was amazing, but the passionfruit was so fruity and deliciously spicy.
Cascade Brewing Barrel House: Cascade Brewing is located on the Eastside of the Willamette River, which is apparently the place to be. The area is full of bars and breweries which are hipster and fun. Cascade Brewing specializes in sours. In fact, there is a separate section of their extensive beer menu titled “non-sours.” It is sad and consists of about 3 beer choices.
The food is decent, but certainly not the focus of the menu. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and trying all of the interesting beers. My favorite was the Pineapple Rosemary Sour; even one of our party who doesn’t drink alcohol liked the taste! I wished I could have gone bar-hopping and explored more of the area, but I had to give a talk the next day and figured it would be a good idea to get some sleep.
Other Touristy Things to Do in Portland: I remember enjoying Powell’s Books, Voodoo Donuts, eating from food carts, the Japanese Garden, and the International Rose Test Garden.
WanderLiz 