Adventure Dining

Hi there!  Welcome!  Before I tell you about my fun day yesterday, I had to show you this photo.  I came around a corner here in the countryside above Springdale, Oregon and there was a car stopped dead in the road and the guy had his cell phone out snapping a photo.  So, I looked at what he was photographing and saw this brilliant bit of rainbow over the rural scene and pulled out MY cellphone and snapped a photo.  :-)

OK, now to yesterday.  My younger sister called and said.. let's do lunch in an old part of town that has been turning into magnet for fun eateries.  We decided to try a place on my restaurant bucket list - Pok Pok.  It's a Thai place that is always on the list of best places to eat in Portland.  We parked 3 blocks away and walked by this rock garden on the way to lunch.  Aren't these flowers pretty?

We walked by this place which we decided we'd do next time.  

We had to wait to get into Pok Pok - it has a small dining room and then 2 outdoor areas that are enclosed with plastic and heated.  We were lucky to get a table in the real inside area! :-)  I asked for iced tea and he gave us a choice of 2 kinds of Thai iced tea, one with milk, which he said helps if you eat a spicy dish.  This began our adventure.  OK, sure, bring it on!  I was a bit nervous to try this, but it was delish!  It was made with strong black tea, sugar and something exotic and milk.  It tasted like a spicy chocolate milk!  LOL!

We shared Kung Op Wun Sen - wild caught gulf prawns cooked over coals in a clay pot with pork belly and bean thread noodles, and Muu Sateh - pork loin skewers marinated in coconut milk and grilled, served with peanut sauce - we also got a bowl of coconut rice. 

The pork loin BBQed over charcoal.

The see through noodles were pretty and tasty!  We enjoyed the meal.

This is the unassuming front of the restaurant.  But you should smell the aromas coming out of this place!

After leaving Pok Pok we walked up a block and crossed the street to have dessert at Salt & Straw - they make their own ice cream!  

I had Salted Caramel Ribbon and Coffee & Bourbon.  

And yes, it tasted as good as it looks.  Oh, and they make all their waffle cones fresh for each cone.  

We then took a bit of a drive down through Ladd's Addition - a historic neighborhood with fun big old houses and these great trees.

An example of the neat houses in this neighborhood.

I dropped my sister Denise off at her car and then I drove around Laurelhurst Park.  It's a beautiful big old park off of 39th in SE.

The houses around the park are from the heyday of Portland, beautiful old homes.

Pink?  Really?

Me, I'll take this one.  What do you think?

What a beauty!

OK, this is a quick one as we're packing up to go to Kahneeta.  Dayle and the boys and I are picking up Gracie and we're all going.  Fun, huh?  More later.. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)