3616 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Price for 2 (with tip) $16
Date of visit: 12/21/09
The Chopsticks on Hawthorne is one of four restaurants so named in Portland. Is it a chain or just a common name? I have no idea. But I do know it was a place we drove by a million times without even thinking of eating at. Sandwiched between the Bridgeport Ale House, and some sort of retail establishment, the somewhat classy Asian restaurant almost just blends in. Once we did tune into it, there was still some hesitation, because from the fancy sign and ornate decorations, frankly it looked expensive. But we finally made it inside actually right before embarking on this project, and made it back for the official review right before the end of 2009.
While there are some pricier items on the menu, this place has an incredible (and cheap) lunch special. The lunch menu has two basic routes to go: stir fried items with rice (choice of white, brown or fried) or noodle dishes, which come with salad and an egg roll. Either option comes with Hot and Sour or Egg Drop soup, and both times I’ve gotten the Hot and Sour, so I guess I must like it! No but seriously, it was made with basil, which made it a bit unique and fairly tasty.
On this trip I went with shrimp with broccoli, mostly because it was an option. Usually the lunch menu doesn’t even have chicken with broccoli as an option, so I happily paid the extra buck for shrimp instead of beef. Jared got General Tso’s Tofu, another somewhat unusual menu option. And in general the menu here is just that: a little bit different than your standard Asian. I suppose it’s definitive Asian fusion cuisine, and everything I’ve had was flavorful and relatively healthy (read: not dripping in grease.) Plus one for Chopsticks and another good Asian spot to try on Hawthorne.
Veggie options: lots, although neither soup is technically vegetarian as they are made with meat broth
Speed: quick and easy
General Tso's Tofu
Shrimp with Brocolli
3541 Southeast Hawthorne
Date of visit: November 29, 2009
Cost for 2: $18
Noah’s bagels was one of those gray areas in this (lately somewhat neglected) blog project, which is probably why it’s taken me so long to get around to writing it up (that and I am lazy.) Since it’s technically a chain, it wasn’t really necessary for us to eat there to reach our goal, but on this random day, it seemed like a good idea. But since I’m obviously not overly inspired by a bagel chain I’ll keep this short.
Bagels in Portland, like pizza, aren’t great. So Noah’s NY-style bagels are about as good as you’re going to get. That said, as a lunch spot, their sandwiches and sides are not really that exciting. I always forget which side option I like less — on this trip I got cole slaw, and it was nothing special. Kinda mushy and totally bland. I’ve also tried the potato salad, which if I remember correctly includes potatoes cut way to big for my taste.
As for the sandwiches, Jared and I both got melts: him veggie and me roast beef and cheddar. Jared went with his standard review “It’s decent, spicy, but not too spicy,” but on mine I am going with medicore at best. Basically, the roast beef is sliced too thick and was sort of dried out, probably due to the toasting process.
Basically, Noah’s is ok, but if you’re after a good bagel sandwich in Portland, Kettleman’s on SE 11th has, way, way better options.
Speed: Pretty quick
Veggie options: A decent selection of Vegetables and shmears, any of which can be put on a bagel.
Roast beef and cheddar melt
Veggie melt
Date of Visit: December 17, 2009
Price for 2: $13
The first visit to the Whole Bowl is an interesting experience, because it’s definitely not your normal restaurant. After all, there is a grand total of one thing on the menu. Your choices include what size and an option to omit any of the standard ingredients. You can also choose to get chips (of the basic tortilla variety served up in an unimpressive ziplock bag) or not. And they have a variety of drinks including Hansen’s soda, which is always a plus. Personally, I really like one item on the menu, but Jared was not so much a fan. But it is what it is, and actually, the Hawthorne location is a big step up (in Jared’s ideals) from the other locations in Portland since it’s not a cart like the rest of them.
And on this, our second visit to the place together, he warmed slightly to the whole bowl. If you’re wondering, what they serve here is a bowl with beans, rice, cheese, salsa, sour cream, olives, cilantro, avocado and “tali sauce,” which is lemony and garlicky and makes it taste good. It’s the sort of thing that if you are in the right mood is really delicious. If you want say, a sandwich or a slice of pizza, not so much.
But I like this place for lunch because it’s cheap, fast, and simple, and the fact that there really are no decisions to be made is sort of nice, sometimes. In the summer it’s great because they open up all the windows and you get the outdoor eating experience on the east end of Hawthorne, but with the roof Jared desires in an eatery. Jared’s main complaint this time was that he wished the chips were “better,” so I told him next time we could bring our own, or better yet, get the bowls to go. Then you can eat them with whatever damn chips you want, right?
Veggie options: No meat on the menu. It’s gluten free as well.
Speed: No cooking required
Lunch on Hawthorne’s Hawaiian Vacation!
December 10th, 2009 | Lunch on Hawthorne, Random | 65 Comments »
Never fear loyal Lunch on Hawthorne readers, we haven’t given up on our mission. No, Jared and I just went on vacation! Being the dedicated blogger I am, I obviously took photos of every meal I ate, and am taking this opportunity to post a some-what unrelated Hawaii food super post! Overall, our Hawaii food experience was a good one, although some of the meals fell a bit flat. I was surprised at the availability of Jared (veggie) Food; we only hit one place where he literally couldn’t eat anything. That’s not to say the overall meals weren’t meaty, in fact several places boasted menu items such as “Beef with Tofu” and of course, everything came with a big pile of white rice. Here’s the breakdown. Read the rest of this entry »
3535 SE Hawthorne blvd
Date of Visit: November 23, 2009
Price for 2: $16.50
The first time I went to Rice Junkies I had gotten a thai chicken wrap. I think it was an homage-order to the weird-hippie-burrito place we used to go to in Burlington, VT, because that’s what I always got there. And like the food at the weird-hippie-burrito place it wasn’t really that great. My main complaint people there was too much tortilla and it wasn’t heated up enough to be soft.
So on this visit, I figured I’d give one of the bento bowls a shot. They basically have the option of any sort of bento (basically meat and rice) you could ever want, including a Mexican-style one. After I got done being confused by that option in a very Asian-seeming place (there was even a bit of a language barrier with the ordering process), I went with the gyoza and yakisoba combo. It was hardly bento at all but it sounded delicious.
Jared got a kung pao tofu wrap, which came out a few minutes before my bowl (even though we ordered them on the same ticket.) Unfortunately, it was actually chicken, which they apologized for profusely and quickly re did. But the tables turned as I then got my food before him and quickly doused it in the plethora of sauces provided (yum, spicy peanut sauce.) Basically what I got was noodles with vegetables that provided a bed for 4 pieces of chicken gyoza. It was visually appealing and tasted damn good. No complaints from me.
Once Jared got his correct order he was also happy. The wrap (I kept calling it a burrito and he yelled at me because it was offensive to his deep Hispanic heritage apparently) was “spicy, but not too spicy” and very-Americanized, but overall good. We both left happy and full and the price was definitely right. After this trip I’ll give this place a stamp of approval.
Speed: Quick, but not timed well
Veggie options: Pretty much everything on the menu had a veggie option, except the gyoza
Kung Pao Tofu Wrap
Gyoza and Yakisoba combo
