Thai Bistro

Loved!!  I really need to listen to Ducums more often.  I always feel overwhelmed when we eat any kind of Asian food.  There are always so many options!!!  Duc went straight to what I should order.  Knowing what I like and love, "You should get the basil fried rice."  

"But this sounds good and this sounds interesting.....  What are you getting? That sounds good, maybe I want that one...."  I say.  To which he replies, "You don't like rice noodles.  Get the fried rice."  The server comes over and asks if we're ready, "We need more time but we'll start with the spring rolls."  Duc tells her.

I calmed down a bit and reread a few choices, and finally came to the realization that was Duc was right (don't tell him!).  The server came back with spring rolls and I ordered the basil friend rice.  I love spicy food, if you haven't noticed, therefore I wanted my rice more than just the medium heat it came with.  But Duc said that since it was a Thai place, they always under score their spicy, so medium is actually pretty hot (This is true at most Thai places we've been to.  Not so here.).  So I ordered it as is with the medium heat.

I love crispy spring rolls. Its the only way to have them.  When she came back with our food, she also brought the good stuff.

  

The ground fresh chili was so good and spicy!  The basil fried rice was so not spicy and this was perfect.

This is my basil fried rice with chicken, onions, and red and green bell peppers.  I always try to get something different, but this was so good, it will be hard not to order it again when we go back.  Duc says the rice was good, a little too moist for him.  He says that fried rice is usually made with rice that was made the previous day.  So he could tell by the moistness that the rice was made that day.   

 I'm not a fan of rice noodles, I feel that they are more gooey than pasta noodle, and there's something else that I cant put my finger on.  It has something to do with the texture.  Rice noodles are just different and while I don't hate them, I don't prefer them either.  But this pork was excellent.  I kept moving rice noodles searching for the pork. 

After we finished our meal the server took our plates and then brought out two scoops of Neapolitan ice cream in a heart shaped bowl.  It was precious!  We reminisced about how Duc's favorite was strawberry and he would scoop only the strawberry from the container.  I did the same with the chocolate.  Duc said hopefully our future child likes vanilla!  Yep, we are the cutest couple ever! 

One last side note about Thai Bistro.  I cant say enough about how good the food was, but the atmosphere was on a different plane.  They covered the chairs in fabric and I felt like I was at a wedding reception.  The tables were also covered with a white table clothe and two big red off center squares with a piece of glass of top.  Fabric was everywhere, like Joanne's threw up in there.  And the worst part, Christmas decorations were on the walls.  It wasn't that long after Christmas, but because I work retail, I've come to despise the holiday and its shoppers. 

I think they're trying too hard.  The staff was so nice!  And let the food speak for itself!  This place is great, you just have to get over the decor first.

The Roxy

I used to live in Corvallis where the best Hawaiian restaurant is located, Local Boys.  It is so good that all Hawaiian restaurants will always be compared to Local Boys.  Right off campus, awesome food and great teriyaki.

We've tried Aloha Grill and its the worst place!  So we weren't expecting too much from this place.  But We loved this restaurant!  We've already been back. 

I ordered my favorite chicken dish that I loved so much at Local, shoyu chicken.  Duc did the same with short ribs.  Hawaiian dishes usually come with two scoops of steamed rice and one scoop of macaroni salad.  Also, Hawaiian food is eaten with chop sticks.  I assume because its a Pacific Island.  Something else about Ducums, he's Vietnamese, and doesn't like using chopsticks, or doesn't prefer them.  He often uses a fork at Asian restaurants, and this is no different.  

Shoyu  chicken has a great juicy flavor and the meat just pulls apart.  Its a lot like pulled pork, but chicken and it tastes way different.  Duc isn't a fan.  The mac salad is macaroni noodles, mayo, carrot, seasoning, and various other ingredients depending on who you talk to.  Its one of Duc's favorite things.  The last time we went, he had two mac salad scoops and one rice.

These ribs are really good, but I hate bones and fat so I don't go near them. 

Their teriyaki isn't bad, but it doesn't hold up to Local Boys.  Om the first visit,  we sat in the adjacent room, so we had been forgotten about for a bit and waited for a while before we got our food.  The second time we sat in plain view and our food came out pretty fast.  Its a great substitute for Local Boys while we're living in Tualatin.

A Lakefront Grill

Its not really a lake to start.  Its more of a pond.  But its a really nice place for a walk and feeding the ducks. Duc has plans for a remote control boat this summer on that pond.  If you're in Tualatin I would suggest going.  And dining at the restaurants around it, except this one.  We are trying a new one about once a week.

We were originally going to a another restaurant but they weren't open for a while longer so we went instead to Hayden's Grill.  My first impression was that it was really, really dark.  Then, that it was really, really old. As in, all the customers are old, the menu is old, the napkins are old, and the bread was old. 

I ordered the artichoke and crab ravioli.  I had to hold my phone up to the food and take a picture with Duc's phone because there was absolutely no light!  The best thing about my meal was the Caesar salad before the ravioli.  The lettuce was crispy and it wasn't drenched in dressing.   

The ravioli, on the other, was tough and barely warmed up.   I tasted a little crab, and I'm not sure that there was any artichoke in it at all. 

Duc had the pork wrapped prosciutto on a bed of asparagus and mashed potatoes.  I found it over done and chewy.  The asparagus was good, the potatoes were dry.


One word: SALT!!!!!!   There was none!!  At all!  Salt is your friend! 


With the old environment, old patrons, and lack of seasoning, I couldn't help but wonder, "what would Gordon Ramsey think?"  I would think that if they don't do a little revamping, they'll die away as their customers die away. 

The Durian Fruit

Where to start.....


First, the durian fruit smells DISGUSTING!!  It smells much like sweaty gym socks that have been left have been left in a back pack for a week.  When we got to Duc's aunt's house for New Year's Eve, this dessert was covered.  Its sticky rice with durian in the middle.  I was asked if I'd ever had it, "No".  When the lid was removed that smell hits you in the face! 

I couldn't not try it.  It was a challenge that I couldn't resist.  After dinner, Ducums' aunt cut the dessert into small portions.  I took one and thought about it.  You really cant think about it too long, with durian, just do it!! 

The Durian has the consistency of an avocado.  And sticky rice is just as it implies although it sticks together, and not on you. 

The sticky rice does nothing to help the horrible taste of the fruit.  I had one bite.  Chewed, tasted, then gulped, no chugged water.  Ducums' father asked me what it tasted like and I told him a sweaty gym sock.  "What? No!  Not a gym sock, it's sweet."  "Yes! Its a gym sock!" 

To top that off, after drinking some bubbly champagne, I burped a little durian up.  It was the worst thing ever!  Maybe even worse than forcing it down in the first place.  Now they say I have to try it fresh.  That it's sweeter when fresh and much better.  I'm not sure I'm up for that challenge.

OOPAH!!

I wanted to hang out with my two best friends and meet one's new beau.  So of course, I dragged Duc and made him have a good time (he says it wasn't too bad).  We couldn't think of a place to go, so the new beau suggested going to Alexis downtown, a Greek restuarant.  We met him there and as we sat down the server came out with two orders of spanakopita appetizers he had ordered while he waited for us.

I love spanakopita!  It's a mixture of spinach, rice and feta cheese stuffed between fillo dough.  The fillo dough layers were crispy, the best way to have it. 

Next came the flaming greek cheese.  He brought it out, said a few Greek words then "OOPAH!" and the room was quite.  We didnt realize we were suppose to say it back.  We got it right the next time when he brought it out to another table.  "OOPAH!" he said.  "OOPAH!" we exclaimed back. 

The cheese is called saganaki.   The menu says it's pan fried, flamed with Ouzo.  The cheese was a bit bitter or tart, but in really good was.  We put the cheese on our bread and it was devoured in minutes.

The appetizers didn't stop there.  Next were the dolmathes (most know them as dolmas).  These can be served hot or cold, but I prefer them hot.  They are little football shaped rice and lamb mixture (sometimes vegetarian) wrapped in grape leaves.   Served with a lemon sauce. 

For dinner I had the kleftiko served with rice and veggies and a Greek salad.  The server described it as a greek pot pie in fillo dough.  It had chunks of lamb with carrots and other veggies. The dough was so crispy.   

Ducums ordered the entree plate of dolmathes.  We had so much food that we took some home.  Fillo dough reheated tastes a bit stale, but you really taste the dough.  It was still delicious the next day.  

I loved Alexis' Restaurant!

Duc's Vietnamese Christmas

Duc and I have been together about two and half years.  Because I'm from Alabama, and now living in Oregon, I don't go home every holiday.  I've been an official member of this Vietnamese family for a while now.  His aunt asked me on Christmas Eve this year if I knew why she loved me.  "Because I'll try anything?" That's one reason! She told me.  At these big dinners traditional Vietnamese dishes are common. I've had all kinds of food there.  His mother and aunts think its hilarious: "Try this Madison, try this!!"  I give it a good look over and try it.  Chew, swallow, "OK, what was that?" Sometimes I ask beforehand, but I always try it. 

Turkey and ham are not common place at this table.  This year was no different.  Sitting down there was pasta, shrimp skewers, and lamb in front of us.  Duc's mother brought everyone soup and it was delicious! It was take on chicken and dumpling soup with crab meat.  I wasn't feeling 100% this year and that soup was so good!!

That lamb was so good!!  I've still got it on the brain.  I want more!  I think it was just grilled.  I'm not even sure, but it was delicious!

Duc passed me a piece of meat covered in tomato sauce.  I took one bite and it was so chewy that gave it back to him.  He ate the rest of it, and later he said, "I think that may have been beef tongue."  Later His uncle confirmed it that was beef tongue.  It had a good flavor, but it was just the texture I didn't like.  If it were more tender I could have eaten more.

When Duc's mother and aunt found out I was sick, his aunt made me ginger tea with honey and his mother suggested a Vietnamese dessert that was good for your health.  I'm not a huge fan of ginger, but I'll have it every once in a while.  With honey, the ginger tea wasn't too bad and it made my throat feel better.  The dessert was a tapioca and bean pudding type dessert.  I don't think you'll get the scale picture of this dessert from the photo.  It looks weird!! 

  

I had to take a second, close up picture hoping to see the texture better.   That spoon is not resting on the bottom.  The viscosity is so thick that it is resting on the pudding. I don't think it would pour out if you tipped it over.  Or maybe it would, but it would be a pretty gross sight.  The first things you have to overcome when you eat this is the look of it and the way it moves.  It jiggles, yet it's firm and the beans and suspended in it, they don't move.  You have to see this stuff first hand to understand what I'm saying! Enough with the the looks and consistency.  The taste is actually pretty good.  It goes in a bit sweet, then you chew, and the bean flavor comes out. Quite a bit off putting the first few bites but then good later.

The next dessert was a Vietnamese cake made with tapioca flour.  (I had no idea tapioca was so versatile!)  Most cake gets moist in your mouth and sticks to the roof of your mouth.  This cake is a bit more chewy, but the flavor is great and it doesn't stick.  I loved the crunchy crust of this cake!