Bete-Lukas - One of the best meals in town

Bete-Lukas

2504 SE 50th Ave

Portland, OR 97206

503-477-8778

Tues-Sun 5PM-9PM

Hidden away in the upstairs unit of a property just South of Division on SE 50^th Ave is a restaurant called Bete Lukas. Without knowing about its existence or hearing about it on the internet, you could casually pass it day after day without ever knowing it was there. That would be unfortunate, as you would be missing out on the best Ethiopian Food in the Portland area and one of my personal favorite restaurants in town. Not only is the food carefully prepared and fresh, but it is also a great value.

To people unfamiliar with Ethiopian food, it is often stewed meats or vegetables served on a crepe-like flatbread called injera. The injera is made out of a grain called teff and is gluten-free and high in fiber. The dishes are served on top of the injera and you eat the dishes by breaking off small pieces of it and scooping up the entree with your hands. Bete Lukas offers a wide array of vegetarian entrees as well as fish, lamb, and chicken. They also have a few beers on tap, a full bar and affordable wine selection.

Restaurateur/Proprietor, Peter, has helped revamp several restaurants around the Portland area, but Bete Lukas is his crown jewel. He is always on the floor getting orders from customers, running food, and chatting up the regulars. He has a fiery sense of humor and will keep you on top of your game. He gives great attention to his customers and truly cares about their dining experience. It shows in the food.

The food at Bete Lukas is consistently fresh and delicious. My go to order is the veggie combo, which features several stewed vegetables and legumes. Everything is cooked to order and the veggie combo can be prepared vegan. I also usually add on an order of eggplant tibs or ye-doro tibs (chicken). The eggplant tibs are stewed and spiced until they are remarkably tender and delicious. The ye-doro tibs are succulent chicken cubes seasoned in a lingering spicy sauce. All of the items I have tried have been delicious.

Bete Lukas is truly one of the best restaurants in town. The food is healthy and high quality. It is cooked with care. The value is also one of the best in town, where two people can get a high quality dinner for $20 or less before tip and drinks. Bete Lukas can accommodate people with dietary restrictions. There are a multitude of reasons why Bete Lukas is one of my favorite restaurants in town, so go there and see for yourself how great it is!

Sen of Japan- Las Vegas

For my recent trip to Las Vegas, I felt it was necessary to have an amazing sushi meal. My research lead me to an off strip joint, catering to locals and tourists alike, Sen of Japan. Opting to stay away from Las Vegas's overpriced outposts of Nobu and Sushi Roku, Sen seemed like the best choice. Vegas has also recently put in an outpost of the famous New York joint, Masa, called Bar Masa in the new Aria casino, but that was out of my price range. Other reviewers have compared Sen of Japan to Sushi of Gari in New York City, so I was very excited to get there and try out the goods.

Sen is located about 15 minutes off the strip in a non-descript strip mall. The decor is nice, but in no way over the top. I rented a car, specifically because there were some spots off the strip that I wanted to hit. In the end, I found myself at Sen of Japan on two different nights. A nice feature about Sen of Japan is that they are open late.(2am) We got into Vegas around 9, and after some rental car woes and picking up some friends on the strip, sat down at the sushi bar around 10:15. We had the whole place to ourselves.

While researching Sen online, I found that they offer two omakase meals, one for $55 and one for $85. These emphasize both cooked items and some sushi/sashimi. These are more like a prix fix menu with a set course. Wanting to put the emphasis on the raw fish, I decided to ask the sushi chef to give us a more traditional omakase approach, and just serve us whatever fish he seemed was best and let the chips fall as they may. For the sushi enthusiasts, this seems to be a more effective approach than the omakase they boast on the menu. Having the place to ourselves ensured that we had a constant flow of fish. Going during peak hours may drag your meal out longer, as the sushi chef does not have the ability to give you his full attention.

Our meal jump started with a couple plates of sashimi, hamachi(yellowtail) with jalapeno and sauce as well as a seared salmon setup. Both were excellent. Following the sashimi plates, we started to receive a steady flow of nigiri sushi. All nigiri was garnished and sauced, so soy sauce was unnecessary. There was also a wide variety of fish and several types of toro (tuna belly). Traditionalists may say that the sauces and garnishes take away from the natural flavor of the fish, however, I would suggest that the sauces and garnishes are carefully picked to match and enhance the flavors of the fish. On our second night we were presented with a pair of Japanese Snapper nigiri, one with sea salt and the other with a sweet Japanese pepper sauce. This salty then sweet, one two punch, is not something to miss. We were also presented with some halibut nigiri that was delicate and delicious. After hearing how much I enjoyed the halibut nigiri, I was presented with another piece as well as a soft and chewy piece of meat from under the halibut fin, in a light ponzu sauce, that was also amazing. The sushi that was consumed was too numerous to mention, and my memory escapes me about many of the preparations.

The hot dishes at Sen are also high quality. The chef migrated over from Nobu and he brought some tricks with him. They offer a Black Cod dish very similar to the version at Nobu that is soft and subtle. This melts in your mouth and needs to be tried. We also had a foie gras dish over Japanese pear. This was delicious and rich, but smaller and did not compare to the foie gras nigiri at Gari in New York City. There were also many other preparations on the cooked menu that we did not have the opportunity to try.

I look forward to my next trip to Vegas, so that I can have another session at the sushi bar of Sen of Japan. It is a great place to go to escape the madness of the strip. The sushi is fresh and inventive. You can avoid the taxed prices and image of the strip and go for the real thing. Each night our bill came to around $100 a head for the full meal, including drinks. This is a far greater deal than the outrageously priced prix fixe meals at the mega resorts on the strip and the omakase meals that can be 2-5 times that price with ease. If your in Vegas and love sushi, make sure you stop in at Sen.
Hamachi Sashimi
Seared Salmon Sashimi
Nigiri Set 1
Nigiri Set 2
Nigiri Set 3
Nigiri Set 4
Unagi (Eel)
Uni (Sea Urchin)
Black Cod
Foie Gras with Pear

Spints Alehouse

I kept reading about this new spot on E28th Ave's restaurant row called Spints Alehouse. The foodie police had been raving about it, so I figured I would drop in for lunch and give it a gander. They offer European style food, which generally means heavy meaty stuff. This doesn't really agree with the fact that I am trying to start a diet, but I made it work. Their menu is certainly interesting with many items I haven't heard of. The lunch menu is neutered, which is appropriate, since in Europe dinner is the largest meal of the day. I got a chicken salad with pickled vegetables and celery over a bed of asparagus, which was delicious and fit my "diet" perfectly. They also have interesting beer taps, wine, and cocktails. They had a beet mary, as a lunch cocktail, which sounded awesome. They also offer happy hour from 4-6, with many of their regular items and drinks at a discounted price. I look forward to trying the "Dirty Pretzel," which is a pretzel covered in something like a Welsh Rabbit stew(this weeks), and rotates weekly. I am interested in returning to see what else is happening here.



Spints Alehouse
401 NE 28th Avenue
Portland, OR 97232

Tasty and Sons is Tasty! (Son)

Somehow, the opening of John Gorham's (of Toro Bravo fame) new place, Tasty & Sons in NoPo, flew under my radar. I knew that it was opening, but for some reason I just did not care about another brunch spot. Fortunately, a good friend of mine suggested we check it out for lunch and see what they were putting out. They just opened last week and they seem to be doing everything right.

Stepping into the space, I could immediately tell that Tasty and Sons was going to be great. The high ceilings and reclaimed wood bar give a modern, yet inviting feel. We sat at the chefs table/bar and were presented with the menu. The menu and ordering process is very similar to Toro Bravo, where they encourage you to share small and large plates. They bring out the food as it is finished. They also offer a wide range of breakfast cocktails, beer, and wine. We settled on a round of Tasty Maria's, essentially a Bloody Mary made with tequila. These were great and came with pickled cucumber, pearl onion, beet, and a celery stick.

We then started our food orders. We got spinach with a fried egg, and candied yams. The yams were out of this world. They were caramely, sweet goodness with just the right amount of char on the skin. The spinach was also delicious and simple after mixing in the perfectly fried egg.



Next we got a Carolina Cheese Steak, Chocolate Potato Donuts, and French Toast. The Cheese Steak was delicious. It had the cheesy, gooey elements of a Philly, but with PNW flair. Apparently, the meat is salted and aged in house. It accompanied by the obligatory mushrooms, pepper, and onions mix and on a nice light, crusty hogie roll, of unknown origin. (I forgot to ask) A modest serving of satisfactory fries accompany the cheese steak. The Donuts were delicious, warm and gooey, quite rich and unnecessary if you have French Toast coming, but great none the less. These may serve as a good follow up to a lighter breakfast or lunch at Tasty and Sons, but completely uncalled for considering the gluttony of our undertaking. The French Toast was equally rich, with powdered sugar, whipped cream, and a incredibly delicious syrup. If you are a fan of French Toast, or sweet things in general, do not miss this. We actually ordered a 1/2 order and they accidentally brought us a full order. Instead of returning it to the kitchen and bringing us a 1/2 order, they left the full order and COMPED the entire order! Wow, talk about service. They were definitely looking to please.




As we were starting to feel completely stuffed, out of nowhere another plate lands in front of us. They brought us a plate of the Fried Pork Cutlets, with spinach and a fried egg, on the house. As if the French Toast wasn't enough, we were now getting another large plate comped. This was perfectly moist with a nice crispy exterior. We found ourselves stumbling out to the car, in utter food bliss.


In the middle of our meal, I looked at my buddy and said "God, I love Portland!" I try to keep my hand on the pulse of the Portland food world, but so many great places are popping up that I find it difficult to stay on top of it all. The Portland food scene has become a well oiled machine, with great local chefs putting out blockbuster spots and following them up with new blockbuster spots. I'm glad I was reminded to check this joint out. It is great to have a lunch time counterpart to Toro Bravo. It seems they were looking to get people excited in their early existence, and have definitely succeeded. They have taken the same style and care that made Toro Bravo famous and moved it into the noon time slot, with a brunch time twist. I could not be more impressed.




Tasty and Sons
3808 N Williams

Sushi of Gari: The Big Apple

Over the holidays, I was fortunate enough to spend a week in New York City. Being the food Mecca that NYC is, I obviously had some serious grubbing planned. Armed with the vast resources of the internet at my disposal, as well as the specialized knowledge of one of my old time friends, Max, that resides in Manhattan, I was ready to see what “The City” was made of.

Having never had sushi in a major city, known for having great sushi restaurants, that was obviously very high on my priority list. New York has some of the best sushi restaurants in the country and likely the world. Max wanted to take me to Yasuda, known as one of the best in NYC, but it was closed over the holidays for renovation, so we ended up at Sushi of Gari. At Sushi of Gari, they take a non traditional approach to making sushi. Each piece is given different sauces and garnishes. While traditionalists may balk at this, any lover of food and sushi would quickly learn, that they are not out to play games. Their approach to sushi creation uses outside flavors to enhance the flavor and texture of the high quality fish. They meticulously match these flavors and when you sit for an Omakase meal, you are taken on a journey of elaborate flavors. There is no need to smother this sushi in soy, ginger, or wasabi. (Although they use real wasabi, not the common powdered wasabi you see at most sushi joints)

Obviously, Max and I were willing to put our trust in the hands of our sushi chef. We sat at the sushi bar and had a ridiculous Omakase meal. A word to the wise, if you plan to go for an Omakase sushi meal, especially in New York City, get an idea of the price tag or give the chef a range before you sit down. If you forget to do this, or don’t care, you will have to subject yourself to the mystery of what the final tab will be. And if you get intoxicated by high quality fish, you may just forget about the high tab you are running up. That happened to us, but it was definitely worth it.

The highlights of this meal were too numerous to mention. To be honest, I have forgotten many of the elaborate preparations and if I ever get the opportunity to return to Sushi of Gari for an omakase meal, I will certainly bring a pad and paper. Among the notables were the rare puffer fish(fugu). This infamous piece of fish, if cut wrong, can kill you. It was lightly cooked and had a mild flavor. Another favorite of the meal was the lobster nigiri. The kumamoto oysters were amazing and the foie gras nigiri with a small pineapple slice and brown, eel-like sauce, was amazingly rich and delicious. Although you wouldn’t expect foie at a sushi restaurant, this was one of the best foie preparations I have ever eaten and was not gimmicky at all. One interesting preparation was sea urchin (uni), wrapped in a green vegetable and tempura fried. We felt as though this preparation tried too hard to enhance the already rich uni flavor, diluting the taste of the uni in the process. While certainly an inventive take on uni, we would have preferred a more traditional uni arrangement. Also present in the omakase were several different preparations of tuna belly(toro), salmon, mackerel, snapper, and squid.

The experience at Sushi of Gari was unlike any I had ever had. It was great enjoying each meticulously made piece and wondering what would be handed to us next. The flavors and craft that went into this meal was of the highest level. I hope that I will get another opportunity to experience sushi of this caliber as it is truly the sweet nectar of life.
Salmon with roasted tomato
Seared Foie Gras with a pineapple slice and some tasty sauce
Puffer fish(Fugu)
Uni Fail(Wrapped in a green leaf and tempura fried)
Lobsta
Snapper with arugula, olive oil, pine nuts and a fried lotus flower root- demonstrating the attention to detail at Gari
Kumamoto oyster(unbelievable)

Back to Bamboo

For the past several months I have been having a not so secret affair with Bamboo Sushi. Here's the trick: I mosey up to the bar between 5 and 6:30, when they have happy hour. This allows me to get in on "the standards" for cheap while spicing it up with a few options off of their regular menu. Yesterday, I was pleased to find out that they have now added drinks to their happy hour offerings. This deal includes $3 draft Sapporos and discounted hot sake and wine. I already felt that their happy hour was one of the best hidden gems Portland has to offer in the happy hour department. They offer $2 handrolls of the day, which generally means $2 spicy scallop handrolls. On top of this they offer $3 Cali rolls, $5 nigiri sets (a sampling of 4 types of their nigiri), $4 NW Philly roll (a tempura battered take on the Philly), as well as a few veggie options and half off many of their kitchen items, including a delicious Kobe brisket. These deals mean that you can get a high quality sushi meal at an overly reasonable price.

Yesterday, I went with the intention of a standard happy hour session. Things turned ugly when I found out that they just brought back their crab flights, featuring six types of crab from around the country. I don't know how "sustainable" this approach to sourcing crab is unless they have porters biking the crabs down from Alaska, nonetheless, it does help sustain my addiction to crustaceans. They also had uni (sea urchin) and live scallops. Knowing that they try to use only the best sources for their seafood, I knew the uni was a must. On top of that I had never tried live scallop, so I figured I should give that a whirl as well. The crab were delicious. I was too busy sitting in sushi bliss to take notes or decide which was my favorite of the six. The scallop was an interesting addition to the meal. It was served in its shell and cut up sashimi style. I enjoyed the scallop, but at $10 a pop, did not think it was all that exciting. When you can get delicious, creamy uni nigiri at $8 a pair, its hard to order anything else. This uni was absolutely delicious. I am not gonna act as though I have consumed a large quantity of uni in my life, but this made my spine tingle.

People argue that Hiroshi is the best sushi in the city and other high end sushi joints seem to overshadow Bamboo on the forums and blogger world. I cannot see past the quality, price, and concept of Bamboo. The staff is also friendly and attentive. Whether you want a delicious sushi happy hour at a fair price, or you want to try the delicacies, I suggest you head over to Bamboo.

Review: HA & VL Sandwiches

HA & VL Sandwiches
2738 SE 82nd Ave
Portland, OR 97266
(503) 772-0103

Why was I going for a Vietnamese noodle soup for breakfast? It was 9:45, surely I was supposed to be eating a banana, muffin, egg sandwich, or even a scramble. But alas, there I was, in my car, driving out to SE 82nd Ave for a bowl of what was rumored to be the best Vietnamese soup in town. I pulled into the strip mall parking lot located next to Fubonn market and had to look around to find HA & VL Sandwiches. My attention was quickly drawn to a group of Vietnamese men standing against the wall of a building, trying to stay dry as they smoked butts and chatted away. I knew I was in the right place.

HA & VL sandwiches serves Baan Mi and a different Vietnamese noodle soup every day of the week. I have not tried the Baan Mi yet, as the reason for going to HA & VL is the soup. They open at 7:30 each morning and often sell out of the daily soup by 11 or 12. It is not unusual for the place to be full at 10 o' clock of people slurping down soup and Vietnamese coffee or tea. While I had driven by the place several times, and proudly exclaimed "look Vietnamese sandwiches!" I had never actually visited or been inside. After reading rave reviews by foodies and bloggers this past week, I had no choice but to make the pilgrimage. And I'm glad that I did, because this place did not disappoint.

I sat down and quickly ordered the special of the day, Bun Rieu Son Tay, and a Vietnamese iced coffee. I was asked if I wanted my coffee strong. Obviously I wanted it strong. But I had trouble slurping the whole thing down in one gulp, per usual, because I was getting quite the caffeine buzz. It tasted good too. My soup quickly arrived with the traditional accompaniments of lettuce, basil, sprouts, and chilies. On my first sip it tasted slightly fishy but delicious. After that, my taste buds opened up and the rich broth exploded with flavor. I could not quite define the characteristics of the broth, but it was delicious. The broth housed all sorts of flavorful bites. Swimming in the broth were noodles, balls of ground shrimp, pork, pillows of fried tofu, tomatoes, chives, and roasted garlic. The bowl was quite large and my first impression was that I would get to take some home with me. As I sat and enjoyed my "brunch," I watched the group of men get up and smoke cigarettes outside and return to their coffee and chatter. The matriarch came out and talked to everyone. I truly felt welcomed by her when she said "I am glad you are here." She joked with other customers and brought me out a menu and explained the daily specials.

I started to feel at home in this foreign environment. I was at a unique Vietnamese noodle house on 82nd, surrounded by refrigerators housing Capri Sun and other beverages. The walls were green and yellow and had Mardi Gras beads hanging. And of course the scene would not be complete without the cheesy Vietnamese entertainer blaring out of the old school television. Somehow as I sat around, my soup bowl diminished. There would be no leftovers that day. I bundled up in my rain gear and paid the check. As I left and returned to the dreary Portland day, I saw the empty table housing a few cigarette butts in an ashtray, still sending off smoke signals. They seemed lonely without the group of chattering men drinking plastic cups of Vietnamese Iced coffee. But I had hope for that ashtray. Just as I knew that I would return to HA & VL Sandwiches for another late morning soup bowl, I knew that this ashtray would once again be surrounded by chattering Vietnamese men, talking about whatever the hell they talk about.