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vegan breakfast at paradox cafe
10

August 14th, 2009quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), portland

my first introduction to portland was a good one. after waking up at 3 in the morning to catch a 6 o’clock flight from los angeles (i know, crazy right?) we arrived in oregon frazzled well before 9am. but it was nothing a good breakfast and some strong coffee couldn’t cure, so we headed to one of the few places we knew opened early—paradox cafe.

vegan fiesta burrito: a blend of seasoned vegetables, tofu, house chili wrapped in a wheat tortilla topped with salsa and green onions. served with seasoned red potatoes. $8.95

paradox cafe is a cozy little laid back diner with free wi-fi, bottomless cups of coffee, and organic food cooked to order. their breakfast menu was filled with plenty of appetizing vegan options, and after much debate we finally settled on the vegan fiesta burrito and the vegan paradox benedict.

the fiesta burrito was massive for under 9 bucks and came with a boat load of nicely seasoned breakfast potatoes. paradox certainly didn’t skimp on the vegetables either, this thing was filled with broccoli, cabbage, carrots, and others of the like. the tofu chunks were thick and soft, all mixed up with vegan chili and whole beans. the breakfast potatoes were also top notch; big slightly salty chunks that were great slathered in hot sauce and salsa.

now, whenever i go out to breakfast and see a vegan benedict on the menu, i pretty much have to order it. we have some damn good benedicts here in los angeles, so i was anxious to see how paradox’s would hold up.

vegan PaRaDoX benedict: sourdough bread with veggie sausage, tofu topped with fresh tomato and bon bon's tree hugger hollandaise sauce served with seasoned red potatoes. $9.50

the paradox benedict definitely didn’t disappoint. the heaping plate came with a large soft slice of sourdough bread covered in vegan sausage, tofu chunks, vegetables and a creamy hollandaise sauce. i was expecting the sauce to be more yellow, like traditional hollandaise, but this stuff was more like a brownish breakfast gravy. either way, it was phenomenal and i couldn’t get enough of it. the benedict came with the same excellent breakfast potatoes as the fiesta burrito, which were even better mixed up with sauce and bits of green onion.

in addition to amazing vegan breakfast served all day, paradox cafe also has a quite charming atmosphere. the funky old/new decor and breakfast bar with stools remind me slightly of the RR from twin peaks. if i lived in portland, i could see myself camping out at paradox for hours with a laptop, taking advantage of the free wifi and refillable coffee.

so when in portland, hit up paradox for a great breakfast. they also have vegan lunch and dinner offerings if that’s your thing, but i highly recommend the benedict.

paradox cafe
3439 SE Belmont
Portland, OR 97214
503-232-7508 / 503.232.5525
Monday – Saturday 8 am – 9 pm
Sunday 8 am – 3 pm

P.S. this place also has the best fucking hot sauce ever. it’s this stuff called secret aardvark that we saw all over portland. damn, i wish i could get this stuff in LA. i will always remember the fist time i tasted it at paradox. it was magical.

secret aardvark hot sauce
Tags: benedict, breakfast, burrito, hot sauce, oregon, portland

9 responses to “vegan breakfast at paradox cafe”

Brittany August 14th, 2009 at 08:36

i want that. i just ate two pieces of toast for breakfast =(
kate August 14th, 2009 at 08:41

i want those potatoes right now.
lina August 14th, 2009 at 08:53

the vegan benedict from LA that you link to in the above review, what restaurant serves that?
miss anthrope August 14th, 2009 at 08:57

@lina:

i link to 3, so it was either from m cafe, flore, or madeleine bistro.

i posted on all of them, if you want to find the right one check out these posts:

http://archives.quarrygirl.com/2008/11/18/vegan-breakfast-m-cafe/
http://archives.quarrygirl.com/2008/07/15/finally-tried-flore/
http://archives.quarrygirl.com/2009/02/23/madeleine-bistro-vegan-los-angeles-tarzana/
TravelingVeg August 14th, 2009 at 10:58

YUM.
Billy the Kid August 14th, 2009 at 11:28

@lina That is from Madeleine’s I’d recognize it anywhere! 😀
Foodeater August 14th, 2009 at 11:30

Dudes, that benedict looks off the chain! 😉 WANT!
Cosmo August 14th, 2009 at 15:26

I moved back to LA from Portland a year ago and I still wake up Sunday Mornings assuming I am going to Paradox for the french toast and am bummed when I realize that it is much too far to drive by brunch. It is the only place from Portland that I really really miss.
Jason August 16th, 2009 at 11:24

We have bottles upon bottles of Secret Aardvark in our place. My g/f convinced Food Fight to stock some in their online store a couple of months ago. They still have it in stock; I just checked. Go get y’self some!