i have eaten my way through most of portland oregon, and one of my favorite restaurants there would have to be vita cafe.

i have been to vita cafe twice (both times for breakfast), and after my first visit, my expectations were VERY high. i gotta say though, vita cafe delivered and their food was just as exceptional in round 2. yep, best breakfast ever…again!

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Portland, Oregon is an is insanely vegan-friendly city. It is therefore perhaps the best place for West Coast and Midwest vegans to go on vacation for a long weekend, and is an especially good place to get away from the dry heat of a Southern California summer. It’s worth noting that just about every restaurant has several vegan options on the menu and there’s a big emphasis here on sustainability, environmental responsibility and liberal, yet fiscally responsible politics. A vegan heaven, right?

Right on. So, it was with glee that, on our recent visit, we discovered the Hopworks Urban Brewery (or HUB as they like to be called) which not only uses no animal products in the manufacture of its beer, but also has a very, very vegan-friendly menu including a vegan cheese offering on its vegan NY-style pizzas. This, to me, is heaven.

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when i tried the new tofurky frozen pizza at natural products expo west a few months ago, it was seriously love at first bite. covered in stretchy daiya cheese and plump pepperoni bits, it was the best frozen pizza i’d ever tasted.

imagine my excitement then, when i got a letter from tofurky advertising their new pizza line, along with a coupon to get one for free. the only problem is, i couldn’t find a store in LA selling the pizzas yet. i had no choice but to hop on a plane and head up to the cutting edge food fight grocery in portland, oregon.

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this bar serves some of the best vegan food i've ever eaten.

Situated on a quiet street next to a coffee shop in Southeast Portland, Hungry Tiger Too looks at first glance like any other neighborhood bar. However, in addition to the usual bar accoutrements of beer, fries and TVs, Hungry Tiger Too has a HUGE vegan menu, serving an array of awesome animal-free bar food morning, noon and night.

On our recent trip to PDX we grabbed a seat at the bar, ordered a beer and started to scan the vegan section of the menu. As usual in Portland, though, we were torn between so many amazing menu items that we over-ordered, somewhat and ended up spending way more time there than we expected to. Anywhere else, this would have been a problem, but Hungry Tiger Too is just so wonderful that we were delighted to eat and drink the afternoon away within its hallowed walls.

vegan quesadilla with vegetables, soy cheese and pico de gallo. $8

First up was the vegan quesadilla appetizer: a super rendition of the popular Mexican-influenced dish. Liberal helpings of tomatoes, onions, spinach, cilantro and vegan cheese filled up our vegan bellies in no time, so we were forced to have another beer while waiting to order our main dish.

Well, one beer became two, then three after we played some pinball and goofed around in the photo booth. Next up were main courses, the Montecore Burger, and Home Made Biscuits and Gravy.

montecore burger: grilled onion & mushroom with jalapeno on a boca patty and garlic aioli. $8.75

Let’s get this out right now: The burgers on the menu are all based on the ubiquitous vegan Boca Burger, which at first had me thinking “WTF? I can make one of these at home!”. Well, I could (and I tried, see later) but it couldn’t be anywhere near this tasty. The Montecore was a fusion of zesty garlic, spicy jalapeno and an smooth sauteed mushroom/onion topping that was to die for.

Add in some fresh trimmings (tomato, lettuce and onions), and this was one hearty vegan burger. Throw in the included side of incredible vegan potato salad, and for only $8.75 you have one of the most delicious and best value meals I’ve ever eaten.

homemade biscuits and gravy: huge serving of home-style biscuits smothered in thick mushroom & veggie sausage gravy. $4.00

As we were already full after the quesadilla we ordered the Biscuits and Gravy as a kinda side for the burger (at only $4, how big could it possibly be?). Very big is the answer. Very tasty too.

Creamy vegan mushroom and sausage sauce, smothering two crispy and moist biscuits was a winning combination.

After another beer, and another, we were finally able to finish all the food, and stagger out of the bar to our hotel.

Later on in the evening, the reality of our experience hit us: We’d just enjoyed a great afternoon in a real bar with awesome beers and completely filling, decadent cruelty-free food.

I can tell you this: After buying and cooking a bunch of Boca Burgers from Coscto, I’ve never come close to approximating the taste of that awesome burger. If I lived in Portland, I’d probably visit Hungry Tiger Too at least once, or twice a day week.

Awesome bar, awesome staff, awesome beers, awesome food. DUUUH?! Vegans: Go there now.

Hungry Tiger Too
207 SE 12th Ave Portland, OR 97214
(503) 238.4321

On face value, The Mash Tun in the Alberta Arts district of Portland, OR, is a fairly typical brewpub. It has a couple of niceties, including a patio to enjoy the few days of summer that the Pacific Northwest has to offer, as well as a roomy atmosphere with comfortable tables, and ample bar seating. Throw in free wi-fi, a dart board, a full-size pool table, multiple TVs for watching sports, some home-brewed beers as well as a few guest taps and I’ll be there. As indeed I was one summer’s day this year.

While I must admit that going to bars with a bunch of friends to watch the game isn’t my thing, I can see how awesome The Mash Tun would be do just that. With an ample selection of beers on tap (many of them vegan), and a menu with its own vegan section things start to get interesting!

On our sunny Sunday afternoon, we settled into bar seats in front of the TV, ordered some great beer and started to eat our way through the vegan section of the menu, starting with the Vegan Tempeh Things — tempeh “wings” in spicy sauce with dip and salad. Perfectly hot, perfectly crunchy and with a cool dip, these were gone in about 20 seconds. And I’m not joking.

tempeh things: ain't no wing, but a tempeh thing! deep-fried tempeh, served buffalo or bbq style with housemade vegenaise. $6.75

Next up, we ordered the Baked Red Lentil Puree, an interesting combination of seasoned lentils with green onions and pita wedges for scooping. In texture this was kinda like eating hummus and pita, but with a much more tangy flavor. This dish is a perfect companion to the “wings”, providing some cool respite from the fiery sauce.

baked red lentil puree: puree of red lentils with grilled green onions, roasted garlic and tomato, served with pita wedges. $6.50

For our main dish we deliberated between the two vegan burgers on offer — both home made and very appetizing in description. In the end we went for the Mash Tun Veggie Burger, a complex set of textures and flavors perfectly seasoned on a tasty bun with very fresh salad.

mash tun veggie burger: a housemade patty of chopped almonds, oats and veggies, served on a kaiser bun with vegenaise. $8.25

By the end of our afternoon, we were full of vegan food, great beer and had watched most of a game on the TV before we had to leave and head back to the airport for our return flight to LA. The Mash Tun is a great place to go with omni friends, as you can enjoy everything a real bar has to offer, while pigging out on some very tasty vegan facsimiles of bar food.

Pop open your laptop to jump on the free wi-fi, shoot some pool, throw some darts and watch the game (not at the same time, of course). The Mash Tun provides just about everything you’d want in a typical PDX low-key environment. It might not be the best vegan food on the planet, and the home-brewed beer probably needs some work on the taste front, but you won’t be disappointed at all.

We’ll definitely be back to The Mash Tun next time we’re fortunate enough to visit the PDX!

The Mash Tun Brewpub
2204 NE Alberta St
Ste 101
Portland, OR 97211
(503) 548-4491

If somebody would have told me that some of the best Italian food I’d ever eat would be both vegan and served in a coffee shop, I’d have thought they were nuts. Fact is, Portobello in Portland has some of the most scrumptious Italian food anywhere, is entirely vegan and somehow transforms a space that is a coffee shop by day into an intimate and upscale Italian Trattoria of the highest order by night.

The only advice you need before a visit is to call ahead and ensure you have a reservation. The tiny restaurant seats very few people, fills up almost as soon as it opens and stays full until it closes. So what’s the big deal? Why so popular? Simple answer: THE FOOD.

Artichoke-Mushroom Crostata: Caramelized onion, artichoke heart, and cremini tart with lemon-herb aioli. $6.50

Portobello’s compact menu (just twelve dishes on the evening we went there) is clearly focussed on doing a few things right rather than trying to be all things to all people. What the menu lacks in choice it certainly makes up for in diversity, freshness and portion sizes (many dishes are available in a half order so you can share and sample as much as you like). With the smiliest, friendliest service you’ll find, a great vegan wine selection and rich vegan deserts you are in for a throughly pleasurable evening.

The menu is split into two main sections: “To Share” – appetizers and finger food that you can distribute around your table and “To Hoard”, aptly named because the main dishes are so good you’ll want to keep them all for yourself.

To start with we ordered the “Little T Slab with Olive Oil”. As it had the word “Little” in its name and was only $3.50 we figured we’d need something else as well, so we decided to get the “Artichoke-Mushroom Crostata”. Only when a huge amount of food arrived at our table did we find out that “Little T” was the name of the bakery that baked the amazing Focaccia, and not an indicator of the size of the bread portion being anything BUT little! Also, the Crostata (soft pastry cup filled to the brim with spicy mushrooms, artichokes and creamy sauce) was more than big enough to share.

Little T Slab with Olive Oil: Tim Healea's slab o' focaccia with arbequina olive oil and sea salt. $3.50

Along with the food we ordered a bottle of wine from a small independent winery called Hip Chicks Do Wine. I can’t vouch for their hipness, but I CAN vouch for the fact that they Do Wine really well. The ’06 Cabernet we ordered was incredibly tasty and the perfect compliment for the wonderful food we were about to eat.

For the main course we spent a good deal of time debating what order, as everything on the menu looked so amazing. In the end, after two hearty appetizers and an anticipation of desert looming, we opted to go for two half orders: the Portobello Steak with Polenta and the Potato Gnocchi with Spicy Ragu. We were throughly blown away with the taste and texture of both dishes. Portobello and Polenta are individually terribly difficult to prepare, and uniting them in one dish did, I’m sure, present a major challenge to the chef, who clearly knows what he or she is doing. The greens were just this side of crunchy and the red wine sauce was a perfect balance of tangy and smooth. What an amazing dish this was.

Portobello Steak with Polenta and Greens: Marinated, roasted portobello mushrooms with rosemary polenta, braised greens, and red wine mushroom sauce. $6

Another challenging Italian dish to prepare is gnocchi, especially large pieces as with this dish. I don’t know how this was cooked, but the gnocchi was slightly crispy on the outside, soft and steamy on the inside. The ragu was heavenly – again no idea what was in there, but a deep tomatoey spiciness delivered the perfect compliment to the starchy gnocchi.

Potato Gnocchi with Spicy Ragu: Pan-crisped potato dumplings with a ragu of summer squashes, hot peppers, and tomato-basil sauce. $6

Did somebody say desert? We’d heard that the deserts at Portobello were excellent, so we ordered the Tiramisu — always my favorite Italian desert as a vegetarian. In common with everything else we’d eaten the tiramisu was excellent. Soft and sweet with an impeccably creamy texture and smooth brandy-infused spongy cake makes this the best vegan tiramisu I’ve eaten, and I’m becoming quite a connoisseur, I think!

Tiramisu.

We ended the evening replete with some of the best Italian food we’d ever eaten and are counting the days to until our next visit to Portland so we can rush back to Portobello for a Liitle T, some Hip Chicks and Tiramisu. YUM!

Finally, I’ve heard that Portobello has a habit of running out of certain food items later in the evening. I guess there’s only so much Gnocci you can make in the kitchen of a coffee shop. If you have your heart set on a particular menu item, get an early reservation so you can be sure to get what you want.

Portobello
2001 SE 11th Avenue
Portland, Oregon
503.754.5993

dude, i wasn’t lying when i said portland has everything for vegans. on top of the vegan grocery store, the tattoo parlor, the bakery, the pub, the donut shops, and the billions of other neat places…they also have an all vegetarian and vegan-friendly arcade. backspace cafe calls itself “portland’s entertainment mecca”—its 4,000 square foot space houses video games, pool tables, computers for web surfing, an art gallery, and a meat-free restaurant complete with draught beer & stumptown coffee. plus, the place doubles as a live music venue and hosts awesome events such as “rockband night”. hell yeah!

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a 100% vegan pub. i still can’t really wrap my mind around it. since i’m a huge fan of both good beer and vegan food, for me the bye and bye in portland is a dream come true. quality brews on tap, a laid back bar atmosphere, and a menu from which i can order anything. holy hell, i thought i was in heaven this year when i visited an all vegetarian pub…the fact that i now have been to an all vegan pub is almost too awesome for me to handle.

meatball sub: fresh baguette with veggie meatballs, marinara, and melted cheese with choice of side. $8

the bye and bye’s menu is a slight diversion from your standard pub grub of burgers and chips. they focus more on hearty down-home style entrees, with a healthy twist. you’ll find things like a bbq brussel bowl with tofu, sprouts and rice…or a braised tofu sandwich with a side of black-eyed peas. i ordered the meatball sub because i’d heard great things about it, and man oh man, all the positive reviews were true. the sandwich came on a huge fresh baguette of the highest quality and was packed with loads of thick meatballs and tasty, chunky marinara sauce. the vegan cheese wasn’t really melted as the menu suggested, whatever dude, it tasted good all the same. not since doomie’s (rest in peace) have i had a vegan meatball sub this incredible. for a side dish, i went a bowl of collard greens to round out the home-cookin’ feel, and they were excellent.

eastern bowl: spicy asian tofu, brown rice, and broccoli served with peanut sauce. $8

my husband got the eastern bowl, a mix of tofu, rice and vegetables all smothered in peanut sauce. i had a few bites of this thing and it was damn good as well—the crusted asian tofu and crunchy fresh broccoli was just perfect mixed up in the tangy sauce. normally not a peanut fan, my husband completely polished it off. everything in the bowl was perfectly cooked and seasoned, from the flavorful tofu, to the delicate rice, to the amazing gooey sauce.

on top of the excellent food, the bye and bye also has a great beer selection—better than most los angeles bars, for sure.

add to all that a slick, comfortable interior and extremely friendly service (the vegan bartender was super nice and gave us the rundown on the pdx vegan scene), and you have quite possibly the best pub in the world.

don’t miss this place when you are in portland. the bye and bye is the intersection of good beer and tasty vegan food…my two favorite things.

bye and bye
1011 NE Alberta St
Portland, OR 97211
Hours: Sunday 12pm-2:30am, Mon-Thurs 4pm-2:30am, Friday 2pm-2:30am, Saturday 12pm-2:30am.

now i can’t really say that i’m an expert on portland cuisine or anything, having spent less than four days of my life in the city, but i can tell you that the vegan breakfast at vita cafe was one of the best breakfasts i’ve ever had, in any city.

sloppy biscuit sandwich: fried tofu, faux turkey, vegan cheese and gravy between a vegan biscuit served with potatoes. $8

before my visit, i read a rave review of vita’s vegan biscuits and gravy on ToLiveAndEatInLA.com, so i went in with pretty high hopes. i decided to go all out fatty-style and get the sloppy biscuit sandwich complete with fried tofu, mock turkey and vegan cheese all smothered in vita’s almond gravy with a side of breakfast potatoes. this meal was so damn delicious, it exceeded my expectations and definitely lived up to the hype.

from the description on the menu, i was expecting the biscuit sandwich to be a like a hearty mcmuffin with some gravy on the side. what i got instead was a huge mound of fluffy open-face biscuits topped with a massive slice of fried tofu, loads of mock meat and melty vegan cheese. all this was drenched in the thickest, richest, most delicious gravy i’ve ever tasted. it was waaaaay too much food for me to eat, but by the end of the meal i was straight up licking the gravy off my plate.

everything about this breakfast was perfect—the biscuits were soft and doughy, the fried tofu was crispy and not too greasy, the mock meat and cheese were salty and delicious, and the almond gravy was out of this world. garnished with chopped green onions and accompanied by a large side of excellent home fried potatoes, this is the best breakfast i’ve ever eaten. ever. EVER. and i have eaten A LOT of breakfasts.

my husband went with the lighter, but equally delicious vita scramble. it came with chunky tofu, stir-fried vegetables and leafy spinach with a side of breakfast potatoes and biscuits. as far as tofu scrambles goes, this is one of the best i’ve ever tried. the vegetables were fresh, the tofu was well-seasoned, and it was packed with tasty garlic flavor. a+!

vita scramble: tofu, veggies, red onion, garlic and spinach. $8

so overall, vita cafe was one of the best meals and definitely the best breakfast we had in portland. the serving sizes are huge, the food is top notch, and the almond gravy is probably the tastiest thing ever to hit my belly. there are millions of appetizing options on the menu, and almost all of them can be made vegan, so i just can’t wait to go back. in fact, when ordering, i asked the waiter if my dish could be made vegan, and he assured me that there was even a “veganize” button on their computer that would tell the kitchen to replace all the non-vegan ingredients. how awesome is that?!

oh and one more bonus, like almost every place in portland, vita cafe has good beer ON TAP. i am definitely hitting them up for dinner and boozin’ next time i’m in town.

when in portland, vita cafe is a MUST VISIT place for vegans. i just wish they’d open up a location in los angeles.

vita cafe
3023 NE Alberta
Portland Oregon
503-335-8233

on my recent trip to PDX, i used food fight grocery’s vegan guide to portland to help find my way around town. on their list of places to hit up was laurelthirst public house. they even went as far as to call it,

“Portland’s best breakfast, or so we think right now… The vegan breakfast burrito with their homemade sausage and salsa, can’t be beat. Not even with the stick that is stuck up your uptight vegan butt.”

naturally i had to check this place out.

vegan breakfast burrito: tofu, veggie beans, veggie sausage, avocado and red or green salsa served with home fries. $7

we hit up laurelthirst on the last day of our trip, and as promised, their breakfast didn’t disappoint. while it wasn’t the best breakfast i had in portland, and laurelthirst only had a few a vegan options, what they did have was pretty damn good. i got the breakfast burrito, pictured above, which came with a large serving of home fried potatoes. inside the burrito was a hearty amount of tofu, whole beans, vegan sausage and super spicy salsa. it was all topped off with several cool slices of avocado, which added a perfect creamy texture. overall the burrito had a pretty smoky taste, and was packed with tons of heat. if you are a fan of breakfast burritos, this is definitely one to try.

veggie hash: home fries topped with grilled vegetables and tofu. $6.50

my husband got the veggie hash with added tofu, which we confirmed was vegan. the overflowing plate came stacked with home fries, grilled vegetables such as broccoli, carrots & cauliflower, as well as thick chunks of scrambled tofu. a very simple breakfast, but super filling and tasty at a reasonable price.

inside, laurelthirst is a comfortable traditional pub with a long bar, several beers on tap, and ample seating. unfortunately, we were there too early to drink. it’s sad because i don’t think i’ve ever been in such a nice pub and not enjoyed a beer or two. oh well, there’s always next time.

laurelthirst is just one more reason i can say portland is the best town i’ve ever visited. here we have a good pub, one that would make most LA bars ashamed of themselves, that just happens to offer up a damn good vegan breakfast with homemade veggie sausage and everything. i’m really looking forward to my next visit to pdx. if any of you guys have ideas about what the best vegan breakfast is up there, let me know.

LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St
Portland, OR 97232-3271
(503) 232-1504

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

did you know: not only does portland oregon have a billion rad vegan eateries, vegan options at almost every restaurant, and loads of vegan-friendly pubs—the city also has its very own vegan strip mall. sounds too good to be true, right?

from left to right: sweetpea baking company, herbivore clothing, food fight grocery, and scapegoat tattoo

southeast stark street in portland boasts the neat row of vegan businesses pictured above which from left to right include sweetpea baking company, herbivore clothing, food fight grocery and scapegoat tattoo. on our recent visit to portland, we hit up each one of these places (other than the tattoo parlor) and filled up on some hardcore veganocity for the journey home.

sweetpea baking company was our first stop. the 100% vegan bakery was (i believe) the first of its kind on the west coast, and the staff was super friendly and helpful. having already eaten lunch, and gearing up for our return to LA, we grabbed a dinner to eat on the go at the airport. it’s a good thing we did too, because our flight ended up being delayed!

we started with a pepperoni calzone, which came with thick spicy slices of seitan in a doughy pastry shell. meant to be enjoyed warm, this calzone was still delicious unheated.

we also shared a seitan sandwich, which was the perfect grab-n-go treat. fresh bread, creamy dressing, and fat chunks of savory wheat meat. perfection! next time i visit portland, i will definitely grab some actual baked treats from sweetpea. but i can tell you, if you don’t have a chance to try their cookies or muffins, the sandwiches and calzones are awesome as well.

next we hit up herbivore, an ultra rad vegan clothing company that sells a wide array of shirts, hoodies, and stickers. we bought some rags that would help us promote veganism everywhere, as well as a shirt to support bj and alex. the staff was polite, the clothes were great, and i felt extra good about spending money at this place.

lastly we hit up food fight, which is basically a small completely vegan convenience store. they had loads of vegan meats, vegan cheeses, canned goods, as well as steamed tofurky sausages. we bought some bacon cheezly, which turned out to be exceptional, and were on our way.

so let’s just say the vegan strip mall in portland is all around awesome. you can eat a fresh cupcake, buy a new vegan hoodie, stock up on faux meat, and get some vegan ink…without traveling more than 300 feet. i can’t wait to return.

i’ve heard people refer to portland, oregon as the “vegan paradise”, “vegan heaven”, or “vegan mecca”. being a los angeles native, i was expecting my first trip to pdx not to live up to all the hype—after all, down here it seems like there’s a new vegan restaurant popping up everyday. boy oh boy was i wrong. at the risk of pissing off some angelenos, i’m gonna say that portland was every bit as vegan-rad as people said it was. there were more vegan restaurants than i could ever eat at, vegan options at all the omnivorous restaurants, and most uniquely, vegan-friendly food carts littered throughout the city. i understand that it’s kind of a “thing” to eat at food carts in portland, they are everywhere and a huge part of the culture. unfortunately, i only had one food cart experience. fortunately, it was at flavour spot.

vegan sausage and maple waffle

flavour spot wasn’t my first choice for dining when i was in portland, as it was quite a trek from my downtown hotel and has been known to have long lines. however when some parking restriction bullshit required that we move our car before 8am on a weekday, flavourspot, which opens bright and early at 6:30, appeared to be the only breakfast option available to us. it also came highly recommended from trusted bloggers foodeater and melisser, so we decided to give it a try.

i ordered what every vegan is supposed to order on their first visit to flavourspot: the vegan maple sausage waffle. let’s just say like my expectations for vegan portland were exceeded, my expectations for this sausage waffle were fucking owned. i loved it. the big, pillow-y, soft waffle was filled up with juicy vegan sausage, all slathered in an insanely sticky and creamy maple sauce. vegan-insanity. oh, and this thing was only like 4 bucks.

the flavor flavour combo on the maple/sausage/waffle was unreal. i have never had such a divine savory-sweet experience. i am so glad that flavourspot broke my portland food cart cherry…and i hope to be back again someday.

all that being said, we showed up when there was no line, and our wait was still kind of long. plus, we had to drive about 15-20 minutes to get there. keep that in mind. as far as i’m concerned though, it was worth it.

you can find the flavourspot i went to on north lombard, in a video rental store parking lot…but there is a second location as well that’s open less hours.

original flavourspot:
2310 N Lombard St
Portland, OR 97217
(503) 289-9866
Mon-Fri. 6:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Sat-Sun. 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

2nd flavourspot:
NE Fremont St & N Mississippi Ave
Portland, OR 97255
Mon-Fri. 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sun. 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

flavourspot in portland, oregon

one more thing: pdx fucking rules.

i wish i lived here

on my recent trip to pdx, i made a stop by voodoo doughnut. the quirky shop in downtown portland is known for its wacky doughnut flavors and vegan selections, but i must say i was pretty underwhelmed with the place.

vanilla chicostick cake donut. $1.50

the first donut i tried was a vanilla chicostick doughnut. the thick white cake was topped off with white frosting and loads of mashed up peanut butter & coconut chick-o-stick candy. while the toppings and frosting were delicious, the cakey doughnut itself was inedible. one bite was enough to completely turn me off. it was way too thick and tasted like banana. i later found out that on some doughnuts voodoo uses banana as an egg-replacer, and i am definitely not a fan of that.

rice krispies treats and peanut butter chocolate raised donut. $2>

i also tried the peanut butter rice krispies doughnut, which was a much better but still nothing too impressive. at least the cake on this one was a little more soft and moist. turns out this donut was actually a “raised” one, rather than a “cake” one. i’m not even sure what that means, but it definitely was an improvement. the peanut butter rice krispies combo was an unusual idea, but it didn’t work too well. i could only finish about 1/3 of this donut, and then threw it away.

vegan donut menu

inside the shop, voodoo had a huge board full of vegan doughnut specialties, and some sounded quite delicious. however, almost everything i wanted to try was out of stock. as i was reading the board trying to decide on a few flavors, the surly employee behind the counter pointed at a near-empty case and barked, “those are your options!”

speaking of the dude behind the counter, he was a real dick. he seemed annoyed that i was asking for flavors that were on the menu, and he acted like he did not want to be there AT ALL.

so let’s see…i had one awful donut, one okay donut, and the service was absolutely horrible. i will definitely give voodoo doughnuts another chance next time i’m in portland, but i’m not in any rush.

voodoo doughnut
22 SW 3rd Ave
Portland, OR 97204
(503) 241-4704

vegan curried vegetable fish. $2

no fish! go fish! is a vegan-friendly restaurant in portland serving cute little pockets of fish-shaped food that they refer to as “sandwiches.” while the place does serve meat, they have have plenty of vegan “sandwich,” soup and appetizer options that are pretty damn delicious. we hit up no fish! go fish! recently on our trip to portland and shared two of the premium vegan sandwiches: curried vegetable and mushroom pate.

i can’t even tell you how cute and tiny these fishes were! they come out lightly fried in the shape of a sweet little fish, with complete definition of gills and tail. they are quite small, so expect to eat a couple of them at least before you are filled up. check out how little they are next to an iphone.

curry vegetable fish and mushroom pate fish. $2 each

of the two, the curried vegetable was definitely the favorite. stuffed with peas, spices, and tons of flavor…that’s the one we found ourselves fighting over. the mushroom pate one was excellent as well, just a bit more bland than the curry awesomeness.

we also split a vegan spring roll appetizer, which was your typical chopped up vegetable bits fried up in rice paper. these were delicious and a great deal at $4. what made all this food even better though, was the selection of hot sauces. they had several different types of sauces, even ones i’d never even heard of before. i gotta say, portland sure does beat the hell out of LA when it comes to hot sauce.

spring rolls $4

inside, the restaurant was roomy and pleasant with a few small tables and lots of sunlight. they also have tap beer, which is rad…and excellent service.

when it portland, i recommend you give this place a try. and don’t miss the curried vegetable fish!

they also have a food cart location downtown. check their website for locations and hours. no fish! go fish!