Keeping it weird… weirdly delicious!

© mylunchanddinner

Portlanders state their city is the weirdest of all.  They even have a huge wall asking to “Keep it weird!”. Truth to be told, this city looked quite weird while I lived there for some  short three months.  There were bikers all over town with a specialized lane for them! I saw very few fast food restaurants, everyone eats organic, there are a bunch of vegans (which in my opinion is either too hard to do so they must have some sort of circulatory illness or they are absolutely nuts, not actually I’m just a meat lover don’t get mad), and there is a longer list…

Mostly what I can state is that all the people I met there were absolutely something special!! And of course, as you must know by now, if you have read my posts (if not go read them!!! haha), I found more than one superspecial place to eat superspecial food.  One of my definite favorite, the Red Star’s Tavern, was located in the corner of SW Alder St and SW 5th. Everything was great, from the decoration, to the friendliness of the staff to the delicious food.

Needless to say, while I was there I ate there more times than I can say.  I must confess most of the times I went there I ate the burger that you can see here! Mmmm my mouth is getting watery as I write! The reason for not changing plate? It tasted soooo good, that I thought I’m here for a limited time. I don’t know when I’ll be back, so I should better eat as much heavenly burgers as I can!It was such a good thing! It was an 8 oz meat with bacon marmalade and blue cheese.  It had crispy lettuce and fresh tomatoes.  It was served with fries, mashed potatoes or green salad.  I usually treated my self with fries, given that since I walked too much I felt I deserved it!

I usually drank either a soda or a yummy green tea that had some other type of herb that made it sweet without adding sugar.  It was always tasty and super hot, which helped digest the huge meal that I took there!

The staff was always great! Super nice, gentle and fast! If you are ever in Portland, don’t miss this fab place!

© mylunchanddinner 2012

Beach burgers

© mylunchanddinner

Last saturday Hubby and I were planning on going to a tavern, but when we got there it appeared to be an all men’s place. So, we drove around to see which would be a nice place to have lunch.  We were driving by one of the main? streets in Escazú, when we realized a place we wanted to try because it’s always full was today almost empty (it was too late for tico-timed lunch).

Henry’s Beach Café is a medium-large sized restaurant with beach like decoration.  The terrace is made out of wood and the tables are surrounded by umbrellas that simulate you are sitting on the sand under the sun.  Some tables are decorated with sunscreen bottles and the walls have surfboards.

There were only two other tables occupied when we got there, and two other couples arrived a bit later.  Their menu is not very extensive, compared to other restaurants we’ve visited here.  They have appetizers, salads, burgers, sandwiches and some entrees that are a bit more complex.  The service was a bit slow, but manageable.  We both had burgers. I ordered the bacon-cheese burger in the photo while my husband asked for one with black pepper and blue cheese.

Both burgers were big enough, served with lettuce, tomato, about a pound of pickles and onions, and a few french fries.  My burger was ok, though I think it could use a bit of spices and salt for flavor.  Hubby’s burger looked a bit disgusting.  The blue cheese was mixed with what I presume was light cream and mayo, so the taste was not strong enough.  I had a bite and it was ok, but nothing more.  He also thought that the meat lacked taste. The fries were a bit better.

Saturday night we got together with some friends who stated that buffalo wings is what is actually good there, so maybe we’ll give them a try someday… on the mean time I’ve come again to the conclusion that not because it’s packed it is a great restaurant.

© mylunchanddinner 2012

Under the sea!

Last Sunday we had lunch at the yummy restaurant Kiantis. The place is located in Belén, San José. It is a palapa-like restaurant with open windows.  The weather was really warm, so the fast moving fans were appreciated.

When we got there, the place was really crowded, given it was 2 pm, Sunday´s lunch time.  We decided to seat on a table on the center of the place where we could take a look al around.  The girl serving our table was very nice and polite.  She took our drink order.  I asked for a lemonade while my husband requested an orange-carrot “fresco”, the costarican term for a natural blended drink.  Both were really good, though a bit warm.  It was not such a big deal since we asked for some ice cubes.

For lunch, I ordered a seafood broth and sea-bass with garlic sauce.  My husband had the seafood dish with rice and mashed potatoes. The service was a bit slow, probably because the place was almost full.  The broth was brought first; it was so hot that I’m pretty sure it was made at the moment the order was put in. The taste was delicious! It had lots of fish, shrimp and shellfish.  Octopus was scarce in the broth which was perfect for me!

At the exact moment I was done with the broth, the main course was brought to us.  The sea-bass was very well cooked, and the steamed vegetables served with it were just cooked.  I added some lemon to the vegetables for a better taste.  I didn’t have any of the seafood platter, but my husband said it was yummy! And I bet it was, he left absolutely nothing on the plate!

We were completely full when we were done, so we didn’t taste the desserts.  We did catch a glimpse when they were being served and looked ok.

Although we only had seafood, their menu is quite extensive and it includes steak, chicken and pasta.