Monthly Archives: February 2019

Catering, Cooking Classes, Moroccan

Karima of Morocco – Cooking Classes & Catering

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I know Khala Karima (Khala means aunty) for couple of years now. She is one of the sweetest and the most welcoming ladies I know in Portland. She is a very caring and a hardworking woman with tremendous passion for healthy cuisine. Being from Morocco, her specialty is preparing authentic Moroccan style home-cooked meals for small to large group of people.

Couscous with Lamb
Couscous with Lamb

Khala Karima offers cooking classes both at her place or on-site and offers catering services for any size of gatherings or special events (including delivery). She has also done stalls/booths at different community events selling her finger-foods, snacks, or Middle-Eastern desserts. The best part is that she offers evening and weekend classes…just contact her early enough, because she does get booked very quickly.

Preparing food for a large party
Preparing food for a large party

I’ve personally taken one of her cooking classes with few of my friends couple years ago. We picked lamb with rice to prepare and learn. The amount of love and attention go into her dishes are inspiring. All of her ingredients are fresh, high quality and without any artificial flavors or colors. She will show you step by step and plus some secret tips and alternatives for a great meal.  She told us some short cuts and some other ways of cooking a same dish. You can ask her as many questions as you want and she will happily answer you with great details. After the cooking demonstration, we all sat down for the dinner, served in traditional Moroccan dishes. And to finish it off, she served us hot Moroccan mint tea with few different kinds of date cookies and almond biscottis.

Karima's Cooking Class
Karima’s Cooking Class

For catering, she has done it for hundreds of people on many occasions. She has her own professional kitchen to serve any amount of people. The best part is, her dishes does not taste like the ones you get in restaurants. They are all pure Moroccan home-cooked meals, exactly the way you would get in Morocco. I have ordered cookies and biscottis from her before for my kids and friends. They are very reasonably priced and were packed in such a professional way that I could serve them right away.

Desserts by Karima of Morocco, in Portland, Oregon
Desserts by Karima of Morocco, in Portland, Oregon

I can’t say enough about Khala Karima’s food. They are healthy, delicious, simple yet has so much flavors. Above all, the way she will treat you, you will feel like you know her your whole life.

Another dish by Karima - chicken with lentil
Another dish by Karima – chicken with lentil

Follow her on instagram: karimaofmorocco

Follow her on Facebook: Karima Elatchi

American, Brunch, Seafood

Q Restaurant & Bar

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I used to eye this restaurant after I started working in the downtown area. It looked so modern inside and out and I used to just wish having a meal there someday with my people.

Inside Q Restaurant and Bar in Portland Downtown
Inside Q Restaurant and Bar in Portland Downtown

First time I stepped inside  Q Restaurant and Bar was with a friend for dinner. We both had seafood dishes…seafood stew and pasta with seafood (I think). Both were fantastic and made to perfection. We got some freshly baked warm bread and butter to accompany the dishes. Finally to finish off we had a pomegranate dessert and home-made Turkish coffee ice-cream.

Seafood pasta in Q Restaurant and Bar
Seafood pasta in Q Restaurant and Bar

Next time I was in Q Restaurant and Bar was with my uncle and kids for a late Saturday brunch. Their brunch is open until 3pm on weekends. Although the menu is short and may seem like doesn’t have much options, you can create your own breakfast from their side orders. While one of my daughters was up for seafood stew for her breakfast, rest of us had vege benedict which came with potato cake, sauted vegetables and 2 eggs.

Vege benedict in Q Restaurant and Bar
Vege benedict in Q Restaurant and Bar

Their menu covers from soup and salads to variety of main entrees. Small plates are available under appetizers. Their main entrees change almost every night…but whatever you order, I can almost assure you that you won’t regret it.

Our desserts in Q Restaurant and Bar

My first impression of this restaurant is WOW. They have the best customer service with very friendly waiters/waitresses and a perfect location in downtown near the water front. Park your car inside the World Trade Center underground parking or by the street. This is a fantastic place to celebrate a special occasion or take someone for a date night or just for a cozy brunch with family on weekends.

Asian, Chinese, Coffee & More

The Tao of Tea – Inside Lan Su Garden

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We are in the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland downtown this past week, taking one of my uncles to see the local Chinese members celebrating the year of the pig. We were there in the late afternoon, mainly to see the International Lion Dance. After the lion dance, we walked around this small but beautiful garden that is located in Old Town Chinatown, which is the official Chinatown of the Northwest section of Portland.

Inside The Tao of Tea in Lan Su Chinese Garden Portland
Inside The Tao of Tea in Lan Su Chinese Garden Portland

The Tao of Tea is int he middle of Lan Su Chinese Garden inside the Tower of Cosmic. You do have to buy ticket to the garden to go inside the tea-house. This is a very calm and peaceful place to enjoy hot traditional Chinese tea and snacks. With two levels of sitting area, this has a plenty of space to accommodate enough guests. I loved their heavily wooden interior decorated with tons of teapots and cups.

Decoration Inside The Tao of Tea
Decoration Inside The Tao of Tea

We ordered both spicy and roasted peanuts and two plates of vegetable dumplings for snacks.  For our tea, we had golden monkey (black tea), Eight Treasure (mixed of different herbs), and bamboo leaf tea. The teas were served individually in tiny teapots and cups with some rock sugars. The presentation was beautiful and the tea tasted perfect.

My spicy peanuts and Eight Treasures tea in The Tao of Tea
My spicy peanuts and Eight Treasures tea in The Tao of Tea

This is a unique place to enjoy hot beverage and will ask you at least to try this place once if you are inside the garden. If you don’t have time to sit-in for tea, buy some of their signature flavored teas and enjoy them at home.

Vegetable dumplings in The Tao of Tea
Vegetable dumplings in The Tao of Tea
Coffee & More, Desserts/Pastries, French

Pix Patisserie

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Pix Patisserie is one of the most elegant and beautiful coffee shops I’ve ever been to in Portland. There should another one of this near my house…but no wait, I don’t want it close to me, otherwise I’d spend all my money and time buying their oh-so delicious goodies.

Inside Pix Patisserie
Inside Pix Patisserie

Pix Patisserie is a little slice of Champs-Élysées, Paris on the Burnside St. of Portland. With it’s trendy interior and wide variety of dessert menu, this is a perfect late night hang out place where you can indulge in macaroons, gourmet chocolates, artisan cakes, French pastries, and hot beverages. If you are looking for after-dinner snacks and something before desserts, try their tapas.

Inside Pix Patisserie in Portland
Inside Pix Patisserie in Portland

I clearly don’t remember what I or my friend ordered when we were there (pictures should give you a nice idea). But whatever they were…each of them was incredibly good. I don’t have a sweet tooth, but even then…I felt like a kid in a candy shop.

Desserts in Pix Patisserie
Desserts in Pix Patisserie

Finding a parking here can be a bit tricky if you hate parallel parking. But for all the trouble you are going to get thru to come  here will be all better once you step your foot into Pix Patisserie. If you have enough time, walk around and have your meal somewhere in this neighborhood before your dessert…the whole street is packed with lots of ethnic restaurants at every corner.

Desserts and tea in Pix Patisserie
Desserts and tea in Pix Patisserie

I will take every chance I get to come to this place again. I bought some fruity gum drops for my kids which they loved. Now planning to bring them for some macaroons and other pastries.

European, Russian

Kachka – Russian Style Dining

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When was the last time you went to a restaurant that is perfect in every aspect? If you haven’t experienced that recently, then you should check out Kachka in Portland. Kachka is a very popular Russian/Ukranian restaurant or maybe the only one of its kind here worth trying out.

Inside Kachka in Portland
Inside Kachka in Portland

Last week we had our annual company kick-off. Thursday was the team-dinner with all of our on-site and remote colleagues. We all met up at Kachka after work in the evening and for me, this was the first time there.

From outside, Kachka may not look all that fancy. But it does have a modern office-type brick and glass exterior. Once I was inside, it looked very opposite from it’s outer look. Interior was fancier with more colors, had loud music, closely arranged tables, and cheerful customers. The waitress who was serving us was very friendly, polite, answered my questions very patiently, and even suggested some items to try.

Cheese stuffed dough (top) and Uzbek bread with sheep cheese (bottom) at Kachka in Portland
Cheese stuffed dough (top) and Uzbek bread with sheep cheese (bottom) at Kachka in Portland

We were eight of us and if I am not mistaking, we ordered about 7 or 8 different types of appetizers to start with. The best part was that we all tried and shared little bit from each plate. And I am not lying a bit, every single appetizer that I’ve tried was made to perfection. Some appetizers you must try here are the herring “under a fur coat”, imerulian khachapuri (smoked cheese wrapped in a crunchy dough), variety of dumplings…especially the sour cherry dumplings, assorted pickled vegetables, and Uzbek-style brindza bread with sheep cheese spread.

Herring "under a fur coat" at Kachka in Portland
Herring “under a fur coat” at Kachka in Portland

For the main course, I had chicken skewer. And again…another tasty kebab dish that came with shredded carrot salad. The dish doesn’t come with any carbs which may seem small for some people. But for me, since I had the opportunity to taste multiple kinds of appetizers…the size was perfect for me.

My chicken skewer with yummy shredded carrot salad at Kachka in Portland
My chicken skewer with yummy shredded carrot salad at Kachka in Portland

I’ve been telling all my friends in Portland to try Kachka. I loved their food, customer service, atmosphere, decoration, and everything. I still crave their pickled vegetables and sour cherry dumplings…sooo good. This is a place where I would bring someone near and dear to my heart to treat them in a special place…this is how much I loved this place.

Brunch, Greek, Gyros, Mediterranean

Antoni’s Restaurant – Beaverton

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I officially have a teenager at home now. I say officially because, all this time she was pretending to be a teenager (pre-teen). This is an exciting phase for me…don’t really know what to expect other than what I experienced myself as a teen and what teenagers from this generation face.

To celebrate her 13th birthday, she wanted to keep it simple (compare to her last few birthdays) and wanted to take her few friends to a restaurant. We had total 17 people with her friends and families. After contacting few places from Italian to Middle-Eastern, we finally settled on Antoni’s (and not the Italian place in Portland, called Antonio’s). I’ve dined here before and I loved their food and atmosphere.

Cheese on flame in Antoni's
Cheese on flame in Antoni’s

Antoni’s is a Greek/Mediterranean place in Beaverton area on Canyon Road. It was love at first sight for me with this restaurant. I loved their food and interior when my friend took me there last year. This is a great place to celebrate an occasion or just go for soul Greek food or just love having breakfast/brunch outside of your house once in a while. Their menu pretty much covers wide variety of breakfast items, appetizers, all types of mouth-watering Greek salads, more than 10 different types of burgers, gyros, souvlaki, mousaka, seafood, kid-friendly menu, and other traditional Greek dishes.

Lamb and chicken skewers at Antoni's
Lamb and chicken skewers at Antoni’s

First time I was at Antoni’s, I had gyro, which I absolutely loved. This time we decided to go for Family Style Dinner for a big crowd. There 2 kinds of dinner platter that you can choose…Greek Dinner and Grilled Family Dinner. We ordered few of both platters. Both are slightly different and included cheese, salad, mousaka, dolmas, spanakopita, rice, mashed potatoes, lamb and chicken skewers, grilled shrimps, and veges. They were all great and all the kids loved the meat items as well as the salad and rice.

While everything on the dinner platter was great, I wouldn’t recommend wasting your money here on desserts. The birthday girl received a free sundae ice-cream which was great. But most of the other kids who got ice-cream or lava-cake or cheesecake…they all complained the desserts weren’t that yummy. But most of all those desserts weren’t really traditional Greek or Mediterranean sweets.

Dolmas, spanakopitas, and mousaka at Antoni's
Dolmas, spanakopitas, and mousaka at Antoni’s

But other than that Antoni’s’ had a perfect customer service and dealt with this big group very professionally and patiently. The kids especially loved when our waitress flamed a block of cheese on fire in front of them and gave the younger kids some birthday goodies.

Antoni’s is in my list of favorite restaurants for Greek food in Portland. Check it out and do let me know if you come across any other good Greek restaurants in town. I like any kind of Mediterranean dishes any days of the week.