Tag Archives: Fast-food

Indian

Gandhi Restaurant

2 Comments

Gandhi Restaurant is about a block or two walk from my work. It’s a popular place and a fairly crowded during lunch time on weekdays. The days I don’t bring lunch are the best time for me to look around downtown and taste different places.

Gandhi Restaurant in Portland Downtown
Gandhi Restaurant in Portland Downtown

This is a Panda Express style Indian fast-food place. They don’t have buffet or menu items. You have the option to choose from chicken, lamb, or different kinds of vegetable dishes. I had spicy chicken with eggplant curry. The amount of rice, curries, and naan I got for $9 is amazing. I walked over to the chutney/raita place to add some on my plate.

Dishes in Gandhi Restaurant in Portland Downtown
Dishes in Gandhi Restaurant in Portland Downtown

Both chicken and eggplant tasted nice for the first few bites. Then I kind of lost the appetite. I started feeling like I am just eating very mediocre type Indian food made for people who never had gourmet or good quality Indian food. The rice was completely buried and got mushy under all the gravy from chicken. Half way thru, I didn’t even feel like packing the rest of my food to bring it home, because I knew I wouldn’t eat it anymore.

I haven’t tried the other items here at Gandhi Restaurant but I doubt if I will ever go back there again. The customer service is great here and couple people at my work actually recommended this place…just not my type of Indian food.

Gyros, Mediterranean

Baba’s Mediterranean Grill

Leave a comment

This is what I was missing in my life…a gyro place where I can have my gyro the way I want it. Baba’s Mediterranean Grill is kind of like Subway or Chipotle, but the gyro version.

Baba's Mediterranean Grill in Portland, OR
Baba’s Mediterranean Grill in Portland, OR

My sister, my nephew and I went to Baba’s near Portland Ikea couple weeks ago. It’s  a quick and fast Mediterranean place with both meat and vegetarian options. You can get chicken, beef, lamb, and falafel in a pita bread or in a bowl of rice. After choosing your meat and dish, you can choose your own sauce and veges, exactly the way you want your platter to be. My sister had chicken rice bowl and I had lamb/beef shawarma in a pocket pita bread. While my shawarma was good, it did have a very slight smell lamb. Which I don’t think I ever got from a lamb and beef shawarma.

Chicken rice bowl at Baba's
Chicken rice bowl at Baba’s

Baba’s Mediterranean Grill serves meats without fillers, preservatives, or additives. They have a decent varieties of gluten-free or vegan options for reasonable prices. Now, the big question is would I ever go back to Baba’s again? Hmm, yes…maybe, when I want a gyro my way. But then again, I think there are other Mediterranean grills where I can get better quality gyros, even if I can’t pick my own sauce and veges.

Lamb and beef shawarma at Baba's
Lamb and beef shawarma at Baba’s
Asian, Japanese

Sushi Mioga

Leave a comment

It was an unplanned visit to Sushi Mioga with a friend, on a Sunday afternoon. Since another restaurant in the same complex had 45 minutes waiting time, we decided to check out this place instead.

Inside Sushi Mioga in Portland
Inside Sushi Mioga in Portland

I love conveyor-belt-sushi places, but I still had to find a decent restaurant in Portland, where the sushi did not taste too mediocre. Sushi Mioga is located in the new Timberland Town Center with lots of other good quality restaurants, a cafe, grocery, and other cool stores. As soon as you walk into Sushi Mioga, you’ll see that it’s a clean, open, and spacious place to dine in. We only waited few minutes to get a table and servers/attendees are fast and friendly too.

Our sushi plates in Sushi Mioga, Portland
Our sushi plates in Sushi Mioga, Portland

Unlike few other sushi-belt spots in Portland/Hillsboro area that I’ve visited, all the sushi plates we tried here were surprisingly fresh and can be made-to-order. They have all sorts of options from raw fish to rolls to vegetarian to nigiri and also with different sauces and spices. You can tell if a conveyor-belt-sushi place is good by the quality of their wasabi. Wasabi in most of these other places (if not all) are usually very bland and ruins my whole experience of eating sushi. Sushi Mioga’s wasabi had a perfect kick and flavor…you’ll love every piece of your sushi with it.

We tried few spicy sushi and nigiri with tuna, salmon, and crab along with a plate of fried wonton. Honestly speaking, I did enjoy each of those for their freshness, taste of raw fish, and perfect sizes. You can also pick sliced salmons in teriyaki sauce, small drinks, tempuras, desserts, and many more things from the belt. If you don’t find something, you can order from the menu. We just picked whatever looked good and we didn’t regret any of them.

Conveyor-sushi-belt in Sushi Mioga in Portland
Conveyor-sushi-belt in Sushi Mioga in Portland

Sushi Mioga may not serve the best sushi in town but for the price and with tons of options, this is my new favorite conveyor-belt-sushi restaurant for now. This would definitely be my first option whenever I’m in the mood for inexpensive and good sushi.