Tag Archives: Lebanese

Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Moroccan

Tangier Restaurant – Downtown PDX

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Last Friday, we had a group lunch to welcome a new team member at my work place. Someone threw the name Tangier as an idea and thank God, it was a good choice all the way.

Tangier Restaurant in Portland Downtown
Tangier Restaurant in Portland Downtown

Located in the heart of Portland downtown near the water-front, Tangier is a Moroccan/Mediterranean/Middle-Eastern restaurant. It’s a medium size place with warm and relaxed environment. We arrived there a little before noon. I guess lunch is very busy here. It took a while for the waiter to give us water, menu, and finally get our orders. Their customer service is fantastic and the waiter kept apologizing for the delay.

Inside Tangier, a Moroccan Restaurant in Portland Downtown
Inside Tangier, a Moroccan Restaurant in Portland Downtown

But it was all worth it when we got our food…it was so dorn good. The new employee ordered a mashed egg-plant dip (not baba ganoush) with a big circle bread as an appetizer for us all. When I see vege dip like that, a fear crawls up that will it be too garlicky or too herby. But this was a very well-balanced and well-spiced egg-plant dip that tasted fresh and tasty with the warm bread.

My Lamb Tagine in Inside Tangier, Portland
My Lamb Tagine in Inside Tangier, Portland

When I ordered my lamb tagine (they also have salmon tagine, but waiter suggested lamb is better), I visioned my dish would be served in a tagine (like the way I was served in Marrakesh). Not the decoration of the plate, but not getting my lamb inside a tagine did disappoint me a bit, but my first bite in that tender lamb chop was a heaven. I usually don’t eat lamb, except only for lamb gyro, but I would go back there to have that slow-cooked lamb with rice and egg-plant again. Maybe a small portion of tzatziki sauce would have made that dish even better. I think four other of my co-workers liked their dishes too…at least they licked their plates clean. One ordered a mezza platter, another one an artichoke soup, and I think another one was with lamb too. We also ordered some Moroccan hot mint tea and Turkish coffee.

One of my co-worker's vegetable mezza platter in Tangier

Their menu has a wide variety of options from Moroccan dishes to Lebanese to traditional Mediterranean and Middle Eastern plates. This is a great place If you are a vegetarian or a vegan or a meat-lover…you will get many options from soup/stew, salad, appetizers, sandwich, platters, pizza, kababs/koftas, and other traditional Moroccan plates.

Be prepare for some street parking or garages when coming to Tangier. It is a perfect place to bring a small group for lunch or dinner…for a nice family dinner on a Saturday night or to celebrate a special occasion with few people. Looks like weekdays during lunch is busy but the restaurant does take reservation. I thought, the price was very reasonable too. I would absolutely bring some of my family members or friends to introduce them to this place.

Lebanese, Middle Eastern

Nicholas Restaurant Broadway

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Wow, another brand new idea and another brand new blog. A foodie like me, needs to record all the eateries in her city. So…there you go Portland, I present to you Portland Culinary. My plan is to cover all types of restaurants and cafe in Portland, Oregon, from street side carts to roof-tops’ exquisite fine dinning places and share my experience along the way. I have been planning to do it for a while now…finally did it. Yep, let’s…get… started.

So, for the first post…we went to Nicholas Restaurant Broadway on NE Broadway Street this past Saturday with few friends and families. This is a Lebanese/ Middle-Eastern restaurant with excellent customer service, elegant interior, and DELICIOUS food.

My Beef Kafta Kabab with rice and salad
My Beef Kafta Kabab with rice and salad

We couldn’t find parking close by…had to park couple blocks away. They don’t take reservations but we waited about half an hour for seat (which is not bad for a Saturday night). First floor was jam packed, so we were taken upstairs where it was much quieter…so we kind of had the place to ourselves.

My cousin's Shawarma plate with rice and salad (shredded beef)
My cousin’s Shawarma plate with rice and salad (shredded beef)

The unlimited free fresh fluffy breads are on the house…eat as much as you want. The menu has variety options from kebabs (including salmon kebabs), salads, different sauces to go with your breads, sandwiches/burgers, Lebanese pizzas, and platters just to name some. Order came quicklier than I thought.  I ordered beef kafta kabab with jasmine saffron rice with salad and garlic sauce. It was GOOD and the portion was not too big and not too small. My daughter’s Lebanese style beef burger with feta cheese and tzatziki sauce was absolutely fantastic too. We had Vege Mezzas for appetizer which had falafels, hummus, tzatziki sauce, and tabouleh salad. I usually don’t like tabouleh salad in lot of restaurants, but this one was tangy and perfectly balanced. Try their peach lassi and cinnamon/mint tea also. If not good ol’ mango lassi is there too. If are still not full, try the baklava or rice pudding with pistachios (kind of big size though…be careful).

Inside Nicholas Restaurant Broadway
Inside Nicholas Restaurant Broadway (upstairs)

This is a great place to celebrate any occasions really, like birthdays, graduation, anniversaries or anything that sort. It has the elegant touch but cozy feelings too. It’s formal enough to host special events but not too formal for families with kids. I loved it and I gotta say I would go back there again and would highly recommend this place to my friends in Portland.