Tag Archives: spicy

Asian, Chinese

Duck House Chinese Restaurant

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If you are looking for one of the best Szechuan style Chinese restaurants in PDX downtown, then look no more. Dinner at Duck House was a delectable treat from a friend and her husband last Friday night. We didn’t make any reservation and waited about 45 minutes to get a table. This place was packed and people were constantly coming in small groups. Little tip: try putting your in name in Yelp, so you don’t have to wait in the line.

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Outside of Duck House Chinese Restaurant in Portland, OR downtown

This hot Chinese spot is located on 5th Ave near PSU campus, surrounded by many other small food-carts on the opposite street. Only street parking is available. Once you are inside, it’s a modern and buzzing eatery with a bar on one-side.

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Our appetizers: green onion pancakes (left) and vegetable dumplings (right)

The only disappointing dish we got that evening for appetizer was the green onion pancakes…it was nothing extraordinary and lacked flavors. We also ordered a plate of vegetable dumplings…they were big and green and good. They have lots of other options for dumplings (like with shrimp, egg, pork, beef, and even lamb) and pot stickers on their menu. Another mouth-watering teaser to order (if you like the texture) is their Wood Ear Fungus with pickled chili..spicy, crunchy, and perfectly cooked.

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Wood Ear Fungus with pickled chili and Squid with Pickled Chili in Duck House in Portland, OR

But for the main dinner entrees, everything that we ordered…scored a big time. To begin with, we were all amazed how the shrimp fried rice tasted OHHH…SOOO good, which was simple and traditional. We also ordered this not-so-usual beef dish, called Beef Hot & Spicy Dried Pot (under Szechuan Hot and Spicy Dried Pot)…this is a unique beef dish that has absolutely no gravy and was sauted/cooked with vegetables. The only comment we had on this, that it could have used a bit more salt…but then again, it’s a people’s preference. For the dried pot, there were also few options of lamb, intestines, chicken wings, prawns, tofu, and mixed mushrooms. Now, for two of my most favorites from that night in Duck House were the Mongolian Chicken and Squid with Pickled Chili, which was, by the way, recommended by our waiter. Mongolian Chicken was perfectly seasoned with right amount of heat for us (we actually told our waiter to make it extra spicy) with little bit of gravy. Finally the Squid with Pickled Chili was something I’ve never had before and something any seafood lover would love.

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Beef Hot & Spicy Dried Pot in Duck House in Portland, OR

Duck House is a both fancy and casual place to hang out with your friends or family or co-workers. This is a great place to even celebrate an occasion. But the quality of food they serve, I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes extra kick and spiciness in their food. And by the way, although it’s called Duck House, but you won’t find any duck in the menu.

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Mongolian Chicken in Duck House in Portland, OR
Asian, Korean

Gangnam Korean BBQ – Hillsboro

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This is kind of a very special restaurant for me where I’ve some sweet memories with couple special people in my life. Last year I visited this place for the first time with two of my friends, second time was with another friend. And then since then I really wanted to bring my two daughter to try the food here. So, finally last week…on a Thursday night, I brought them to Gangnam Korean BBQ and their expression was “it was a REALLY good dinner”. Happy kids mean happy mom.

From of Gangname Korean BBQ in Hillsboro, OR

Anyways,  last week was the first time I was there during dinner and we were actually lucky to get an empty table…all the tables with built-in grills were taken, so we ended up getting a regular one. If weeknights get that busy, imagine the crowd on Fridays or Saturdays. This is what happens when a place serves good food. But my experience here during lunch is better, only because it’s much quieter. But despite of all  the business, our server was the friendliest and fastest.

Noodles soup, sul-lung tang, in Gangnam Korean BBQ in Hillsboro, OR
Noodles soup, sul-lung tang, in Gangnam Korean BBQ in Hillsboro, OR

Gangnam BBQ menu has overwhelmingly variety of Asian food. I am more into spicy food and this place really satisfies my taste buds with most of their items. Of course they have non-spicy soup or appetizers or main dishes too. I forgot the name of the dishes that we ordered last two times but we definitely had thinly sliced cow’s tongue once that we grilled on the table top. This time we ordered a soup called, sul-lung tang, which was a very simple noodles soup with green onion and sliced beef (although there were barely a few small slices) for my little one. Another one we got was the, bulgogi…thinly sliced beef, marinated in sauce…supposedly this is a must-try item here. If we had the BBQ grill table, we would have grilled the beef slices ourselves, but this time, they grilled the beef for us and brought it to table. I have to say the portion of each dish is big in Gangnam BBQ. All three of us could lavishly share the beef, side rice, and the soup. By the way, bulgogi came with 6 or 7 different condiments like kimchis, pickled and fresh salads and etc. Make sure to add either little bit of all of those or at least some to add to your dish to get the whole picture. And FYI, if your server gives you their HOT sauce, use ONLY one drop of it (as our waiter suggested)…it’s REALLY HOT. If you need more, you can always add more later.

Beef Bulgogi with side condiments in Gangnam Korean BBQ in Hillsboro, OR

Gangnam Style Korean BBQ is a fantastic place to choose for any occasions with friends or families of any age. My kids loved its vibe and atmosphere and…of course the food. I keep coming back to this place every once in a while and I’ll definitely be back again to try some of their other weird and interesting plates, like cold soup, bibimbop, seafood BBQ, grilled mackerel, and mango mochi ice-cream. I was never a big Korean food fan, but this place really changed my opinion with its presentation, flavorful items and ingredients, and the trendy energy.

Asian, Chinese, Halal/Kosher, Indian

Inchin’s Bamboo Garden

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How does Oriental Biriyani sound to you? Quite funky, right? Inchin’s Bamboo Garden is a nation-wide Halal/Kosher Asian franchise, inspired by both Chinese and Indian flavors. Our Hillsboro location in Oregon is a brand new branch which replaced the previous “New Taste of India”. This new fusion place is much fresher and trendier looking with better customer service and bigger menu items. Although they have branches in other states, their menu varies from state to state, depending on the local produces and tastes.

Inside Inchina's Bamboo Garden in Hillsboro
Inside Inchina’s Bamboo Garden in Hillsboro

With a good variety of vegan and gluten-free options, Inchin’s Bamboo Garden also serves halal/kosher dishes. This is a place where Oriental cuisine meets Indian spices; meaning dishes are kind of like the Indian version of Oriental/Asian food. Last night was my 2nd time in this restaurant and I had my sister, my girls, a close friend, and her parents. I have to say food here is consistently good.

Hakka noodles with chicken (left) and lamb cumin (right) in Inchina's Bamboo Garden - Hillsboro
Hakka noodles with chicken (left) and lamb cumin (right) in Inchina’s Bamboo Garden – Hillsboro

 

Speaking of their menu, we ordered tom yum soup (which has the options of veg. and non-veg) and spring rolls as starters. Check out their plenty of non-meat options in the menu if you are a vegan or vegetarian. For main course, we had spicy Thai basil fried rice, hakka noodles, chicken-65 fried rice, lamb cumin, sliced fish in manchurian sauce, and eggplant in chili bean sauce. Spices in each dish can be adjusted to your taste. Vegetable spring rolls were perfectly crunchy and tasty. Tom yum soup smelled fresh with lots of cilantro and heat from red chilies. Both of the fried rice dishes were delish with perfect amount of spice and flavors, though the noodles turned out to be very dull looking without much flavors in it. Eggplant was probably one of the best, cooked with Chinese long eggplants in thin slices with big chunks of red onions. And for the lamb dish, my 8-year old girl loved it and my friend who doesn’t eat lamb or goat meat had it twice…now, that should tell you something. And the manchurian fish with onions was a little above average with little bit of gravy and lots of red pepper flakes. The Dishes are perfect for 2/3 or even 4 people, depending on how many other dishes you are ordering.

Fish in manchurian sauce (top) and eggplant in bean sauce (bottom) in Inchin's Bamboo Garden - Hillsboro
Fish in manchurian sauce (top) and eggplant in bean sauce (bottom) in Inchin’s Bamboo Garden – Hillsboro

 

But the menu has so many other options like paneer dishes, dumplings, salads, tacos, Chinese bhel-puri, and of course, other Mongolian, szechwan, kung-pao, and curry style plates. But be careful, if you are not into spicy food, tell them to tone it down. They also sell sauces that they serve in the restaurant for $3 each bottle.

Customer service here is great I’ve to say. They did forget to give us the only one Diet Coke that we ordered. But the waiter gave it to us at the end and didn’t charge for it, which was at least sincere. They do take reservations, if you want to call in ahead of time. Being conveniently located near Intel RA campus with plenty of parking spaces, it does get busy during lunch time and therefore, services can be slow (or so I heard).

Inchin’s Bamboo Garden has some unique qualities which not many restaurants nearby may have all in one place, like their fusion Indian/Oriental dishes, halal/kosher preparation of meat, variety of vegan/vegetarian options, and finally an elegant looking place where you can bring your guests for a decent treat. Would highly recommend it to my peeps.

 

Indian

Bawarchi Biryanis – PDX

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Since I’m originally from Bangladesh, a small country right beside India, I usually don’t go to Indian restaurants knowing I’ll be spending money on something that I can probably cook at home. But then again Indian cuisine varies from South India to North India and then to vegan, vegetarian, and meat lovers. Every once in a while, I do crave for certain tastes from that country and that’s when I hit my favorite Indian spots in town.

Inside Bawarchi Biryanis - PDX
Inside Bawarchi Biryanis

Today, I was hungry like an elephant when I went out for my lunch break and I could only think about one thing…rice. Not just any Asian style rice, but Indian style basmati rice and daal (lentil) and curry. Buffet…yes, I needed a place where I could just try different things without ordering ten dishes and stay within the budget at the same time.

I was in Beaverton/Hillsboro area, near 185th, and I remembered there was once an Indian restaurant here called “Lentil Garden” here, which I never tried before. But upon arriving, it looked like Bawarchi Biryanis took over Lentil Garden. But oh well, I needed some rice and daal, so the name didn’t matter, but I was praying and hoping that they would have buffet. And they DID.

Bawarchi Biryanis is all over the USA and their Portland location is on 185th. The restaurant itself is nothing fancy nor the interior is anything extraordinary. But it is  homey. While customer service is just average, the place is clean and has good food.

A portion of the lunch buffet in Bawarchi Biryanis

The buffet is only available for lunch until 2:30pm, which costs about $10. If you are lucky, you can get a la carte dishes for lunch too, but not always. They are closed in between lunch and dinner. Make sure to check their hours before going for dinner. I arrived there for a late lunch around 2pm and it was pretty empty. But the buffet items looked fresh, nicely filled up, and didn’t look like they were sitting out for too long. It was my kind of buffet honestly…spicier than average Indian places with couple uncommon items that you usually don’t see in other Indian buffets, like bitter melon bhaji or papaya bhaji. It had at least three different kinds of chicken dishes, freshly made daal, 3 or 4 different kinds of vegetables and of course rice and bread. But only pakoras for appetizer and rice pudding for dessert.

My buffet plate # 1 in Bawarchi Biryanis

I won’t probably come to Bawarchi Biryanis to celebrate an occasion or bring friends to hang out after work. But I will come here whenever I’m up for some Indian comfort food without spending a lot of bucks. And yes, I still need to try their dinner menu.