Portland Food Carts @ SE 12th and Hawthorne
Various stands
SE 12th and Hawthorne
Portland, OR
Potato Champion 
El Brasero 
Perierra Crêperie 
With me being in Portland for some time (again, for work, not necessarily pleasure), it was certain I had to visit one or two food carts. I mean, after all the noise that has occurred in Vancouver, I had to go to set myself a baseline. After all, my concept and understanding is quite skewed compared to the ones available in North America. See, to me street food is not necessarily food sold on the street; it is beyond that. On one side, it was a matter for some families to earn extra income; in other, as a mean of living. More often than not, these were based on the concept of cheap, mysterious, risky (you never know what you are actually served) and, for the most part, tasty.
The problem I have encountered in North America is that, while some of that concept has carried over, truth is there is too much of that cover-your-ass mentality. Hence, some really wacky requirements, from location, type of food being sold, sanitary conditions (did I say “risky”?), et al have taken away some of it. While that is something that seems to be for good (in general), what is not is the attempt of some food cart operators here to make things “fancy”, as in making things “fusion” or making things complicated or, worst of all, fancy in an attempt to create an edge. Granted, it is all business at the end of the day; however, I believe that that takes away from the spirit of street food.
I know I am digressing here but, please keep in mind, it is something people ought to be aware of, as it might skew things a little bit… So, that brings us back to the corner of Hawthorne and 12th in Portland, a sort of empty lot that has been occupied by some food carts. And, in that spirit of adventure, I went there for dinner and tried to visit as many such carts as possible (based on time, $$$ and stomach volume). So, without further ado…
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Tagged as:
Belgian,
French,
Mexican,
Portland,
potato,
Street Food
Salsa & Agave
1223 Pacific Blvd
Vancouver, BC
I know this might sound really belated but… Congratulations to fellow blogger Mijune, who organized Vancouver’s 1st Cupcake Challenge (winners here). Organizing such event almost out of nowhere is no easy task and the fact the event attracted over 1000 visitors is something to be admire, specially considering that all publicity was in the form of social media (oh, I hate that phrase!!!!).
Of course, that brings two questions… How it is related to Salsa & Agave and, more importantly, how come I didn’t blog that event? Well, let’s just say I was there but, due to other circumstances, I wasn’t able to taste the cupcakes (I won’t have been able to taste that many anyways) nor I was able to take any pictures. I have already talked to Mijune about this so, if you were expecting to read about it here, I apologize for that… As for the other question, I was looking for something to eat nearby and, aside from the usual Yaletown suspects, I decided to confront my daemons and go to a Mexican restaurant across the site of the event: Salsa & Agave.
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Tagged as:
Chicken,
Downtown,
Mexican
Calli Restaurante Mexicano
1102 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC
Sometimes I have to wonder myself… If I have a bias against a “cuisine”, why do I choose to go to such restaurant type over and over? I guess I do have a hope that I will hit jackpot and find something I would like and change my mind. But, in the case of Mexican, given that most of the restaurants here offer basically the same dishes, my expectation for that has been really low. With that in mind, I went to Calli Restaurante Mexicano, a new restaurant in Davie Street.
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Tagged as:
Downtown,
Latin America,
Lunch,
Mexican,
Vancouver
La Taqueria Taco Shop
322 West Hastings St
Vancouver, BC
Whenever a new restaurant is about to open or it opens, there is always that rush to try it. I won’t blame anybody, after all, there is that sense of “something new”. Of course, the bigger the restaurant, the better known the restaurateurs behind it, the most publicity, et al, makes that expectation higher. To a certain extent, there was such expectation in La Taqueria, a new taco shop in Vancouver – and that is despite the shop is a really small one. After all, the restaurateurs behind La Taqueria has some background with well known eateries like Nuba and Le Faux Bourgeois. But, to me, the question is: what is the end result? The only way to find out was to visit them…
Sorry about this dark picture – I went there after work and, since it is late fall, sun set relatively early…
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Tagged as:
Downtown,
Latin America,
Mexican,
Vancouver
El Centro Mexican Restaurant
Robson Street
Vancouver, BC
Right now, one of the most “talked about” restaurants in Vancouver is La Taqueria. Personally, I am not in a hurry to visit them, as other fellow bloggers already have that covered, not to mention my bias against Mexican food and because it is a bit too far to be considered walking distance from my workplace. But, in some really odd twists, while walking in Robson Street, looking for a spot for lunch, I noticed a just-opened restaurant: El Centro Mexican Restaurant. I won’t go to La Taqueria yet but here is this other Mexican restaurant I can check. Oh, well… There it goes!
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Tagged as:
Downtown,
Latin America,
Lunch,
Mexican,
Vancouver
Cancun Grill
14395 Miramar Parkway
Miramar, FL
Another lunch, another dilemma. Where to go for lunch? Come to think about it, that’s a problem I am even having here in Vancouver, as I have visited most of the places near my workplace! Of course, while travelling, the problem is rather what are the places you can find nearby. Anyway, similar to what happened in my prior post, I looked for a place “nearby” – this time, I ended up in Cancun Grill. Now, frequent readers of this blog might remember my bias against Mexican food; however, on this trip, I was more open. Could it be because I was a hungry and needed something fast? 
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Tagged as:
Latin America,
Mexican,
Miami,
Pork
Las Tortas Mexican Gourmet Sandwiches
3353 Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC
Since the Canada Line opened (which opening I blogged here), I have meant to visit the Cambie area. For reference purposes, businesses on this street were severely impacted because of its construction and I am hoping it returns to its former glory. So, to check how things are going, I went to the area between Broadway and King Edward Street. The one place that caught my attention between these two streets? A new shop: Las Tortas Mexican Gourmet Sandwiches (which I will just call Las Tortas).
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Tagged as:
Latin America,
Mexican,
Sandwich,
Vancouver
