See Us Eat: Snacks on the Epincurean Excursion from Portland Walking Tours, Portland, OR

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Snacks on the Epincurean Excursion from Portland Walking Tours, Portland, OR

While Giao was at his Ruby on Rails Conference, Alexis and her parents went on an epicurean walking tour around downtown Portland and the Pearl district courtesy of Portland Walking Tours.

Although it was not at all what we expected, it was a lot of fun. We expected lots of food, meats, cheeses, etc. We got not very much food at all, most of it high in carbs, which Alexis and her mom try to stay away from. Apparently this epicurean tour is vegetarian, which not only seems oxymoronic, but also should have been clearly stated in the tour description.

Carrot-Orange Soup from Elephant's Delicatessen
A bit too acidic, but it had a nice aftertaste.
Health Code Violations

The following baked goods were all from Pearl Bakery (Can't find Health Code Violations):

The croissant was far too American in flavor--much too dense and chewy, not light and flaky like the French make them.
The gibassier was basically a candied orange peel and anise seed (very sweet) breakfast pastry. The flavors were interesting, but Alexis is not a big fan of pastry.

The baguette was standard. The whole wheat sour dough was stand-out--extra chewy and packed with flavor. The olive oil was also stellar.

Chocolate Bouchon
Very dense, very crumbly, not too sweet, but not much flavor either.

Lemon and Berry Sugar Cookies from the Tea Zone and the Camellia Lounge
The main purpose of visiting this place was tasting a variety of tea, but they served little cookies as accompaniments. The lemon variety was decent in that it had some sour to match the sweet. The berry version was far too sweet.

Blue Cheese, Asparagus, Mushroom and Roasted Garlic Pizza from Hot Lips Pizza (Health Code Violations)
Not sure if this pizza was actually good, or if it was simply the first food of the morning with any substance or protein. The ingredients were fresh and tasty. The crust, like every West Coast pizza crust, was limp.

The following dessert items were from Via Delizia (Health Code Violations):

Lemon-Mint, Pistachio and Chocolate Gelato
The lemon mint was refreshing, the pistachio was really pure in nut taste and the chocolate was creamy and delicious.