Ed sails and Chips Spend a Great Day Together

A little while back  I got  a forum message from Ed sails saying he was visiting the portland area and would like to get together. Ed had been off the road food boards for a while but we had had several get together and i was delighted to have the chance to get together  and spend some time at my favorite road food places in Portland and some other spots that are really good. So we agreed to spend a day together and i we had a wonderful time. 
The day started with breakfast at the Cameo Cafe in northeast Portland very close to the airport. this is probably my favorite breakfast place in portland and i think it is the best restaurant in the airport area. it is a curious combination, outstanding American breakfast dishes with very good Korean specialties. Two American breakfast entries stand out. huge pancakes designated as 1/4 acre, 1/2 acre, and full acre pancakes usually served with so much fruit it is market priced. Blueberries , peaches and seasonal raspberries and strawberries.Excellent quality and huge quantity of food. Special bread is available for toast,as is tart homemade jam and the bread is addictine and goes well with the local bacon and farm fresh local eggs. A korean pancake served with veggies and toast(pinetouk0, kim chee by itself and in an omelet and fresh korean soup are available. Owner sue gee and staff insure no one is a stranger for and the staff seems to believe any coffee cup that is no full is a crime. I love the place because the American breakfast is wonderful and the korean options almost as good. A road food wonder par excellence
      Second stop of the day was the Portland Art Museum for its exhibition "The Body Beautiful" a presentation of woks from the British Museum of sculptures and vases featuring males in various forms of athletic competition. works about the feats of Hercules, and an explanation of the fascination with male nudity and a frank discussion about sexuality in ancient Greece. The vases were spectacular, the information great. The most famous work was "The Discus Thrower" which i have always seen in pre-Olympic shows. It was one of the better shows I've seen in Portland and I learned a lot.
 

After the museum we headed to Pal's Shanty in North East Portland. Pal's Shanty is about 30 blocks from the Cameo Cafe and to my mind is the best seafood place in Portland. owner Jim Hanson works tirelessly to improve the place and his effort shows. There is no freezer at pal's Shanty so the fish is fresh every day.One of the cooks is a master baker who makes wonderful pie usually featuring key lime or Marionberry specialties. My favorite dish is a bucket of manila clams with drawn butter,  I love the excellent oyster sandwich and the seafood salad. Pal's Shanty is the best restaurant in Portland not yet reviewed on road food, a situation i plan to change this year.
        Dinner was at the Mekong Bistro, Porland's only Cambodian restaurant. Excellent soup, catfish to die for and coconut jello served in the coconut shell. Regrettably dinner was overshadowed by the fact that i first discovered the horror of the newtown shootings. It was good food but it was hard to concentrate. I really enjoyed the day with Ed despite the tragedy of its ending.

It is always nice to read about Roadfooders getting together and enjoying food and the sights.  Both Cameo Cafe and Pal's Shanty sound like real finds.  The idea of the latter's marionberry pie has me drooling this morning.  No doubt that you will do a great job on the review mr chips!

 
I'll add some more pictures and comments later about our day together. Suffice to say, it was a great time. Even Mr. Discus Thrower agreed!
 

Wow, ED, Those Portland Pizza makers really put on a show getting the pie ready !! Nice action shot !

Good pizza, but I thought the crust was kind of hard.
 

Jim has done an amazingly good job on writing up the day, so I'm just going to post some pictures and let him continue the commentary.
Breakfast---Cameo Cafe
Blueberry pancake, 1/4 acre

 
Korean Pancake with sauce

 
House made kimchi

 
Making the pancakes

 
Toast, from bread baked at the cafe

 
Pal's Shanty Tavern---lunch
 
The entrance with Mr. Chips

 
You always know it's good when they have an arrow

 
Bloody Mary with everything but the kitchen sink

 
Oyster shooter



Is this not the perfect dive bar interior?

 
Steamed clam bucket

 
Razor clam sandwich

 
Razor clams, a PNW specialty

 
Razor clam sandwich with tartar sauce and house made potato chips

 
Mekong Bistro--dinner
Steamed Curry Catfish

 
Close up of the catfish

 
 
Cambodian crepes

 
 
Side veggies and herbs for the crepes

 
Pad Thai noodles

 
Coconut jello dessert

Mr. Chips, your comments please!

Awesome, my friends!

That Oyster Shooter looks delicious !!  AS do the Steamers.  It has been way too long since I chowed down on steamed Clams !!!

Ed, I'm going to propose that we co-write reviews for Pal's and Cameo Cafe so ttat other people can find out about these places in the review section.

Sounds good to me!
 

Are we going to be doing oyster shooter toasts in Mobile?

mayor al


That Oyster Shooter looks delicious !!  AS do the Steamers.  It has been way too long since I chowed down on steamed Clams !!!

Pal's Shanty looks like my kind of place!

ScreamingChicken


Pal's Shanty looks like my kind of place!

It is one of those kind of places where even on your first visit you feel very comfortable, like you've been a regular for years. It is on my short list of places that when I visit a city I will always make sure I have at least one meal there.