del INTI, (Grade A)

Date of last visit: November 2010

Address:  2315 NE Alberta, Portland, Oregon

Phone:  503-288-8191

Hours: Closed M & T -- Dinner Wed to Sunday 5PM to 10PM, Happy Hour 4 to 7

Link: 

General Impressions of the place itself: Simple decor, nicely done. Some outdoor seating and a fire pit to keep the waiting area on the sidewalk warm.  Inside, cork floors, open kitchen, comfortable seating, Peruvian tapestry on the wall and some nice, original art featuring jazz musicians. Well done decor

What we ordered: SANGRIA; Porter on Tap;  To Start--PLATO del Inti (sampler) with Potato Croquette, Beef Heart with Salsa, and Causa with crab and Avocado; main course --> SALTADO, stir fried hanger steak with scallions, red onions, tomato, cilantro, fried potatoes with soy sauce glaze with a side of rice; and, PRAWNS --don't remember the name. DESERT: CHOCOLATE CUSTARD

Things we liked and disliked:  The food was all exceptional in this Peruvian-North West inspired Resturant --we could have lived without the CAUSA on the sampler plate, not because it was bad, but becasue it was not to our taste.  Everything else, to a dish was excellent. We will try one of the Ceviche Dishes next trip

Number in our party: 2

Total Bill:   $61 includes drinks but not tip add $10.  Considering the quality of the food this was a real bargain

Recommended -- absolutely yes

With a Five Star Scale - and Five being perfect - we rate this place? 4++

Dick's Kitchen (Grade C-)

Date of last visit: November 2010
Address: 3312 SE Belmont, Portland, Oregon
Phone: 503- 235-0146
Hours: Mon to Sat 11AM to 10PM -- Sunday 11AM to 9PM
Link:

General Impressions of the place itself: We went in when this was still a pretty new place and it was crowded..we had to wait about a half hour for a table for 4. There are two rooms. The one you enter has the kitchen and a few bar style seats in the front window. There is a whole wall / whiteboard with information about what is being served  / sort of a menu.  But there are paper menu's too. The second room has lots of tables, many of which are set up for community style eating--ie tables for 15+  seats various groups at the same table.  The decor is minimal--pictures of guys named Dick (Nixon, Van Dyke, etc) and floor to ceiling drapery covering electrical outlets, etc. Perfectly nice, super casual.
What we ordered:  2 people ordered French Onion ZIZOU Burgers with 'not fries'; One person got a Portobello Burger; the last person got a Vegie Bowl that was listed on the Wall but not in the menu..and we all had beer.
Things we liked and disliked:  First Off--the staff was vry nice.. no problem there. And DK is advertising itself as a healthy food joint with  grass fed beef, 'not fries/french fries', etc. -- so we were looking forward to trying this place out.  Maybe we were expecting too much. Or maybe they were too busy and had not yet got the kinks out of what to do when so many people show up. But we waited for half and hour for our table, ordered immediately (we had plenty of time to study the menu while waiting) and then we waited for another 30 + minutes for our food, whcih arrived luke warm. The burgers were nothing exceptional, the fries--cold--were unappetizing.  The Vegi Bowl got a thumbs up.   We will probably try them again, when they are not so busy--but this was an inauspicious start
Number in our party: 4
Total Bill:   Around $50 prices are reasonable
Recommended?  Not yet
With a Five Star Scale - and Five being perfect - we rate this place? 2 maybe

Mandrian Cove (Grade C to C+)

Date of last visit: October 2010
Address: 111 SW Columbia Street, #1, Portland Oregon
Phone: 503 - 222-0066
Hours: M-F 10:45 to 9:00  Sat Noon to 9:45;  Sunday 4PM to 9PM
Link:

General Impressions of the place itself::  I have driven past this place 100s of times and never thought to go it, But the other night we were headed to the Variable Quandary--and it was not open yet..so we walked down the street to the Mandarin Cove, a restaurant located at the base of a large office building. It appears to be a glassed in porch -- and when you enter the inside-outside feel of the glass wall and ceiling is maintained with lots of plants--sort of an old fashion fern bar feel with standard old fashion Chinese Restaurant chairs and tables.  This is a functional place that is a little run down at the heels (entry carpet needs replacing, etc) But we were seated right away and given an extensive menu.  
What we ordered:  Szechwan Beef and Double Cooked Pork + rice.
Things we liked and disliked: The food came very fast..and it was as good as any other Chinese Restaurant we have found in Portland. But then we have lived here for nearly 10 years and so far we have not found 'a favorite' Chinese Restaurant. We HAVE looked for one. But so far we've not found oen that stands aboive the crowd.  Mandrian Cove is just fine--but it is not special
Number in our party: 2
Total Bill: approx $20 -- good value
Recommended? With a Five Star Scale - and Five being perfect - we rate this place? 2+

BELLY (Grade B)

Date of last visit: October 2010
Address: 3500 MLK Blve, Portland Oregon
Phone:  503-249-9764
Hours: Tues to Sat 5pm to closing; Sunday 10 to 2
 Link:

General Impressions of the place itself: Open space, clean lines, slightly aging but comfortable. Open kitchen so you can watch them cook.  One long bar-motif seating (good for happy hour) Lots of tables but not crowded.  A bit on the hip side, but family friendly too,
What we ordered: I had an order of "Spiced beet salad, pear bourbon vinaigrette, chevre" -- It was tasty but it certainly was NOT spicy (spiced v spicy..humm.. a little communication problem here) and it was way too much for one person, so it would be a good dish to share. And we both had the "Pan-roasted scallops, crispy chanterelle risotto, warm savoy cabbage slaw, apple cider beurre blanc" Beautiful presentation and double delicious. Also I had, from the bar a "Pancho Villa’s Revenge.. a house infused orange tequila, papaya puree, lime juice, jalapeno salted rim, rocks."  It was ok and it had a little jalapeno kick. 
Things we liked and disliked: Overall a vey nice place but the 'fresh baked bread" seemed to be overcooked. We like crusty bread but this was very, very crusty--almost all crust. Alsom, three silver dollar pices of this bread were thrown (litterally) on a place and dropped off at our talbe after a pretty long wait.  Kinda tacky. Then the beets realy didn have any spicy to them...but the Scallops made up for it all. They were perfection.

Number in our party: 2
Total Bill: about $75
Recommended? yes..but it is a just a little spend
With a Five Star Scale - and Five being perfect - we rate this place? 3 to 3+