My recent visit to Portland (long) - General Tiki

T thejab Grand Member (1 year) Tradewinds Apartments, Alameda, CA Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 2992	T thejab Posted posted on Thu, Sep 26, 2002 1:34 PM Got back on Monday from a 4-day visit to Portland, OR. I was sorry to have missed the bay area home bar tour but I had a blast in Portland. On Thursday we had dinner at Jake's Famous Crawfish, that was a short walk from our hotel. Amazing fresh seafood at lower prices than here in the bay area. The menu lists about 20 fresh fish and shellfish catches of the day mostly from nearby areas. Had great crab louie and crawfish etoufee. Mmm. Excellent service and the atmosphere is very historic with lot's of wood and old pictures of Portland and Portlanders. On Friday after hitting the thrift stores (not much luck) and vintage clothing and nicknack stores (great luck!) we stopped at the Driftwood Lounge in the Mallory Hotel for cocktails. It's a great 40s bar with biomorphic curved walls, bar, and ceiling with plants and driftwood placed in wood planters. Hard to describe but one of the most beautiful old bars that I've seen that hasn't been ruined by sports advertisements. Later we met up with TikiMaxton (Mark) and Maggie and the Jasmine Tree for more drinks. The drinks were nothing special but I loved the decor. It was nicely done without newer cheesy tropical additions that some older places (and most new ones) add on. Mark and Maggie took us on a tour of the place and it was very enjoyable. After that we parted with Mark and Maggie as they had to get up early for a garage sale they were having and we headed over to the Ringside (a 50s steakhouse) for steaks and onion rings. The atmosphere was a winner, especially the huge rock fireplace with lots of crannies to hold various nick nacks. On Saturday we did more shopping. We stopped at a store called Home Ec that had great 50s home accessories and a few tiki mugs. All the mugs were pricey to me so I didn't buy any. Then I spotted 2 of those real blatant Shag copies that were on Ebay recently for sale on the wall! I was somewhat surprised that they would sell such rip offs so I left without buying anything. Oh well, there were many other great stores in Portland. Later we drove up to the Alibi for cocktail hour. It was nice to see it again and I enjoyed checking out all the gorgeous hanging lamps in the back room and the Witco decor. As I remember from my last visit the drinks I had were way too sweet (I don't think they use fresh lime anymore) so I ordered a whiskey and soda for my next round. Then we paid a quick visit to a tiny old bar in Chinatown called Hung Far Low for some stiff ones (drinks that is)! For dinner we headed south of town to Henry Ford's. I loved it! It's another classic Portland restuarant with a great cocktail lounge that has a large plate glass window at one end overlooking a large fountain of bubbles. You heard me right - bubbles. You have to see it in person but you can see a blurry picture of it on their web site in the photo album, as well as their marvelous sign. http://www.henryfords.com/ There is a piano bar with a marvelous singer/piano player and a dance floor, where all the older youngsters of Portland love to cut a rug. I had a marvelous dinner of huge local oysters and their signature 30 oz. Porterhouse steak and a good bottle of wine. We had Spanish coffees in large brandy snifters after dinner in the lounge, while listening to regulars singing classic songs at the piano bar. A night to remember! But Saturday was topped by Sunday. After a drive out the old Columbia River highway to do a bit of sightseeing we had lunch at Tad's Chicken and Dumplings, a great old roadhouse diner with excellent dumplings the size of a softball. Then what we had all been waiting for: our visit to Castaway Cove! Mark and Maggie welcomed us like royalty into their private oasis. I was overwhelmed by the size of it and the detail. The longer you looked the more there was too see (like mrsmiley's tiki bar) so I slowly sipped my excellent Mai Tai that Mark made with a float of Demarara 151 and walked around taking it all in. I especially loved the fountain, the custom bar, the lighting, and the "beach" with firepit just outside the door. Being so big a room I can see how a big party would work marvelously in such a place. We got to meet some of Mark and Maggie's friends and neighbors (all splendid people) and listened to Mark tell his tales of when various people visited the Cove like Sven, Kailuageoff, and woofmutt (who brought a mysterious bottle that was merely labeled "RUM" that is displayed on a shelf above the bar). Mahalo to Mark and Maggie for making our last night in Portland our best one.

Got back on Monday from a 4-day visit to Portland, OR. I was sorry to have missed the bay area home bar tour but I had a blast in Portland.

On Thursday we had dinner at Jake's Famous Crawfish, that was a short walk from our hotel. Amazing fresh seafood at lower prices than here in the bay area. The menu lists about 20 fresh fish and shellfish catches of the day mostly from nearby areas. Had great crab louie and crawfish etoufee. Mmm. Excellent service and the atmosphere is very historic with lot's of wood and old pictures of Portland and Portlanders.

On Friday after hitting the thrift stores (not much luck) and vintage clothing and nicknack stores (great luck!) we stopped at the Driftwood Lounge in the Mallory Hotel for cocktails. It's a great 40s bar with biomorphic curved walls, bar, and ceiling with plants and driftwood placed in wood planters. Hard to describe but one of the most beautiful old bars that I've seen that hasn't been ruined by sports advertisements.

Later we met up with TikiMaxton (Mark) and Maggie and the Jasmine Tree for more drinks. The drinks were nothing special but I loved the decor. It was nicely done without newer cheesy tropical additions that some older places (and most new ones) add on. Mark and Maggie took us on a tour of the place and it was very enjoyable. After that we parted with Mark and Maggie as they had to get up early for a garage sale they were having and we headed over to the Ringside (a 50s steakhouse) for steaks and onion rings. The atmosphere was a winner, especially the huge rock fireplace with lots of crannies to hold various nick nacks.

On Saturday we did more shopping. We stopped at a store called Home Ec that had great 50s home accessories and a few tiki mugs. All the mugs were pricey to me so I didn't buy any. Then I spotted 2 of those real blatant Shag copies that were on Ebay recently for sale on the wall! I was somewhat surprised that they would sell such rip offs so I left without buying anything. Oh well, there were many other great stores in Portland.

Later we drove up to the Alibi for cocktail hour. It was nice to see it again and I enjoyed checking out all the gorgeous hanging lamps in the back room and the Witco decor. As I remember from my last visit the drinks I had were way too sweet (I don't think they use fresh lime anymore) so I ordered a whiskey and soda for my next round. Then we paid a quick visit to a tiny old bar in Chinatown called Hung Far Low for some stiff ones (drinks that is)!

For dinner we headed south of town to Henry Ford's. I loved it! It's another classic Portland restuarant with a great cocktail lounge that has a large plate glass window at one end overlooking a large fountain of bubbles. You heard me right - bubbles. You have to see it in person but you can see a blurry picture of it on their web site in the photo album, as well as their marvelous sign.
http://www.henryfords.com/
There is a piano bar with a marvelous singer/piano player and a dance floor, where all the older youngsters of Portland love to cut a rug. I had a marvelous dinner of huge local oysters and their signature 30 oz. Porterhouse steak and a good bottle of wine. We had Spanish coffees in large brandy snifters after dinner in the lounge, while listening to regulars singing classic songs at the piano bar. A night to remember!

But Saturday was topped by Sunday. After a drive out the old Columbia River highway to do a bit of sightseeing we had lunch at Tad's Chicken and Dumplings, a great old roadhouse diner with excellent dumplings the size of a softball.

Then what we had all been waiting for: our visit to Castaway Cove! Mark and Maggie welcomed us like royalty into their private oasis. I was overwhelmed by the size of it and the detail. The longer you looked the more there was too see (like mrsmiley's tiki bar) so I slowly sipped my excellent Mai Tai that Mark made with a float of Demarara 151 and walked around taking it all in. I especially loved the fountain, the custom bar, the lighting, and the "beach" with firepit just outside the door. Being so big a room I can see how a big party would work marvelously in such a place. We got to meet some of Mark and Maggie's friends and neighbors (all splendid people) and listened to Mark tell his tales of when various people visited the Cove like Sven, Kailuageoff, and woofmutt (who brought a mysterious bottle that was merely labeled "RUM" that is displayed on a shelf above the bar).

Mahalo to Mark and Maggie for making our last night in Portland our best one.

Post #9315 by thejab on Thu, Sep 26, 2002 1:34 PM