Thai Pasta

January 28, 2008 by 15 Comments

Thai_Pasta_Dish.JPGLocation: SW 4th and Hall Parking Lot (near PSU)

Description: “Special Variety Better Choice” or so says the menu at Thai Pasta, located at the popular “PSU Cart Pod” on SW 4th. Not much pasta here, but some noodle dishes like the ubiquitous (but tasty) pad thai, hearty Pad Kee Mao noodles (also known as drunken noodles), and the stir fried wide rice noodles called Pad See Ew. ($5.00).

Thai soups like Tom Yum, Tom Kai, and a soothing vegetable soup are only $3.00 for a generous “small” portions, $5.00 for a large carton that can easily feed two.

Other options include curries, fried rice dishes, and several aromatic stir fries such as the “Lovely Ginger” or a nice version of Cashew Chicken (which can also be ordered with tofu instead). Appetizers include satay chicken skewers with peanut sauce ($1.50 each), spring rolls ($1.00 each), salad rolls (2 for $3.00), or something called, “Oh My God” ( I have no idea what exactly it is – something fried with cream cheese and crab and served with plum sauce). Thai iced tea or coffee is only $1.50.

Everything on the menu is $5.00 or less. Open until 5PM. Lots of vegetarian options.

Sample Menu: Coming Soon!

Hours: Mon-Fri 10:30 Am to 5:00 Pm

Phone: 503-548-3096

Website: None

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Filed Under: Downtown, Lunch, SW 4th and Hall (PSU), Thai

Bashas

January 23, 2008 by 16 Comments

Bashas_Sign.JPG

Location: PSU Park Blocks next to Smith Center
 (SW Park and SW Harrison)

Description: Lebanese food. An oldie but a goodie on the cart scene at PSU, food here was once petty mediocre but has improved quite a bit in the past few years.

Expect your usual falafel, sharwarma, hummus, etc. Food comes in either huge “plate” portions ($5.00 – $8.00) or in wrapped flatbread sandwiches ($5.00). The downside of Basha’s is that Gyros are nothing special, but the bread does taste fresh. The upside to Basha’s is that they have a ton of different hot sauces to add to your heart’s delight. This cart is also a little too fond of the amount of tahini they use in their hummus and baba ganouj for my tastes, but no matter. Food here is cheap, it’s filling, it’s relatively healthy and fast. What more do you want? Bashas_Menu.JPG

Sample Menu:

Sandwiches – $5.00 – Chicken shawarma, kafta, falafel, gyros, hummus, baba ganouj, feta cheese

Plates – $3.00 – $8.00 -Chicken Shawarma or garlic chicken ($6.00), Kafta ($6.00), Lamb Shank ($7.50), Gyros ($6.00)

Basha Plate Special ($8.50) comes with choice of meat, hummus, falafel, basamati rice, vegetables, bread and sauces

Spinach pie ($3.50) – spinach, red onions and spices baked in homeade dough

Meza Vegetarian ($7.00) falafel, hummus, baba ganouj, stuffed grape leaves

Soups – $3.50 – Vegetarian lentil served with pita

Baklava – (sorry didn’t catch the price)

Hours: Mon-Fri lunch-late afternoon

Phone: unknown

Website: unknown

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Filed Under: Downtown, Falafel, Lunch, Middle Eastern

Boonrod Thai

January 21, 2008 by 3 Comments

Boonrod_Cart.JPG

Location: SW 4th and Hall

Description: Big surprise, they serve Thai food at this popular cart. I haven’t yet eaten here myself yet though, so I can’t vouch for it. All choices $5.00, except salad rolls (two for $3.00). Stays open a little later than most carts (4PM). Most options come with a choice of chicken or tofu.

Serves rotating daily lunch specials Mon-Fri for $5.00 including things like a spicy non-coconut milk Jungle curry (the kind of curry generally found in the north of Thailand); yellow curry fried rice; and pad woon sen (a pad thai type noodle dish with clear bean thread noodles eggs, green onions, bean sprouts, and ground peanuts).

Sample Menu: Daily rotating specials for $5.00 (see above)

Regular menu $5.00 – choice of chicken or tofu. Non-noodle dishes come with steamed white jasmine rice.

  1. Pad Thai
  2. Pad Kemao (wide rice noodles stir fried with eggs and veggies)
  3. Fried Rice
  4. Pra Ram (steamed mixed veggies topped with peanut sauce)
  5. Red curry
  6. Green curry
  7. Yellow curry
  8. Mussamun curry
  9. Panang curry

Hours: Mon-Fri 10:30AM – 4:00PM

Phone: (503) 290-4466

Website: None

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Filed Under: Downtown, Lunch, SW 4th and Hall (PSU), Thai, Vegetarian Options

al Forno Ferruzza

January 14, 2008 by 26 Comments

Al Forno Ferruzza_1.JPGUpdate 11/2009: This cart has now opened a full blown restaurant at NE 27th and Alberta. The cart is only open once in a while for events. Please call them at (315) 523-3407 to confirm.  Thanks!

Location: Sw 4th Ave and College St. (near PSU)

Description: Portland now has another food cart serving tasty and traditional Sicilian street food.

Pizza, calzones, and daily specials ($5.00) like lasagna, eggplant parmesan, and pastas make up the offerings at this large purple cart on the corner of SW 4th Ave. and College Street near PSU, while desserts such as house made cannolis, cakes, pies, and brownies round out the offerings. The food is good. Really good. For Stephen Ferruzza, the affable young owner, is some kind of Sicilian food savant. Originally from upstate NY, he comes equipped with some pretty impressive credentials including stints working as a chef at the Lake Placid Lodge, and a Sicilian father who taught him his trade. Stephen’s biggest love however, is baking.

Pizza.JPG

And it shows. Pizza aficionados usually agree that one of the most important parts of the pizza is the crust, and Ferruzza makes a crust to rival that of the best in Portland. Equipped with a real pizza oven that gets up to 700 degrees F, a true slow risen dough, and a touch that only a passionate and true baker can have, his crust is a perfect balance between crusty and soft, thin in the right spots and thick around the fat edges, and has little air bubbles and the occasional spot of char on the bottom indicating it was made in the traditional and proper manner. It’s pretty darn close to a slice of heaven if you ask me. Toppings are basic and include the classic pizza margherita, pizza carne (choice of pepperoni or hard salumi), or a pizza verdura that features seasonal veggies. Pizzas come in three sizes – a large slice is $3.00, a nine- inch or so round “personal pizza” is $6.00, and a whole pie goes for $14.00, no matter the toppings. Stephen doesn’t skimp on quality either, using well regarded San Marzano tomatoes for his vibrant sauce and quality mozzarella, fresh basil and different seasonal vegetables for his toppings. Al_Forno_Ovens.JPG

The calzones are large and well worth the $5.00 and come as a choice of Classico (ricotta, mozzarella, and basil),Verdura (seasonal vegetables), or Carne (with pepperoni or salumi). In addition, Stephen, with his love and knowledge of baking, also makes his own bread, “soft and Sicilian style, not that hard crunchy kind found everywhere else in Portland,” he says. Bread comes as a side for the daily specials, or a whole loaf can be purchased for $3.00.

I’m always amazed when I find cart food like this tucked away in the corners and parking lots of Portland, especially when it is of this high caliber and made by someone who truly cares about his craft. Highly recommended!

Sample Menu:

Pizzas – $3.00, $6.00 or $14.00 – Margherita (tomatoes, basil, mozzarella), carne (mozzarella, basil, peperoni or salumi), or verdura (seasonal vegetables).

Calzones – $5.00- with a side of tomato sauce – classico (ricotta, mozzarella, basil), verdura (seasonal vegetables), carne (mozzarella and choice of pepperoni or salumi)

Specials – $5.00 – with fresh baked Sicilian bread – rotating daily specials with things like lasagna, eggplant parmesan, pastas, etc.

Fresh baked bread – $3.00

Rotating desserts – $3.00 – cannoli, cakes, pies, brownies, etc

Hours: (call for hours)

Phone: (315) 523-3407

Website: Unknown

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Filed Under: CLOSED CARTS Tagged With: ,

It's Raining Food Carts!

January 10, 2008 by Leave a Comment

New Food Carts
Asian Station, a pan-Asian cart on SW 10th and Alder is now open for business. I haven’t seen their actual menu yet, but it looks like they are serving things like noodles, the tasty Malaysian flat bread known as Roti, dumplings and the like. If you’ve tried them, drop me a line and let me know your thoughts. A Belgian Frites stand is also opening soon on the corner of SE 12th and Hawthorne. Who doesn’t like good french fries? We’ll keep you posted…

Indoor Eating Options
Just because the weather outside is frightful, don’t forget about eating at the carts. Rather than sitting and eating your lunch in the rain there are several indoor areas with public seating available near a few of the “cart pods”. Our favorites?

  • An alert reader turned us onto the Galleria on SW 10th and Washington, home to the Western Culinary Institute. Apparently they have several tables and chairs scattered about and a few people we know take their cart food there to chow down.
  • The U.S. Bank Tower (aka Big Pink) on SW 5th and Alder has a decent amount of open seating (tables and chairs) upstairs on the “mezzanine” level of the shopping area (the area near the Starbucks and gift shop) and I have eaten plenty of lunches up there myself gazing down at the swarming office workers on the floor below.
  • The carts near Portland State University on both the PSU campus itself (on the park blocks) and at the “cart pod” on SW 4th and Jefferson are close to several quasi-public spaces. Smith Center at 1825 SW Broadway has terrific seating on almost every floor and lots of tables and chairs on both the first and second floors near the cafeteria. The newly build Meseeh Engineering Building, at 1930 SW 4th also has seating.

Real Taste of India vs. New Taste of India
It’s a taste-off! Well, sort of. At least with one person’s taste buds anyway. Stumptown Vegan eats at both carts, writes it up in extensive detail, and drum roll please…

After plenty of taste tests I have come to the conclusion that the Real Taste of India is the better cart for my taste buds, though many of my co-workers disagree.

You can read the whole thing here.

What do Food Carts Portland Readers think? What’s your favorite Indian Cart and why? Hmm, perhaps a blind taste test challenge is in order with a panel of judges? We could also throw a taste test of India Chaat House as well.

Filed Under: NEWS
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