Nostrana Restaurant

We hadn't been to Nostrana for a long time and we hadn't originally planned to go there last night, but we got a sudden pizza craving and we decided to give them another chance. When they first opened they were awarded restaurant of the year by the Willamette Week. What followed was hour long waits and a sever strain on the already mediocre service. While we always enjoyed the food the service was too bad to bear, so we dropped them from the rotation. Back to the present. We were seated right away, probably due to the holiday weekend, and were pleasantly greeted by one of the long time waitresses who recognized us. We stuck to the stuff we have enjoyed in the past, the Nostrana salad, a radicchio Caesar and the Margareta pizza with prosciutto and arugula. Both looked a little smaller than we remembered, but tasted great. We also had a nice bottle of Barbaresco, my only quibble being the wine list feels a little over priced. In a nice touch the waitress comped out desert, a great pear and Marion berry crisp, which was delicious. She told us they were glad to see us back, and I have to say it worked. I don't think it'll be as long between trips next time.

Nostrana
1401 SE Morrison St

Portland, OR 97214

(503) 234-2427

Pambiche Cuban Restaurant

Barbara and I took our bikes out of the garage for our annual summer ride down to Pambiche Cuban Restaurant this weekend. It is an easy downhill ride to the restaurant, but a little harder ride home full of great food. We started the eating fest with maduros, fried ripe plantains that taste great with a little banana sauce. There are two kinds, we prefer the mushy maduros over the tostones which are more like french fries. We also got an empanada, a crisp pie filled with rellenos, the bridie of Cuba.

There are a lot of great entrees to choose from, my favorites are the Plato Cubano, a typical Cuban plate of marinated pork, served with Cuban beans & rice. Ropa Vieja or "old clothes," garlicky shredded beef with yellow onions and green peppers, and of course Cuban beans & rice. And finally Vaca Frita or "fried cow," citrus marinated shredded beef with garlic and onions, and you guessed it Cuban beans & rice. Pambiche serves brunch until 2 PM on weekends, so if you want one of he above mentioned entrees, you need to eat a little later. They have a full bar, great Cuban soft drinks and tropical ice tea, and a good selection of deserts. The outside seating is great as long as you can stay in the shade.

Pambiche Cuban Restaurant

2811 NE Glisan St

Portland, OR 97232-2433

(503) 233-0511

Dog on the Bus

On Tuesday a dog got on the bus at SE Belmont and 30th. At first I thought it was a service dog, but then the driver realised it wasn't and tried to shoo him off. When he got off, he ran into the road and almost got hit by a car, so someone ran out and pulled him back on the bus. The bus driver said he was going to call the dispatcher and have them call someone to help, so we kept the dog on the bus all the way to downtown. He was a really good looking dog, but he did not have a collar on. As I was about to get off I heard the bus driver say that the dispatcher had told him to take the dog back to where he found him. All day I was stressed out that he just let him off the bus and something bad happened to him. I wish I had done more to help the dog and not been so worried about getting to work.

Bay 13 Restaurant

We had a goodbye dinner for one of my workmates at Bay 13 last night and I have to say it served the purpose. It was a beautiful summer night, so ideally we would have sat outside, but we didn't make a reservation in time, so we sat in the dinning room. They also have two long "community" tables, but we weren't up for sitting next to people we didn't know. We started with a selection of their sushi rolls, which were good, but not great. It was fine as an appetizer, but does not stand up to other restaurants in town. If there was a stand out it is the Ahi "Poke." We then worked our way through several other appetizers: the crab legs, clams, snap peas and shitake mushrooms and the gnocchi which were all great. Of the group, the crab legs were the star. To finish, we had one each of the deserts. Again, all very nice, but the warm brownie sundae killed. They also have a nice full bar. I would recommend this place if you have a large group. The outside seating is great. I have heard it can be a bit of a meat market on weekend nights.

Bay 13 Restaurant

701 NW 13TH AVE

Portland, OR 97209

503.227.1133

Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy

For some reason the first Warren Zevon record I bought was Bad Luck Steak in Dancing School. I don't know why I bought this record, but I really liked it and it led me to check out some of his older records. Luckily I got hold of his 1978 release Excitable Boy before too long and wore it out. Most of the songs on this record are on the seemingly endless greatest hits records that have come out: "Johnny Strikes Up The Band," "Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner,"Excitable Boy" and his biggest radio hit, "Werewolves Of London." Zevon lived a pretty hard life (he battled demons as they like to say) with two extended bouts with alcoholism. Bad Luck Steak was actually the first record back on his first sober stint in 1980. Although he always garnered critical success, sales did not follow, which led to him falling off the wagon and a few lost years. Unfortunately Zevon's hard living seems to have caught up with him. In 2002 he was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. He decided to record one more record with a bunch of his famous friends called The Wind. I have included this record in this review in case you flake out and buy a greatest hits record. You should buy this for no other reason than to hear him sing Bob Dylan's "Knocking On Heaven's Door;" this song is a lot more powerful when you hear it from a person that knows he only has a couple of months to live.

What do you think about on the bus?

I ride the bus to and from work almost every day. This morning I saw a sign on the bus that said, "Tell us what you think about on the bus." They were offering free bus passes as rewards and had examples like, "I shouldn't be ease dropping" and "What am I going to eat for dinner."

Here is what I think about on the bus:

What is that smell?
Is that guy going to throw up on me?
Is she crazy or just high?
Why is this person touching me?
Is it better to get off and walk the rest of the way to work or hope this guy gets off soon?
Why is he yelling at his cell phone?
How many cans one person fit on the bus?

I'll let you know if I win a free pass.

Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel 3 Melt

Peter Gabriel is a difficult person to wrap your arms around. He was clearly the best musician in Genesis. When he left the band the music became insipid pop songs, but they exploded and had huge commercial success. Rumour has it that he was super jealous. Worse yet, Genesis drummer Phil Collins becomes a big solo star and sells more records than Gabriel. Still the best music wins in the end. Phil Collins and the Genesis of the 80's are forgotten and Peter Gabriel lives on as one of the best of his generation. And the best of several great records is Melt. You may love So because it had more hits, but Melt has stood the test of time better. There is no better song than "Biko."