Cousin E picked Salvador Molly's. Umm, what exactly is "pirate cookin'"?
Was this "pirate" decor? This mash of oddities? For some reason, the garage door reminded me of a restaurant I dined at in Bellingham, Washington long ago. It was my first job interview. Some of my potential co-workers took me out for lunch. It was the first time I had goat cheese on pizza. I think there was chocolate peanut butter pie for dessert. They really went all-out to show me around that weekend, even taking me up into the mountains and Vancouver, B.C. Unfortunately, the pay offer was abysmal. Anyway, sorry, I tend to go off on tangents.
We sat outside, although the patio probably would have been nicer if there was a view and not of the street. Complimentary peanuts and a bucket for the shells. I wondered if this was one of those gimmicky restaurants, you know, the places where you're encouraged to throw peanut shells on the floor and toss rolls of toilet paper across the room (ie. Dick's Last Resort in Chicago where I took my roommate one year to celebrate hers and Elvis's birthdays)? See? Tangents.
The menu was a hodgepodge of American, Caribbean, and Latin cuisines with an out-of-left-field African or Asian flavor thrown in. What in the world?!
Were we adventurous enough to try?
Evidently not this day. I was still rather full from lunch and the descriptions of the fusion cuisine weren't compelling enough for me to try them.
Cousin T ordered the cotija Caesar salad, Romaine lettuce with garlic Caesar dressing, cotija cheese, and garlic cheese croutons, $4.95. It was a little bland actually. I make way better Caesar salad dressing.
She also ordered barbecued pork sliders, $1.50 each. I might have had one of her sliders.
Her husband ordered Pele's Volcano, slow-roasted pulled pork, tamarindo BBQ sauce, and melted cheese, $10.50. Tasted like the sliders with cheese on top.
Cousin E got Tsunami Surfer Tacos with a choice of kahlua pork, jerk chicken, or Yucatan chicken on white corn tortillas with black beans and yellow rice, $8.50. I tried some chicken. It was OK too.
I ordered a salad. I know! Boring, right? I told ya I wasn't really hungry. I just wanted to hang out with my cousins. I tried looking up this salad on the restaurant's website, but couldn't find it. It was rather dull. The nopales was what interested me, but they only sprinkled a few slivers on top. Nopales, tomatoes, pickled onions, pumpkin seeds, cotija cheese, atop a bed of mixed greens. Sounded good in theory?
The restaurant touted their Great Balls of Fire, habanero cheese fritters with a side of habanero sauce, two for $3.50.
Evidently, these balls were on Man v. Food, Season 1, Episode 11. There's a YouTube video, not sure how long it'll be up. He ate five balls with all of the sauce. Of course, I didn't know anything about that at the time. Just that we decided to split two balls amongst the four of us. I have pictures of us laughing and enjoying our dinner.
Before.
After, we were red-faced and in pain.
I couldn't even finish my half.
Chopped bits of habaneros in habanero sauce?
Great balls of fire indeed!
We gulped a whole pitcher of water.
The burn!
It hurt!
So bad!
Sooo verrry bad!
In my quest to eat around the world, I guess I should have paid a little more attention to the menu. I see dishes from Barbados, Bhutan, Namibia, and Senegal. They also have a Vietnamese beef dip and some variations on Thai and Argentinian dishes, but I've had those cuisines before. Most of the dishes were unremarkable, but I might be tempted to come back just to add those cuisines to my checklist.
But I'm staying away from any and all balls of fire.
All Oregon posts can be found with the tag Series: Oregon, but I suggest reading this particular trip in this order:
PDX and My Parents' Chihuahuas
Salvador Molly's - Portland - Oregon
Why My Mom's Banh Canh Cua (Vietnamese Thick Noodle Soup with Crab) Is Better Than Your Momma's
Ha & VL - Portland - Oregon
Karma Cafe - Portland - Oregon
Oc Xao Nam He (Vietnamese Clams Sauteed with Mushrooms and Chives)
Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden - Grant Park - Portland - Oregon
Pok Pok - Portland - Oregon
Portland Farmers Market at PSU - Portland - Oregon
Downtown Portland - Oregon Redux
Mill Ends Park (Smallest Park in the World) - Portland - Oregon
Tabor - Portland - Oregon
Kenny & Zuke's Delicatessen - Portland - Oregon
Mom's Chao Vit (Vietnamese Rice Porridge with Duck)
Oriental Food Value Supermarket - Portland - Oregon
Mom's Bun Bo Hue (Vietnamese Hue-Style Beef Noodle Soup)
Salvador Molly's
1523 SW Sunset Blvd
Portland, OR 97239
503-293-1790
Sunday to Tuesday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Wednesday and Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
$2 Happy Bites
Sunday to Thursday 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. to closing
Friday and Saturday 10 p.m. to closing
*****
1 year ago today, packaged, but my first taste of teh tarik (Malaysian pulled milk tea) and pandan kaya (Malaysian screwpine leaves and coconut jam).
2 years ago today, and we had a winner on my first blog giveaway.
3 years ago today, still my favorite Hong Kong-style cafe, Baccali Cafe & Rotisserie - Alhambra.
yum. these pictures made me hungry.
ReplyDeleteThey had pirates in Salvador? :O
ReplyDeleteLiLi,
ReplyDeleteThese pictures came out much nicer than I expected!
Burumun,
Evidently, pirates are around the world?