I had some unfinished business in the Pacific Northwest. And by business I mean vegan food to eat. This time I flew into Seattle only to head straight to Portland, Oregon, thee vegan capital of the country. But after a long transatlantic flight, we weren’t going to make it all the way to Portland without something to tide us over. Luckily Olympia, Washington had an amazing hot dog stand with vegan options and a ton of free toppings! They had vegan-only equipment too. Olympia Hot Dog Company was a great find and the perfect remedy for our Eastern Standard hunger. I had the vegan beer brat, loaded with sauerkraut, relish, olives, ketchup and mustard. We also found an amazing spice house where we bought exotic salts that made our entire trip smell like an applewood campfire. So our real lunch destination was Portobello Vegan Trattoria, Portland’s delicious Mediterranean-inspired cafe. This is one classy place with a damngood seasonal menu of fresh Northwest vegan grub. We picked the Chao cheese ball (made by Field Roast, we later discovered) with a baguette and some of the most scrumptious apples I ever did taste. For the main event, I ordered the portobello steak with crispy polenta and Swiss chard. My dish was perfection and the half portion is more than enough. Presentation, texture and taste at a community-conscious eatery. Well done, Portobello!
The following afternoon it was Vita Cafe. I chose the Fishwich, as I am a sucker for deep-fried and tartar sauce. The thick slab of tofu “fish” was fried to a crispy perfection and not at all greasy. Add a dollop of tartar and a soft bun and you got a very pleasing sandwich indeed, one of the freshest and tastiest of the greasy spoon genre. Our side was one of their corn cakes: sliced banana, ginger and cilantro corn cake with a coconut milk dipping sauce. It was very good but mismatched to our meals. I snapped a pic of their desserts although we had to decline, saving ourselves for the vegan strip mall.