BAR PILOT

Happy Hour of the Week

Hop over to the Hop & Vine

Posted by: John Chandler on May 20, 2010 at 11:00AM 5 Comments

As a business model, trying to be everything to everyone is a guaranteed fail—unless you’re Applebee’s, of course. But occasionally someone with exceptional taste and modest ambitions can accomplish amazing things. This is certainly the case with owner Yetta Vorobik and her protean establishment The Hop and Vine on North Killingsworth.

Billed as a bottle shop that features local food and drink, Vorobik has created a charming oasis of comestible culture. Her shop combines the earthy elegance of a rustic French lunch counter, with the bonhomie of a neighborhood pub, and the casually Dockered sophistication of a wine bar. Here you have the option of relaxing with a smartly prepared cocktail from a small, but well-curated selection of spirits. Brew believers will squeal with delight over her six rotating taps and immense selection of craft beer by the bottle, which you are welcome to pop open and quaff on the premises. Vorobik’s discriminating eye extends to a wine collection that features hard-to-find vintages alongside regional varieties that are both palatable and reasonably priced.

OK, that’s all well and good. Now when do we get to the Happy Hour part of our program? It starts at 3 p.m. every day, but it’s especially captivating on Sundays (3-midnight) and Mondays and Tuesdays (3-8). The rest of the week it’s an all-too-brief 3-6.

Ever conscious of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s increasingly fickle ideas about Happy Hour advertising, Vorobik insists you must show up to find out about drink specials, but typically it’s a buck off of tap beer or one of the 20 or so wines available by the glass. Last time I was in, I enjoyed a frothy pint of Laurelwood’s outstanding Work Horse IPA for $3, and there were also pours from Lompoc Brewing, Oakshire Brewing, and Delaware’s renowned Dogfish Head Brewery. If none of the draughts are to your liking, simply reach into the cooler for anything from the Heater Allen Brewery in McMinnville. You won’t be sorry.

The food is light and savory, ranging from a plate of rosemary olives ($2) to bacon-wrapped dates ($3) to surprisingly filling comfort food, like the tomato soup with grilled cheese panini ($5). Currently on the menu there is a Nutella and peanut butter panini with vanilla ice cream for $6 that should make your heart flutter with delight—right before it stops.

At the front of the house there’s an assortment of comfy couches and for summer lollygagging, the Hop and Vine’s backyard patio is as serene as an English garden. The main thing I loved about the place was that I felt right at home about 30 seconds after I walked in. And that might be the best Happy Hour bargain of them all.

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Tags: Happy Hour, Wine, Cocktails, Craft Beers, Cheap Eats

The Beer Belly Dinner

Dining event offers abundance of brews and foodstuffs

Posted by: Emma Hall on May 19, 2010 at 01:45PM 2 Comments

Photo: Emma Hall

Starter: Fraga Farms Goat Cheeses with flat bread, pickled pear and habañero almonds. Served with Cascade’s Spring Gose.

View Slideshow » Photo: Emma Hall

Starter: Fraga Farms Goat Cheeses with flat bread, pickled pear and habañero almonds. Served with Cascade’s Spring Gose.

View Slideshow » Photo: Emma Hall

Appetizer: Chef Jeff’s Cold Smoked Salmon Canapes with Creme Fraiche and Dill. Served with 2009 The Vine.

View Slideshow » Photo: Emma Hall

Appetizer: beer-battered frog legs with caramel sauce. Served with Cascade’s Busta Nut Brown.

View Slideshow » Photo: Emma Hall

Entree: pan-seared rack of spring lamb from SuDan Farms with cherry demi-glace, quinoa tabouli and corn. Served with Cascade Kriek.

View Slideshow » Photo: Emma Hall

Dessert: Beer Belly cheesecake with stone fruit compote. Served with a 2009 Apricot Ale.

ON THE SECOND THURSDAY of each month, EastBurn plays host to the gastronomically challenging Beer Belly Dinner. Pairing a local brewery with the efforts of noteworthy chefs, it’s a four-course feast with accompanying beers for $35. The event is a smashing deal for the amount and quality of food—not to mention the sheer number of award-winning brews that are served—so much so that I almost reluctant to tell anyone about it. Plus, the proceeds all go to RideOn, a local nonprofit whose members will drive you and your car home anywhere in Portland proper for only $15. I admit that I placed one of their cards in my wallet—for a friend.

This month, the featured brewery was Cascade Brewing. Brewers Ron Gansberg and Curtis Bain were on hand to mingle and answer any questions, with Ron looking resplendent in his Hawaiian shirt embellished with hops, no less. Portland chefs Jeff Pagel and Joe Dougherty were also present to introduce each course and quell my fears about eating frog legs.

Cascade presented an amazing array of sour and fruit beers. For someone who only first tried sour beer a few weeks ago, I am now a true believer in these deliciously sweet, palate-cleansing beers.

Though the food and beers were out of this world, the best part of the Beer Belly Dinner is the company. You sit outside in EastBurn’s four-season patio at long tables, squashed in with an interesting array of folks: everyone from craft beer lovers to local beer celebrities. I was fortunate to be totally surrounded by good-natured beer lovers (including the Beer Goddess herself, Lisa Morrison), which made the event really fun and educational.

The starter course was assorted artisanal goat cheeses from Fraga Farm which paired perfectly with our first beer of the evening, the Spring Gose, a seasonal salty-sour ale with orange accents.

The first appetizer was Chef Jeff’s cold-smoked salmon rosettes, which were so tasty that when our waitress returned offering a tray of seconds, one-by-one our entire table snatched up them all up. The salmon was served with Cascade’s 2009 The Vine, a sour beer made with white chardonnay grapes.

The second appetizer was beer-battered frog legs swimming in a savory caramel sauce. “I’ve never had frog legs before-so I jumped all over it,” (har, har) explained brewer Curtis about his choice. I was also a frog-leg newbie, but the chefs insisted they tasted like a mix of halibut and chicken, which turned out to be an accurate description. Our table joked about the Schwarzenegger-sized legs as we scarfed them down, but I’m not sure I would eat them again if they weren’t covered in crispy beer batter. These were drizzled in a caramel sauce made from the paired beer, Busta Nut Brown. This malty beer was quite different from the sours, with its coffee-like aroma and dark-mahogany color.

The entrée was served buffet style, with plenty of extra helpings to go around. The main dish was pan-seared rack of lamb from SuDan Farm, which is available at the Portland Farmers Market. Vegetarians, avert your eyes: the chef proudly confided that the lamb had been slaughtered less that 24 hours before it hit our plates in all of its glory. The lamb was served with a cherry demi-glace that matched the accompanyin beer, 2009 Cascade Kriek, a fruity beer made from two different types of cherries.

Next up was the surprise taster that turned out to be the Noyeaux, an ale aged in white port barrels with 20 pounds of raspberries and toasted apricot pits. “In my opinion, it’s the one world-class beer we’ve made,” said brewer Ron. Though I would disagree about it being the only one, it was a true standout brew.

Finally, when we didn’t think we could fit any more food or beer in our swollen bellies, we were served white chocolate cheesecake served with a stone fruit compote, which of course paired perfectly with the 2009 Apricot Ale (A-ha! Thus the abundance of apricot pits that painstakingly were removed and used in the Noyeaux).

I’m not sure I could choose my favorite Cascade beer from the dinner, as The Vine, Noyeaux, and Kriek are now all very near and dear to my heart. I definitely recommend the Beer Belly Dinners for the vast array of food, top-notch beers, and terrific company. See you at the table!

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Tags: Beer, Slideshow, Portland Chefs, Craft Beers

American Craft Beer Week

Just another excuse to chug a mug

Posted by: Emma Hall on May 17, 2010 at 04:00PM 2 Comments

It could be argued that every week in Portland is craft beer week, but this week it’s official. Get yourself excited about toasting our mighty craft beer industry and then start wishing it was July (Oregon Craft Beer Month). Here are some local events to pour over:

Full Sail Brewing has come out with its own signature brew for the event, a German style weizen bock called the “Vendell Veizen.” You can belly up to the bar at the Harborside Pilsner Room if you’re craving a pint.

Lompoc Brewing will be pouring a special beer (read: tapping a limited-edition keg!) at each of their local pubs to celebrate the week. Today at Oaks Bottom, Wednesday at New Old Lompoc, Thursday at Fifth Quadrant and Friday/Saturday at Sidebar.

PDX Green Dragon is serving over 50 American craft beers this week, so head down to quaff a few and sign the Declaration of Beer Independence.

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Tags: Beer, Beer Festivals, Craft Beers

Happy Hour of the Week

Poor Richard’s is an oldie but goodie

Posted by: John Chandler on May 14, 2010 at 11:00AM 5 Comments

Once, while getting bombed at My Father’s Place with writer and rocker Willy Vlautin, we talked about our mutual fondness for old man bars.

“I like drinking with old folks,” he said. “They’ve already done it.” Since we were on our fifth round, I just nodded sagely in agreement rather than ask him to elaborate. His statement makes perfect sense. I would rather listen to tall tales about someone’s glorious (and probably fabricated) past than about unrealized ambitions in the present. I mean, if you’ve heard one hipster tell you about his new Brian Wilson-influenced band with dueling glockenspiels, you’ve heard them all. But listening to a Korean War vet talk about the time he changed the oil in Eisenhower’s jeep? Oh baby.

Poor Richard’s at NE 39th and Broadway is just such an ancient enclave. With “two-fer” steaks, a practice that’s been in place since the Nixon administration, and decor that suggests a disco-era IHOP, Poor Richard’s is a good spot to find the ghost of family dining. Grammy and Grampy treating the kids’ kids to root beer floats and French dip sandwiches, with pie and ice cream (vanilla please, none of that sinful chocolate) for dessert. It’s among the last of a dying breed.

The Almanac Room is Poor Richard’s sporty little bar, a drinking den for grizzled, blue-collar types. From 3–7 pm Sunday through Friday, loungers can swill puissant Happy Hour drinks ($3.75 for double wells) and partake of a generous bar menu. You can certainly do a heckuva lot worse than a burger and fries for $4.95, plump and crunchy onion rings for $2.95, and a more-than-respectable Caesar salad with chicken breast for $5.50.

On Tuesdays, oenophiles can get plenty of bang for their buck with glasses of house wine (red or white) for a measly dollar. I’m guessing it’s probably something from the finest vineyards of Des Moines and not a Willamette Valley pinot, but what do you want for 100 pennies?

Yet the mature clientele stands in odd contrast to the $5 specialty drinks listed on the chalkboard to the left of the fireplace. Here you can find such beguiling sorority sister sensations as an Apple Cosmo, a Jungle Love (Malibu rum, banana liqueur, and pineapple juice), and my personal favorite, the Grape Cooler (grape soda and vodka). I’ve heard of old timers entering their second childhood, but anyone ordering from this cloying cocktail list is probably looking for a senior citizen’s Spring Break.

And all too soon, I will become one of them. Closing time is at 10, so you can get home in time to see Murder She Wrote.

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Tags: Happy Hour, Cocktails, Cheap Eats

Dog Days

OK, ok, here’s a new post

Posted by: John Chandler on May 12, 2010 at 09:00AM 9 Comments

We’ve been hit with a beer tsunami at the office and I’m still sifting through all the stouts, pilsners, porters, reds, browns, IPAs, Imperial IPAs, CDAs, IRAs, ESBs, and CSNYs. Hey! These beers ain’t gonna drink themselves! I’ve even been (gasp!) forced to take my work home with me.

But I am well aware of my duties as a blogger, to bring fresh, relevant content to our website. So…

This is my pug-hua-hua (half pug, half chihuahua) Phoebe trying to get the last bit of curry out of a to-go container. She’s so cute! And then she totally got her head stuck and pawed feebly at the container while whimpering piteously. I had to call the fire department and then pay a big fine for wasting their time ’cause the container actually came off before they got there but I was too embarrassed to call them back and cancel the emergency.

How does this relate to beer, booze, and bars? I was drinking a bottle of 10 Barrel Sinistor Black Ale at the time. Part of the CDA movement—Cascadian Dark Ales—it has many of the flavor characteristics of a bigger beer, like a porter, but overall it’s less aggressive and more drinkable. Highly recommended.

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Tags: Craft Beers, pug-hua-hua

New Late Night Happy Hour!

Cheap Date: The Secret Society offers a new late-night happy hour to pair with a show at the Wonder Ballroom

Posted by: Emma Hall on May 07, 2010 at 02:00PM 0 Comments

Secret Society’s famous Moscow Mule.

JUST IN: The Secret Society now has a late night happy hour. We feel giddy with insider info just thinking about it, and we’re stone cold sober.

This 1907 historic building (at 116 NE Russell St.) was a real members-only space for most of the last century, but now anyone in-the-know can afford to drop by and enjoy a vintage cocktail. For seven days a week from 10 PM-close (12 AM Sun-Thu and 1 AM Fri & Sat) stop by and get some delicious food and $1 off fancy drinks. Every week there will be a rotating “Late Night Special” of fanciful drinking food—this week it’s Pulled Duck Confit Sliders with Rhubarb Sauce and Crispy Potatoes for only $8. Also, don’t miss the flatbread of the day, such as a recent concoction that included a parsley-pimento salad, chopped hard boiled egg and anchovy fillets, served with pimento anchovy oil for dipping ($7). The menu changes each Tuesday.

Next door to the Wonder Ballroom, The Secret Society is a great place to grab a drink after a show. Consider these rocker n’ booze pairings:

May 15: Kaki King
Listen to the talented Kaki King, the first female to be named a “Guitar God” by Rolling Stone Magazine, as she slap bass-es her way into your heart. After the show, head over to the Secret Society and try the popular Moscow Mule. It’s an old 50’s drink (possibly the first vodka cocktail) made with vodka, muddled lime and ginger beer, served in the traditional copper cup. Can’t get much classier than that.

May 30th: Nada Surf
Don’t miss Nada Surf, the alternative rock band hailing from the early 90’s when they make an appearance in Portland later this month. The band’s anthems are a great way to ring in the start of summer, and you can continue the celebration at Secret Society afterwards. Order a Monkey Gland (gin, OJ, grenadine and absinthe), an aptly named drink to sip on while you still have the goofy guys of Nada Surf’s lyrics stuck in your head.

June 8th: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Witness Krayzie-, Layzie-, Wish-, Flesh-n- and Bizzy Bone, members of one of the biggest-selling hip-hop groups of all time who are still rocking after 15+ years. After singing all the lyrics to “Foe tha Love of $” (you know you remember them all, well maybe not Bizzy’s), drop by the Secret Society for a classy high-roller drink like a Manhattan or Old-Fashioned.

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Tags: Happy Hour, Cheap Date, Cocktails

Happy Hour of the Week

Set sail for Silk

Posted by: Graham Bell on May 07, 2010 at 10:00AM 2 Comments

A bowl of spicy noodles and a frosty beer are the way to go at Silk’s happy hour.

Posh Pearl District eatery Silk is an exotic vessel afloat in a sea of fusion restaurants, and its happy hour (Silky Hour) is the bright sail attached to the mast. All nautical themes aside, this is a place where ten dollars lets you ăn vặt (eat a snack) of legit Vietnamese fare. An extensive cocktail list is the perfect pairing to the food specials served from 4-7 pm daily, but the mixed drinks (while delicious and full of unexpected ingredients) are a little pricey for the happy hour crowd. So if you will, follow my lead and choose street fare mixed with a little high society. A bottle of Ba Mươi Ba (33), a bona fide Việt bia (Vietnamese beer), will cost you $4.50 for the import tax, but other local brews are on tap for between $4-5, including the not-so-local Japanese Kirin. Partner that with an enormous bowl of beef or chicken phở for $5 and you won’t leave with an empty stomach. And a drink is a must because that noodle soup can get downright fiery with the addition of the jalapenos and hot sauce served on the side with the traditional basil, mint, plum sauce, bean sprouts and a wedge of lime.

If soup isn’t your bowl, then the Crazy Noodles ($6), Vietnamese salad rolls ($4), crispy rolls ($5) and caramelized chicken wings ($4) are all excellent distractions. Leave the _bánh mì _($5, multiple varieties) for another day though, because this street sandwich staple only hesitantly makes the transition from food cart to fine dining. Silky Hour is good enough to impress a date or a business associate in equal portions, but it’s an occasion that doesn’t lose sight of its open-air market roots.

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Tags: Happy Hour

What’s For Lunch?

We’re through playing chicken

Posted by: John Chandler on May 06, 2010 at 11:00AM 4 Comments

What’s the deal with fried chicken in this town? How come with the exception of the broasted bird at the Reel ‘M’ Inn, and a few other outliers, there’s no joy in Chickenville?
Yes, we featured an international chicken roundup a few months back, but where is that finger-lickin’ fowl that I seem to remember from the furthest recesses of my childhood (or perhaps from a previous lifetime)? Is KFC my only option? If so, shoot me now.

The Swamp Shack, the nearly-impossible-to-resist Cajun cart on SW Fifth and Stark has temporarily pacified my cluck lust. For $7.50 the lucky luncher can walk away with two tree-trunk-sized chicken tenders fried to a delicate and peppery crunch. The meat is cooked through correctly: chewy (but not rubbery), with ghostly spices still lingering in the crust.

It also comes with a smattering of corn and mashed potatoes, but the coup de grace is delivered by the smoky, slow-burning crawfish gravy. When the chicken is deftly dragged through the spuds and spicy sauce, my taste buds ring, flash, and go “tilt” like a KISS pinball machine that’s been slapped silly by a liquored-up Gypsy Joker.

Be advised, these are boneless pieces. If part of your pleasure lies in the atavistic crunch of wing and drumstick being introduced to your choppers, well, I can’t help you. But it’s damn good chicken.

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Tags: Food Carts

Workin’ Too Hard

Can’t see my desk for the beer

Posted by: John Chandler on May 05, 2010 at 10:00AM 5 Comments

I’m getting buried in my work. I’ve been procrastinating with this, that, and the other, and things are really piling up. I need to have all of this beer consumed by Friday. Not only quaffed, but thoroughly analyzed for hop and malt aromas, mouth-feel, flavor, bitterness, carbonation, balance, and finish.

I wonder if I can get on that show Dirty Jobs?

Enough self-pity. A task well begun is half done.

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Brew Love

Apex pours its heart out

Posted by: John Chandler on Apr 29, 2010 at 11:00AM 9 Comments

Apex, the new beer bar at SE 12th and Division. (Below) A dynamite pint of Upright No. 7

I didn’t bring a coat with a hood to work yesterday, so by the time I made it over to Apex, the new beer bar on SE Division, I resembled a waterlogged wombat. However the sight of 30 lovely taps pouring everything from Hopworks Imperial Red (9.3 percent ABV) to Thomas Kemper root beer (0 percent ABV) proved most revivifying. German and Belgian styles also are well represented here.

Located in the former home of Lovecraft Biofuels, Apex has abundant outdoor seating that sadly was going unused, just because the rain was coming down in bathtubs. Inside, the renovated industrial space is freshly painted and exploding with customer chatter. The room is dominated by a lengthy bar and there’s a trio of pinball machines in the foyer. Like Hopworks, Apex has identified itself as a bike-friendly establishment, with racks for helmets and a line of wall hooks for backpacks.

There’s no kitchen, but Apex abuts Los Gorditos a newish Mexican restaurant with scads of vegetarian options, and hungry visitors are encouraged to order chow there and bring it back. Since Apex doesn’t serve hard alcohol, they aren’t required by the OLCC to offer the ubiquitous salads and paninis found at every other start-up pub.

I was seated at the bar trying to ignore the puddles that were forming all around me when I was struck by Cupid’s arrow. The beer I was sipping was insanely tasty. I’ve had good fortune with beers from Portland’s Upright Brewing, and my luck was holding. Upright’s No. 7, described as a “strong farmhouse ale” is a burly and complex Belgian-style brew with a high, dry, sour taste cushioned with fruit and spice notes. “Holy crap, this is delicious,” I said to drinking buddy Lucy. Unconvinced she yanked the pint glass out of my mitt and took a healthy pull.

“Wow, that’s really good,” she agreed. We made plans to break into the Upright Brewery that very night and purloin the entire inventory of No. 7, but neither of us had access to a really big truck. Curses! Foiled again!

On that note, now is as good a time as any to let the brewing community know that myself and editor Brian Barker are working on a big beer feature for the July issue of Portland Monthly. We’re currently quaffing quality beers from both Portland and from around the state to determine a greatest hits pick list. Got some suggestions? Let us know. The only caveat is that the beer should be available to the public year-round.

If any brewers want to drop off samples at the office, please bring us your kegs, growlers, bottles, buckets, and to-go cups. This is called research and it’s something we journalists take great pride in. And if you could bring along a big sloppy pizza or two, we’d really appreciate it. Kisses!

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Tags: Craft Beers, Southeast Portland bars

Happy Hour of the Month

Last Wednesday at Ground Kontrol

Posted by: Joseph Manuel on Apr 28, 2010 at 10:00AM 4 Comments

It’s Ground Kontrol’s turn to put up its quarter Happy Hour of the Week. Located at NW Fifth and Couch, PDX’s famed retro arcade holds one of the best-kept secrets in Portland, namely a $5 cover for all the games you want to play—but only once a month. There’s Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and countless other beloved time-wasters of yore.

During the day GK operates as an arcade—21 and over entry isn’t required until 5 PM. On average nights, using your hard-earned laundry money for frustrating games (the machines don’t cheat, they simply lack human emotions) has potential drawbacks—who wants to decide the fate of their last quarter on either Sunset Riders or Spider-Man pinball? Fast forward to free play night.

OK so it isn’t technically a happy hour, but pay attention: the “barcade” management breaks down their coin-operated terminals on the last Wednesday of the month (5 PM to 2 AM) and forces them to play nice by allowing Portlanders in the know to get all the free games they want. All this for a slappingly-stupid cover of $5. And all this for the 90-plus classic games that live in this labyrinth.

The atmosphere of free play night exudes the feel of a personified MF Doom album: pounding techno reverberates wall to wall, the high-pitched wails of virtual lost lives adding to the din, and geeky commentary on topics such as “turtling” and “super-combo parrying.” Occasionally frat-boy cheers echo from the corner, where the NFL Blitz machine serves as a halfway house for ’roided-out chug-a-luggers doing their best Uncle Rico impressions, reliving the glory days—albeit on a virtual console.

Since GK is also a bar in disguise, it isn’t all just fun and (video) games. The drink menu contains 13 brews including Bridgeport IPA and Pacifico, but really, don’t be stupid—nobody wants to be that person, the one drinking craft beers or imports on free play night. The swill-of-the-realm is PBR and Miller High Life pounders for $2 each. Yes, there are also w(h)ine coolers and Sutter Home vino selections, but once again, it’s all about the inexpensive domestics. Wine at an arcade? Impossible.

The crowd can be unofficially categorized as follows: There are Wii-owning charlatans who think “nerdy” is code for cool and attend for the scene. They eventually end up watching and just hanging out to be there. There are casual gamers, who own an XBOX 36O or PS3 and play the newest releases pending free time.

Then of course there are the real gamers who live for $5 night to face genuine competition, specifically in the fighting games. Avoid these types at all costs unless you secretly crave a savage beating and words of creative smack talk about your lack of skills.

All types aside, the staff doesn’t hate—anyone 21 and over is welcome. Recommended for nostalgic nine-to-fivers looking for a vintage vacation, unemployed lovers on a cheap date, geek watchers, or anyone wishing to spend hump day pushing buttons and staring at a screen. Once again, it’s not technically a happy hour—but there are plenty of joysticks to go around.

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Tags: Happy Hour

Short Subjects

Barbecue, beer, and $5 well spent

Posted by: John Chandler on Apr 27, 2010 at 01:00PM 7 Comments

Namu Killer Korean Barbecue at SE Hawthorne and 33rd Ave. (Below) A lip-smacking order of short ribs sizzles on the grill.

ITEM Sunday morning found me staggering down Southeast Hawthorne in search of a Hangover Helper breakfast, but the waiting lists were sapping my will to live. As luck would have it, I was soon ordering several tons of meat at a brand-new Korean Barbecue cart called Namu, situated at SE Hawthorne and 33rd, right in front of House Vintage. Owned and operated by a friendly Hawaiian headbanger named Gary Evans, along with his friend Clint Colbert, Namu only has a few entrees but they’re all worthy and my hangover was soon smothered in healing barbecue sauce. The pulled pork sandwich ($5) is a huge, drippy mess of tender Sweet Briar Farms pork served with cabbage and a breathtaking homemade honey horseradish on a toasted bun. It’s a sweet and smoky sensation, as good as any I’ve had in the area. The toothsome and tangy Korean beef ribs ($7) are marinated in ginger, green onions, garlic, brown sugar, and soy sauce, and come with a scoop of rice and peanut sauce. Do not overlook the kim chee, cucumber salad, and sesame spinach that garnish this massive meal. The greens are deftly prepared and really pack a peppery bite. And for my non-animal-eating readers, you can get all of these lovely shrubs in a $4 rice bowl spiked with peanut sauce. The cart has only been in operation for a few weeks, but it’s a wonderful and welcome change of pace from the taco wagon brigade. Namu is open daily from 11-7 and orders can be phoned in at 503-828-4260. Tell ’em the Bar Pilot sent ya!

UPDATE Stopped by Namu last night for the veggie bowl. It’s a spicy, satisfying safari of flavors. And proprietor Gary Evans wanted the world to know that the cunningly crafted Namu cart was built with the invaluable assistance of Alpine Design.

ITEM Congratulations, it’s a beer! Apex, a new beer bar that I first mentioned here is now open for business and awaiting discriminating swill seekers of all shapes and sizes. Located at 1216 Southeast Division Street, it’s another former industrial space with garage doors that roll up when the weather cooperates. More importantly, they’ve currently got 30 taps running (owner Jesse McCann is shooting for 50) mostly in the $3.75-$4 range, though some of the hard-to-find Belgian varieties teeter toward the $9 mark. Still feeling the pinch? Not to worry, they also have Hamms for the financially embarrassed.

ITEM Be sure and tune in for the latest installment of Happy Hour of the Week (coming soon), as intern Joseph Manuel spends all of the money he had saved to pay back his student loans at retro video game parlor Ground Kontrol. On the last Wednesday of each month you can play all the Street Fighter II, Galaga, NBA Jam, and Frogger you want for a dinky $5 cover. Constant button-pushing can build up a powerful thirst, so take advantage of $2 Pabst tall boys.

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Tags: Food Carts, Cheap Date, Craft Beers