Portland-Oregon Nature-Seattle (1. Portland & Restaurants)

Portland has many good restaurants and cafes.

Afuri : We’ve been to the one in Tokyo Japan. I don’t remember if it were this salty in Japan but it was close to the authentic taste.

Authentic Japanese ramen once in a while is a soothing taste.

Voodoo Doughnut : The doughnuts are given in a pink box to go. People were lined outside to get in. Not a long line during the daytime on weekdays.

I got 4 doughnuts out of more than 20 choices there. The doughnuts I chose were all soft sweet tasty and creative.

Powell’s books : It was much bigger than I thought. Lots of books and some products related to books.

I couldn’t see many people on the streets in Portland.. It was all so quiet and somewhat deserted as I walked on the street except the Powell’s books place. There were guards at the entrances though.

The Star Portland : A great pizza place but wasn’t crowded at all at lunchtime on a weekday.

Ordered a take out pizza. I love deep-dish pizzas.

Sushi ohana : Sushi conveyor belt serving restaurant. Pretty good thinking this is in the US.

Lloyd Center : Some kids were ice skating. Almost no people are in the mall during the daytime on weekdays.

Muji : What a surprise to see a big Muji in Portland. Couldn’t really distinguish if I was in Japan or not inside.

Pioneer Place and Made in Oregon shop : I liked the atmosphere here. Neat and cool place to visit. I got some souvenirs here.

Snow Peak & Takibi : Snow peak is a well-known luxurious camping brand in Japan. There’s no restaurant run bu this company in Japan but in Portland! We have some gears from Snow Peak and they are good. So we gave it a try.

All so delicious!

The food portions are small/moderate and a bit pricey but it was worth it for my taste. We ordered about 6 menus and drinks for two people and was full enough.

Salt & straw ice cream : it was a long line to get the ice cream. I love ice creams and have tried a lot of them here and there so I have to say it was tasty but I wouldn’t be lined for that long the second time.

Portland aerial tram : Rount trip $5.65. It’s connected to one of the hospital’s entrances and it was shut to visitors at that time so I had to use a lot of stairs to get out of there.

To have a partial view of Portland getting on the tram is not bad but I wouldn’t recommend getting up here if you lack time.

Momiji Sushi Restaurant – OHSU : We were kind of craving Japanese food on this trip. I guess one of us was homesick. The food here was pretty good but it took a while to get it out.

MEC Mediterranean Exploration Company : A decent Mediterranean food place. It’s quite competitive to eat here. Normally no walk-ins are available because it’s full of people at dinner time. Make reservations at least a few days in advance before going.

I hardly saw a lively atmosphere while staying in Portland. The streets were almost empty and quiet in the city center regardless of any day and night. The economy has gone down because of Covid maybe or people got too used to staying home they don’t want to be out..