Fonda Rosa

Just found Fonda Rosa by accident on Saturday morning.  Don’t expect your typical combo platter to be on the menu, but you will find traditional, simple, and amazingly flavorful dishes that I haven’t seen since I spent time in Mexico!  I highly recommend you give it a try, I know I will be going back again soon…once I do, expect to see it gracing this page again!

Fonda Rosa – 108 NE 28th Ave – 503-235-3828

7 virtues coffeehouse

situated on the busy corner of NE 60th & NE Glisan St. sits a deceivingly large coffeehouse known as 7 virtues.  With some of the best baristas in the neighborhood, it has become a regular stop for me.  Serving Stumptown Coffee, they make up all variety of espresso drinks, and serve them hot and very well prepared.  I’ve yet to have a drink here that is too cold, has too much foam (a common practice at some other area shops), too much, or little, flavoring. 

They serve not only coffee, but a good selection of bottled beer, wine, and other blended drinks, such as milkshakes and chai smoothies.  7 virtues sells an ever-growing selection of food at decent prices, most bites range from $3-$5.  Also offering local artwork (for sale) and a smattering of live music, they stay open till late afternoon during the summer.  They do offer the typical frequent-buyer card, but the system is very disorganized and as such an annoyance more than a draw.

The  drawback is a lack of easy parking, but clearly when 7 virtues opened, they envisioned a neighborhood store to which locals would walk/bike to.  Being near a MAX line and main bus route  also caters to locals. 

7 virtues  is a very worthy coffeehouse in a city full of them, and given the lack of good coffee in that part of NE Portland, I for one am glad that they know how to make such a fine brew.

5936 NE Glisan St. Portland

(503) 236-7763

yam yam’s bar-b-que

Just off of Lombard on MLK Blvd. sits a very purple building, housing yam-am’s bbq.  The owner’s nickname graces the building, as does piles of praise for the food from the early 2000′s.  I ate the oyster dinner combo, and tasted the BBQ Brisket sandwich. 

 The BBQ is excellent, the brisket was tender and full of meaty goodness.  The sauce is tangy but sweet, and not overdone on the sandwiches.  The oysters were soft and perfectly cooked, battered in what tasted to be a homemade cornmeal mix, which had a hint of cajun spice.  This, however, is where the good food ended.  The sides all appeared to be canned, and not house made.  If they were, they need to juice up the recipies, because everything tasted like what I could get at my neighborhood grocer. 

The sweet potato fries were not freshly fried, were thin and mostly overdone.  The Mac n’ Cheese tasted just like what you’d get at Fred Meyer, and had no southern flare.  Even the spicy link did not taste freshly made, rather something ordered in and cooked up there.  All in all, the service was friendly and the owner (yam-yam) is a good BBQ cook.  But that’s what you should stick to…order the meats, and pass on the sides.

 

Yam Yam’s BBQ.  7339 NE M L King Blvd. Portland, OR 

(503) 978-9229