the goodist

Review: Clyde Common - Happy Hour

Clyde Common inaugurates a series of articles exploring Portland's best cocktail bars and the hamburgers that inhabit them.

Gazing out the window, cocktail in hand, I realized that Clyde Common may be Portland's best bar for people watching. Hip out of towners from the attached Ace Hotel milled about the sidewalk as the ubercool bike set and delightfully trashy Stark St folk passed by - every Portland cliche well represented. The soundtrack isn't bad either. Behind me at the large busy bar were the rants of local cooks packing their chef's knives and touring musicians attempting to brag their way into bed with dolled up ladies. But I had trouble paying attention, my drink was just too interesting and there was a burger on the way.

Tastebuds 2.0

I know you've missed me as much as I've missed you, but I was away with good reason - today marks my 15th day of nicotine deprivation. I was a twitchy punchy disaster with my sensation of taste and smell in fascinating disarray. Food was suddenly too salty or too spicy, and sometimes just plain overwhelming, but slowly the instruments of hedonism have recalibrated and they're eager to get back to work punishing livers, stomachs, and paychecks...join me once again?

Look for a whole heap of love in the next week including restaurant reviews, a big new project involving ground meat and liquor, and our biggest cocktail test yet!

Review: Indish

A cold glass of 100-proof arrack on ice was just what I needed after a hot nap on the bus. As I slowly come to, Raj - the owner of Indish, excitedly explains his menu: 

Indish is North Indian home cooking, not your normal curry-house fare - no naan, no sauces laden with ghee, spices are abundant but dishes aren't incredibly 'spicy', and oil is kept to a minimum in contrast to what he describes as 'wedding' food thick with spiced oil that clings to the palate. Raj is the first to admit that the sort of Indian 'banquet' food we're accustomed to in the west is delicious and he's certainly sopped up his share of beer with it in his former life as a lawyer in London, but he's here to preach the gospel of everyday North Indian home cooking.

Recipe: Snot Toddy

Some dastardly illness knocked me down last night and hasn't let me get back up...but that doesn't mean abstaining from cocktails. Oh quite the contrary, it's toddy time.

My mom often tells stories of working for a prominent doctor that would send her home to make hot toddies when she was sick - they feel great on your throat, make sleep easy, and if you're going to be sick you might as well do it boozed.

So write yourself a prescription and follow along for my Snot Toddy (ha!) recipe: