Superbite: Where Every Bite IS Super
I recently had the pleasure to visit Portland, Oregon for the first time. It was a short stay since we spent most of our time in Seattle. I honestly did not know what to expect with Portland. I have read some articles in the past and from what I got, it is very hipster, environmentally conscious, and a great city to bike in.
On our last day, we did some shopping in downtown Portland (did you know Oregon is tax-free? Yes please!) and when dinner time came around, I started yelping and found this fantastic looking restaurant called Tasty n Alder. The main thing that drew me into that restaurant was it had kimchi! I've been eating Korean food more and more and it has gotten to the point that I need a jar of kimchi at home, just in case if my cravings pop up...moving on, by the time I got to the restaurant, it was a two hour wait on a Tuesday night. Being that it was already dinner time aka hungry stomachs=grumpy people, we simply crossed the street and entered Superbite.
We were promptly seated outside and the hostess briefly explained how the food is more tapa style and meant for sharing. The menu looked promising with unheard of combinations like the duck liver scrambled egg. This is what we decided to order:
Dinner
Little T Baker's Baguette: The baguette was served with room temperature Irish butter that was topped off with a dash of sea salt. The butter was great, but my only complaint was the bread was served cold.
Halibut Brandade Fishstick: My first restaurant version of American fishstick. Surprisingly good, especially with the hot sauce. It gave it a nice kick.
Cuttlefish Noodles: Must get this. Probably my favorite dinner dish along with the ramen egg. The saffron-sherry cream sauce that accompanied the dish provided delicious flavor to the cuttlefish noodles and mussels.
Fresh Fettuccine With Sea Urchin: It had just the right of amount of creaminess that was not overwhelming. I can tell by eating the fettuccine it was made in-house (due to the different texture as I was chewing it) so props to that.
Ramen Egg In Ginger Broth: When the waiter described this dish, I guess my mind was in some other place because when it was served, I was surprised by the presentation. My surprise soon turned into delight as I took a bite into the ramen egg. I tried pairing the chard, broth, and egg into one bite and it was fantastic. The light yet flavorful broth balanced the yolkyness of the egg, while the chard and the ramen worked together to give it a nice crunch.
BBQ Beef Shortrib: It was good, but not memorable. Tasted like normal shortrib you can get anywhere.
Dessert
Baked Caña de Oveja: Caña de Oveja is a Spanish type of cheese and for this dish, it was drizzled with honey on top. The cheese was on the borderline of melting when cut open. I paired it with the blackberry; however, the honey and blackberry both failed to neutralize the softness and flavors of the cheese.
Goat's Milk Camebert with Zucchini-Coconut Cake: The camebert, a type of soft cheese, was served with a zucchini-coconut cake. I felt like the camebert did not complement the flavors of the cake well so I ended up just eating the cake by itself. The cake is the closest thing I had have to a carrot cake, which I never had before, but it was good!
Fried Raspberry Turnovers: My favorite dessert on this list. The popovers were served piping hot and it was so crispy. After finishing the popovers, I washed it down with the "drink," a stout syrup egg cream. It was not as heavy as a milkshake, but it had the sweetness to balance out the aftertaste of the raspberry.
Malted Chocolate Mousse: It definitely had the chocolate flavor I was looking for, but it way too heavy for me. I'll pass on it in the future.
Overall, I would rate this restaurant a 4/5. Service and food was great, but desserts not that great. Hopefully, they can incorporate more sweet dessert dishes in the future.