Vaca 2011 Christmas Overview – Portland, OR | Vegan Recipes | Vegan Blog

Portland Vegan Eats

We arrived in Portland early evening and battled traffic and rain to find Proper Eats in the St. John’s neighborhood. This eclectic little gem was just what we needed. The front part of the building was an organic market with fresh vegetables, fruit, vegan products, and delicious looking desserts. The restaurant is not 100% vegan as they do offer some dairy items. The back part of the building is the restaurant, there is a funky, laid back atmosphere to this place. The menu is loaded with sandwich and salad options, along with some speciality plates like Shepherd’s Pie, Chana Masala, and a Cornmeal Tempeh Plate. Mike opted for the Tempeh Reuben with marinated tempeh, carmelized onions, homemade kraut, reuben sauce on rye bread. He said it was very good, lot’s of flavor. Calista had one of their nightly specials, chili and cornbread. She is quite the picky eater and quite the chili connisseur. She loved the chili, even though it had lot’s of vegetables, there were 3 kinds of beans, and it was on the spicy side, very good. It came with a slab of vegan cornbread which she devoured. I had the vegan nachos which were sooo good. Blue corn chips, quinoa, black beans, salsa, vegan cashew cheese (so good, tasted just like nacho cheese sauce), corn-pumpkin seed relish and guacamole. You can add tempeh or tofu sour cream, but it did not need it. Have I mentioned I love Mexican food?!! These were so good, so full of flavor, I was so full I couldn’t finish them, but Mike and Calista did, Mike even used his spoon to get the last bit of “cheese” sauce. If you are looking for delicious vegan food in a casual environment in Portland, check out Proper Eats.

The next morning we travelled to the Alberta neighborhood to Dovetail Bakery. OMG an actual working vegan bakery. They obviously do a huge wholesale business, with only a few fresh items out front. It smells like heaven in there, yeasty, sweet, yum! The place is really tiny with only a few tables, but, this is worth the trip, get your food to go if there is no place to sit! Calist had the lemon poppyseed muffin which was very moist and delish, and Mike and I had the pecan sticky buns. These are the best pecan sticky buns I have ever had. SOOOO luscious. They were fresh, warm, and gooey. Put this on your must stop at list if you are in the Portland area.

Finally we checked out Native Foods Cafe. Actually, we liked this place so much we went a second time before we caught our flight back to AZ, and I bought the cookbook! This place rocks. The Portland location is in Bridgeport Village in Tigard in a busy shopping area. They have several locations thoughout California and several in the Chicago area. If you live close to one and haven’t checked it out yet, do. Being that this location was in a busy shopping area it was pretty crowded both times. However, the service was fast and friendly. On our first visit, Mike had the Rockin’ Morroccan Bowl with their housemade chicken, grilled veggies, quinoa, currants, toasted almonds and morroccan sauce. He said it was delicious. Calist had the Scorpion Burger, their blackened tempeh burger with chipotle sauce, romaine, carrots, avocado, and onions, she had Daiya cheddar, she said it was really good and the only thing she would change would be no Daiya next time, said it was a little too much of a good thing. I had the baja tacos. They were subperb. I would eat them daily. The tempeh was breaded and fried and tasted like fish, without the cruelty or fishy smell! It had this delicious caper tarter sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, and hot sauce, all served in corn tortillas. On our second visit, I loved them so much I had the baja tacos again, bad, I know, my daughter was disappointed that I didn’t want to try anything new, hmmph! Mike had the portobella and sausage burger this time, grilled portabellos, housemade sausage seitan, carmelized onions, salsa, roasted garlic, pumpkin seed pesto and mayo, yum! Calista had the Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger; thinly sliced housemade seitan, melted Daiya cheddar, carmalized onions, housemade bacon with bbq sauce, ranch dressing, romaine, carrots, onions, and tomato. Her only complaint; it was a really decadent! We shared a vanilla and chocolate cupcake, relax we took them to go as we were simply too full to eat anymore. The vanilla cupcake was incredibly moist and lucisious. The chocolate cupcake was a little on the dry side but had great chocolate flavor. If you have a Native Foods Cafe near you, run, don’t walk and get your vegan grub on! I so love to go to an all vegan restaurant and order anything off the menu.