With the temperature rising, I beat the heat and was out of town on vacation for 10 days driving up the Pacific Coast Highway from San Diego to Portland. The scenery was beautiful but I have to admit that there are only so many twisty-turny roads in forests and alongside beaches that a West Texas boy can handle. I was able to fight through feeling queasy and was rewarded with some breath taking views and cool weather. I’ve been getting back into the swing of things and I’ll follow up with a recap over the next week, but I would be remiss about not mentioning a couple of items from the trip. On to the quick bites!
- Growing up, when we went on a major road trip we would often eat cereal and sandwiches in the car to help with the cost of the trip. Harkening back to those days, my girlfriend and I ate a lot of peanut butter sandwiches, but this was the best one ever made because it had fresh strawberries from the Santa Monica Farmers Market.
- Reaching my final destination of Portland, I ate dinner at The Farm Cafe which was suggested by my brother who lived there for a year. The Farm uses all local ingredients (pretty much all indy restaurants in Portland do) and ensures that they are all organically grown. The hummus and brocolini fritters were delicious appetizers and were on Happy Hour special from 5-6:00PM. My main course of Coho Salmon was a winner along with the grit cakes. The greens didn’t deliver but it was OK; I needed all the room I had for the chocolate souffle dessert.
- After returning to San Antonio, I had a great meal at Paloma Blanca when I ordered the Pollo Asado. The meal was served on a fajita skillet and consisted of a tender chicken breast along with sauteed mushrooms, onions, and peppers. There was a tangy citrus taste that made it really, really good.
- To celebrate the retirement of a former boss, a group of us went out to eat at one of the Mexican cafes that he enjoyed called El San Luis Restaurant. The chips and salsa were really good and the lunch specials are reasonable; $5.49 got me a puffy taco plate and a tea.
- An Average Joe in San Antonio got a little pub for asking folks to create San Antonio Foodspotting Guides with a nice article on the MySA Blog written by Jessica Elizarraras. Additionally, I was asked to write an article for the Foodspotting Blog about San Antonio and some of the guides that I created.
- I stumbled upon a newer San Antonio food blog called Wes’ Cravings and really have enjoyed reading it. While I might like to think that I travel all over the city, Wes is able to find hole-in-the-wall restaurants I’ve never heard of including his latest article on Chatman’s Chicken.
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