a slice of havana

(thank you andy s. from yelp for this picture)

i know, i know i am so behind on all my blogging. i think the hardest thing about keeping up a blog is finding the time to actually KEEP IT UP!! but i am a work in progress when it comes to this, so bear with me while i get back in my groove^_^ i recently got back from japan (and you know i have some amazing food pics from that trip!! don't worry those posts will be coming along as well^_^) so i have a lot to catch up on...including sleep! 

well, back to the purpose of this entry...PAMBICHE!! a little slice of havana on the sidewalks of portland, oregon. my old roommate, brittney, came into town to interview for a job, and she demanded (as only she would) that we have dinner. who am i to say no to a woman who was my guide through the horrors of my freshmen year of college at UH Manoa. so i picked her up after a barrage of back anf forth texts about where and when we should eat, we both somehow picked Pambiche. i'd like to think she and i are just in sync that way! so i picked her up from her hotel, and made sure to bring along my garmin (seriously the best purchase if you move ANYWHERE in the mainland). so we set off on our little food adventure about town. When we got to pambiche i couldn't help but think that this place was going to be goooood! the colorful paint, the outdoor umbrellas, the people sitting outside enjoying a sangria or two. it just oozed of spicy south america in my mind.  we sat down and started checking out the drinks first of course!

the menu: a nod to the havana flag

our yummy palm beach coolers: made with white wine, selected fruit, and finished with fresh mint and a small stalk of sugar cane^_^ brittney and i couldn't stop gnawing on the sugar cane, it was so sweet and added great flavor to the taste of the cooler!

we finally decided after the waitress coming back and forth multiple times, due to the fact that we didn't know what a lot of things on the menu were and also because we got caught up in catching up, we kept forgetting that we had to order>_<

my plato cubano: consisting of adobo marinated roast pork, served with cuban red beans (which also has pieces of pork in it, you see where i am going with this??), and rice. finished off with yuca con mojo, which basically is a kind of potato starch found in south america and consistently used in cuban dishes. this particular yuca was served with a delicious garlic sauce...yum!

this is brittney and her food: she got vaca frita. this dish consisted of citrus marinated shredded beef char grilled with garlic and onions. she actually got a mixture of beans and rice with maduros or plantains on the side. 

so we literally gobbled our food up, and shared in between. brittney's beef was delicious, the citrus flavors the garlic, all just makes my mouth water to think about it now. my yuca...AMAZING!! sorry i have a thing for fries or anything fry-like! so i was in heaven. the pork, not to memorable for me particularly, maybe it was too saucey or something...but the beans were yumm-o and i did finish all of those! after we digested and continued to gnaw on our sugar cane it was time for dessert...

as usher, the musical artist has so eloquently put it "OH MY GOD!" behold the TORTA DOMINO: white chocolate mocha cake soaked with kahlua coffee liqueur and cafe cubano, filled with chocolate canela mousse and glazed with oaxacan chocolate ganache; finished with a white chocolate domino and served with crema chantilly and ice cream. the words just roll off your tongue into a whole lotta drool over this baby. it was perfect, the mixture of coffee and cake with the addition the cool vanilla ice cream and chocolate covered coffee beans with their crunch, just gave it the best feeling in your mouth. it was an excellent way to finish off dinner. and i was content^_^ 

i found out that they have an in house pastry chef who specifically develops these desserts for pambiche. i thought that was a great idea and addition to the overall sultry feeling of the place. if you ever make it to portland, this would definitely be a place i would suggest to any of my friends for a good place to relax and eat some great food!