Restaurant review

A huge plus to living in Portland is the number of really good local restaurants. We have a few favorties, but we're always adding to the list. On Friday Chris and I had a rare night out, and I was in the rare mood for Mexican, so we decided to try Nuestra Cocina. I had read an article in the Food section of the paper a few weeks ago about the sous chef there - apparently he and his twin brother are both chefs, his brother at an Indian restaurant, and a cook-off of sorts was arranged for the two of them. A little bit of healthy competition, I guess. Anyway, they were each given a box containing the same 20 or so ingredients and had to make two dishes using all the ingredients, each in their own cuisine. The food sounded so yummy, and when Nuestra Cocina popped up on CitySearch we decided to give it a shot.

It was definitely a good choice. It was soooooooo good, and not your "traditional" Mexican fare. In other words, there wasn't a taco to be found on the menu. Our appetizer, far from the typical chips and guacamole, was grilled goat cheese wrapped in banana leaves with a side of pumpkin seed salsa. Chris ordered white prawns with fried plantains and I had enchiladas with diced pumpkin. Wow. And we had black beans that had been cooked with some sort of herb that's similar to mint, but we can't remember the name to duplicate it at home, darn it. Anyway, such good food. If you're ever in Portland, definitely worth a visit.

Other local favorites:
Marrakesh
India Grill
Pastini - okay, it's a chain, but it's still excusively Portland!