Got Pho: Pho Tai and Ca Phe Sua Da

 Have you been to Got Pho yet? If not you really should. Located on Sandy, just before the hairy scary Hollywood traffic is a little gem tucked into a strip mall!

Not only do they have a pretty full menu, but they included a "choose your own" section for those who want to have complete control!

I love to start off with a Ca Phe Sua Da, a Vietnamese Style iced coffee. It is mixed with sweetened condensed milk and is stronger and better than anything you'll find made by a Barista.

Cassie loves their spring rolls, which are crisp on the outside and stuffed to almost bursting with their lovely filling of pork, glass noodles, and veggies. They come with a side of Nuoc Nam, or for those not in the know, a thin spicy, sweet and sour sauce. Our trick for not double dipping in this situation is to grab a spoon and ladle the Nuoc Nam into the rolls themselves.

Like all great Vietnamese restaurants, your hot steaming bowl of pho (pronounced "fuh") comes with an array of fresh herbs and bean sprouts, along with some lemon (or lime) and jalapeno slices. I love this. I cannot tell you how much I love the crisp fresh bean sprouts in my soup. It really just kicks it up that extra notch.

On to the soup itself! I tend to order the Pho Tai, which is a beef broth soup with rice noodles and round steak, along with a healthy does of green and white onions.

Got Pho's broth never lets me down. A rich and flavorful broth with nice herbal notes, that never feels greasy or over cooked. Their round steak is always sliced super thin, it's as thin as "shaved" deli meat, but comes to your table still partially raw, and cooks in the just shy of boiling broth.

Got Pho is really a great go-to Vietnamese place. There web presence is located here and the physical local is pretty easily located at 3634 NE Sandy Blvd. They are a good value, have friendly service, and are just a nice place to spend an afternoon! Also available, is their free wi-fi, and a beer and wine menu.

Food Lush: Mini Cheesecake!

A while ago, I encountered Food Lush at an event hosted by the City of Portland for Women's History Month. I honestly can't say enough about this mini cheesecake.

The creative Coconut and Chocolate flavor and the rich texture really allowed me to just be lost in a sea of cheesecake goodness. The eco-friendly packaging let me be at peace with my "impulse" buy, and the great friendly attitude of the proprietor helped ease my worries of giving my hard earned cash, to someone who could have cared less. After coming home and devouring my little morsel of awesome, I had a chance to peruse the proprietor's website, and find that she tries to use as many local ingredients as possible, SCORE!

The cheesecake was obviously made with care and mindfulness to a more eco-friendly Portland. At a price of two for five dollars, the price was a bit steep, but worth every cent! If you can manage to find Food Lush at an event, or even book them for your own, I'd recommend it!

You can find Food Lush on Facebook and at the Food Lush Website.

I GET HUNGRY!

So begins a new journey through the one commonality of all people on earth, food. Food can do more than just sustain and maintain, it's an experience. Not just of taste, but of smell, sight, touch, and sound. Flavors and textures being used to bring the simplest of ingredients to an art form. For every cuisine Matisse, there can be a food novice who somehow managed to get behind a spatula in a professional capacity. We're here to search both types out and give our honest opinions of the foods we consume in our wanderings around the greater Portland area.

First, a quick introduction: We are two step-sisters living and eating in the Portland metro area. The idea for blog came a couple of months ago when sitting in a restaurant thinking about how many great food places there are in this area. Yes, we know a lot of people know about a lot of these venues, but for every person who knows about one, there are at least three who have no idea what great food they're missing.

The name for the blog and this post, comes from a weird day with the "freaky twin language" that the two of us have come up with. It's not really a language in and of itself, but more like a long list of long standing in-jokes. I think someone commented about a plate of food disappearing in what felt like seconds, and a it was followed by the hilarious reply of "I GET HUNGRY" in the sassiest of voices. It's become something of a battle cry to the two of us, uttered in the oddest of moments, usually when one of us is worried that the other may judge her food choices. As it turns out, it just makes us laugh and realize that we are two girls who enjoy food, sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sometimes outstanding!

You should come along with us on our journey through the ever changing landscape of food in the Portland metro. We'll give you some tips, we'll tell you some tricks, and we'll even let you know when to turn tail and run for the hills. If you think we're wrong, TELL US! We want to know what you think too!