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Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Brunch at Mother's Thwarted Once Again, Back to ISK

So this weekend T and I tried to go to Mother's Bistro for brunch AGAIN. And again our plan was thwarted. We arrived at about 10:00am and there so many people spilling out of the restaurant onto the sidewalk that we almost didn't even go inside to see how long the wait was. After realizing we couldn't come up with anywhere else to go, we decided to go in and just see how long it would be before we could get a table. Unfortunately the wait was 30 - 45 minutes, so instead of getting on the list, we made reservations for next week at 10:00am, then went outside to try to decide where to have brunch in the area. We really couldn't think of anywhere to go, so we ended up at the old standby, Irving Street Kitchen. 


Haha, shocking, right? We went inside to put our names on the list and were delighted to find that there was no wait.  If you haven't been to Irving St Kitchen, it's worth going, just for the decor - I really love the milk bottle chandeliers.




Because it was such a beautiful sunny day (in Oregon? In October?! WHAAAT?), we decided to take advantage and brunch on the patio - I can't foresee many more Sunny, 70 degree Sundays left in the year, better take advantage while the weather holds up, right? 


Staying true to his boring predictable ways, T ordered the Mary's Organic Fried Chicken & Waffles. It's actually fried chicken and a half waffle. It's a half a waffle, cut in half. Regardless, it's topped with a fried egg and served with warm buttermilk syrup and is always spectacular. 


Because no brunch outing in Portland is complete without a giant plate of bacon, we had to order a plate of house made smoked tasso bacon as a side. I feel like I must have originally experienced tasso somewhere that has a different definition of tasso, as my expectation was that the bacon would be highly spiced or seasoned, and it was just normal bacon. I love normal bacon and it was excellent, it just wasn't what I expected. 


I decided to try something new, so I ordered the Bacon & Cheese Dutch Pancake with Mornay Sauce. It's the first thing I've had at Irving St Kitchen that I didn't like. I loved the bacon on top, but expected a delicious, savory pancake, what I received was something where the batter hadn't been mixed well, there were large sections that were more omelet than pancake, and it was very bland. There was cheese on top, but I couldn't identify it, it blended in with the taste of the pancake. The Mornay sauce tasted like they started with a Béchamel and then forgot to add cheese to make it into a Mornay. It just tasted like a flour/water mixture. I've really enjoyed everything else I've ever had at Irving St Kitchen, so I'm totally fine with having one meal that I wasn't in love with. 


We had - Mary's Organic Fried Chicken & Waffles - $15.00, House Made Smoked Tasso Bacon - $8.00, Bacon & Cheese Dutch Pancake with Mornay Sauce - $12.00.
You can check out Irving St Kitchen for yourself at irvingstreetkitchen.com, they're located at 701 NW 13th Ave in Portland and serve brunch from 10:00am - 2:30pm Saturday and Sunday, Happy Hour is 4:30pm - 6:00pm seven days per week, and dinner is served 5:30pm - 10:00pm Monday - Thursday, 5:30pm - 11:00pm Friday & Saturday and 5:00pm - 9:30pm on Sundays.

Irving Street Kitchen on Urbanspoon

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