On The Town

It's been awhile since we've been out to dinner in this trendy area of Portland called The Pearl.  We decided to take our 'starving college student' KTB, to dinner at a Peruvian restaurant called Andina.

The interior was very warm and inviting, and even at 5:30 PM on a Tuesday, the place was filled up to the point where we barely got a seat.

Andina offers full sized meals, but also offers Tapas in the Spanish tradition.  We opted to go the Tapa route and weren't disappointed. We ordered four medium size plates to split between the three of us, and everyone had more than enough to eat.

Tabule De Cereales Andinos quinoa salad served with cotija cheese, avocado, and olives.  This was so yummy, I actually thought the cheese was crab

I'm not sure what this is called.  The top was tuna, on top of crab and potato.  The crab and potato was fantastic, but I didn't go near the seared tuna since I don't like raw fish.  DH and KTB raved about it though.

Anticucho de Pollo marinated chicken kebobs, served with a spicy salsa de rocoto.  This was wonderful with the spicy salsa.  However, my favorite was the Empanadas Caseras de Carne, which is a flaky pastry filled with slow-cooked beef, raisins, and Botija olives. Amazingly, I didn't get a photo, but the complexity of spices with the sweetness of the raisins, made for a delightful dish.

Finally, we opted for three mini Creme Brulees.  As you can see, by now the family was pretty tired of my staging photos, and just dove into the desserts!  One was a cinnamon custard, one was a rum raisin concoction, and one was a chocolate bliss.  Not the real name, but it was chocolate and pretty blissful.  All were definitely worth the carbs.  If you're in Portland, I definitely recommend Andina-I can't wait to go back!

On the way back to the car, I paused to take photos and check out some shops.

Doesn't this 'Vintage Living' shop loook like a fun place to return to?  I did get a quick walk through before they closed and found it to be full of treasures. 

Finally, I love the colors and lines in these city shots.  Can't wait to sketch.