La Calaca Comelona, or, "The Hungry Skeleton"

I realize it's a little off to post about a Mexican restaurant on St. Patrick's Day. But I'm not Irish, so St. Paddy will forgive me, I'm sure.

We tried a new restaurant on Monday night: La Calaca Comelona ("The Hungry Skeleton"), on SE 23rd and Belmont. It was an instant favorite. It's ironic, actually, because we used to live 3 blocks away from it, but never tried it. Now we live across town, but decided to make the trip. And hooray that we did, because it was so good!
 Besides a lot of burritos and taco stands, we don't actually have a good selection of tasty Mexican food around, so it was quite a nice change from a giant burrito. They make everything from scratch there, from the salsas to the tortillas, and it all tastes so delicious. A friend asked "Isn't that the place where they don't serve you chips and salsa?" Well...yes. But it doesn't matter. They do give you different salsas to drench on your food, and that's all you need. And the food!

It's inspired by central and southern traditional Mexican, and look nothing like what you'd see at the local burrito stand. They have a short menu, almost like a lunch menu, that has tacos, sopas, and tostadas to choose from, with varying ingredients, for a little as $6-7. Then the dinner menu has bigger entrees, a bit higher priced, that are delicious and wonderful.
We decided to share the pulled pork sopa: a mixture of pulled pork, cabbage, and salsa over a thick corn tortilla. And then we split the Blackberry Mole over Chicken, with pears. We just had to try that once we saw it. It was a perfect mole--a little smoky, but with a fruity taste from the blackberries. As good as that description sounds, though, we both preferred the sopa! It was a bit stronger in flavor, I think.
I sipped my horchata throughout the meal, and we gazed on the slightly creepy Day of the Dead skeletons hanging around as decor. They're brightly colored, so they come off as happily eerie. The whole atmosphere and the food all brought me back to our honeymoon in Santa Fe.

{Photos from La Calaca Comelona}

Out back of the restaurant they have a cute little garden space and an outdoor bar. It was too chilly when we went, but we'll be back! Another horchata, a few tacos, and I'll stay all night long!

Doesn't that sound way better than potatoes and green beer?
Nonetheless, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A Slice of Sweden in Portland

I've never been to Sweden. The closest I've come, like many people, is Ikea, which is overwhelming and impressive in it's clean lines and organizational mastery.

But recently I've stepped beyond Ikea to discover that one of my favorite little nooks of this city is a Swedish restaurant called Broder ("brother" in Swedish). Purveyor of all things Scandinavian, this itty bitty place has the modernity and class you might expect, with amazingly good food. It also has "WC" on the bathroom door, which just makes me happy.

I constantly beg Jesse to take me there for brunch, to get a good helping of aebleskivers (puffy little Danish pancakes) or pytti i panna (hash with potatoes and eggs).


One of the best things about the meal, in my opinion, is that it comes on individual wooden boards, with little frying pans for the eggs, and little bowls for the jam. It satisfies my "cute" longing while being superbly functional. And when you finish every bite, you get the feeling that you're quite satisfied. You've eaten just enough food--any more or less would have been catastrophic. But another look at the menu and you know you have to come back, at least just to try the Swedish meatballs with lingonberry jam, or the Breakfast Bord (brown bread, soft-boiled egg, gravlax, sauteed greens, hard and soft cheese, fruit compote, lingonberry, yogurt and honey).

Top the meal off with hot coffee, and you're ready for the day!

Broder is on the corner of SE 16th and Clinton, and is open for breakfast and lunch. Meals are about $9-11. Happiness (or at least immense satisfaction) is guaranteed.

(Top and bottom picture from Broder.)