so many of the yards and sidewalks are filled with beautiful flowering trees and blooms like this one...
If you happen to know what type of flower that was, please let me know!
Before I start off this post, I just want to let you know my "method" of visiting spots whenever we travel. I like researching ahead of time, like WAY ahead of time, two months or more ahead of time. I do this through reading articles, online reviews (yes, even from there) and most importantly by looking at google maps. That way, I get to see what other businesses are in the immediate area. This really placates my OCD mind, heh heh. Despite this tendency, there are times when I can be...spontaneous.
I'm a big proponent of maximizing my time spent in an area so if I can squeeze in a visit to X-coffee shop, I can also throw in some side expeditions to X-comic stores/thrift stores/eateries, etc. This doesn't happen all the time but I like to be prepared. With the way Portland is mapped out in quadrants (there are FIVE), that made my head spin because there were so many unique neighborhoods to explore. I mapped out everything we were interested in knowing that there was no possible way to go to all of them in one trip. My reasoning was at least we would know what was in the area if we were driving near by, which could inform our next spot to stop.
This time, Bert and I wanted to concentrate on what we didn't visit before and tried not to do any revisits.
Sorry for that long winded explanation!
We went from an old school donut place to a hipster doughnut shop. If you look on the four lettered site, it's ranked #2 after Blue Star Donuts (which we would eventually get to) and above the massively overhyped Voodoo. I actually didn't choose this place based on yelp rankings though. I saw that their donuts were mini size (cute), were fried fresh to order and come in increments of four and up. Plus, they served a flight of a drink I normally would not imbibe.
I figured a half dozen would allow us to sample all five flavors plus the seasonal flavor which was banana custard. Pip's is known for their raw honey and sea salt flavor. Bert was excited to try the candied bacon maple. TC was curious about that flight of chai where you can try all five flavors. I didn't realize until later that we could have ordered it iced.
There wasn't a line out the door but once we stepped inside, the line was there, maybe we were the fifth or sixth people in line. The spots looked almost full as well. You're not supposed to snake a table until after you order, but I was so tempted to do that. We got lucky enough to snag a table near a window.
The Flight of Chai flavors:
Plus the half dozen minis.
Here goes!
For Bert and I not being chai fans, we actually liked a few of the choices on there. Bert's favorite was the Smoky Robinson, while mine was the Emmylou, same with TC.
As for the donuts, I was NOT a fan of the candied bacon donut. The bacon pieces were so thick and too sweet. Ugh. I liked the raw honey and sea salt the best next to the banana custard. It was one of the more simple flavors on the plate. Bert liked the Nutella the best while TC liked the cinnamon sugar.
I liked that you had a choice of how many you could order. I didn't think we could polish off a dozen even with three of us. Six was just right. We liked that the donuts were a small size and that they were fried crisp to order. This is what Copper Top Donuts in Hillcrest does but with larger sized donuts. I know there are some other vendors (like the one at the San Diego Fair) that does the mini donuts as well.
We could not finish the chai flight between the three of us. I didn't like most of the other flavors. I really had to suppress my intense dislike for chai. In fact, trying this flight was pretty damn open minded of me, as well as for Bert. He is also not a chai fan. TC doesn't totally love it, but she is more partial to chai than we ever were. It was interesting tasting all of them because each were so different with the flavor notes. I still think it tastes like liquid pot pourri.
It got insanely busy after we sat down. There were even people in line that had their luggage with them. They either just landed? Or were maybe on their way out? It sucked to be them if they wanted to have a seat because all of the tables were occupied and it started to rain.
The next building down from Pip's was a vintage/consignment shop called Found on Fremont. They had a doll's head as a planter in their front window. As soon as I saw that, I knew we had to go in, ha ha. I didn't take too many photos inside, but it was a two story shop that had pretty much EVERYTHING you could look for in a gift store. There were all kinds of cool little things in there. The upper floor was all vintage with different nooks from various vendors. I liked seeing how the merchandise was arranged by theme. TC found a few old postcards plus pins that she liked.
Bert and I liked this old capiz lamp. It reminded Bert of the ceiling to floor capiz lamp his parents used to have. Those shells by the way, are a ^&$# to clean! Almost every Filipino home in the 70's had one of these. Now they are back in style! I saw one listed on ebay for $300! What!
The older ladies working at this shop were very nice. One of them was very happy that Bert ended up buying a particular silver cat shaped frame (for one of his co-workers).
Some signs in the neighborhood where we parked. Truth.
Here's a short vid about Pip's:
Plus KamanGround vlogger vid (up to 2:27) where Pip's is her first stop on her Portland layover (she's a flight attendant who does these vlogs as a series)
There's clearer shots in her vid than in my pix of the donuts, the chai menu and the interior...I've watched her other Layover Eats vids and think she's pretty funny.
Articles:
"Pip's Original - The best mini doughnuts in Portland" 10Best, May 17, 2015
Pip's Original Doughnuts - Hippest Doughnuts in Portland" Hedonist Shedonist, Nov. 3, 2015
Pip's Original Doughnuts & Chai
4759 NE Fremont, Ste C
Portland, OR 97213
(503) 206-8692
Fb page + reviews from that four lettered site + foursquare
Found on Fremont
4743 NW Fremont
(503) 282-2533
There was a typepad/blog page, but it hasn't been updaged since 2011, so no need linking. Maybe the ladies working here aren't tech savvy. Who knows.
fb page but hasn't been updated since last year as well + reviews from you know where
Our next stop was still in the same neighborhood, a tribute to the Purple One...
No comments:
Post a Comment