Por Que No?

This post actually dates from a couple of months ago. I started it and then lost track of it amidst traveling to Europe and such (yes, I will actually post about that soon). So, several months ago, Dave and I set out for dinner in Portland with the intention of going to Pok Pok for Thai food. Unfortunately they do not accept reservations and when we got there around 7:15, the wait for a table was 2 1/2 hours. Time for plan B. We decided to try out Por Que No?, a Portland taqueria. There was no wait when we got there (which, since it was almost 8 pm at that point, was a must). 

We started out with housemade chips and guacamole. Dave is not a big avocado person (unlike his wife who thinks that heaven is populated with trees full of ripe avocados that contain no calories), but even he couldn't get enough of the guacamole.  

The Porque Plate: A small salad of greens, avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds, pico de gallo and queso fresco topped with guajillo chile viniagrette; meat; beans; rice; guacamole; crema and four tortillas. Phew!

Fresh housemade corn tortillas

A selection of four tacos.

I ordered the Porque plate, thinking that I would just make my own tacos out of it. I enjoyed the Porque Salad with pumpkin seeds that was included, but if I had to do it over again, I would have just ordered individual tacos like Dave, since each taco was paired with matching sauce/salsa/toppings that perfectly matched the meat. That said, I still enjoyed what I ordered. I was a bit salted out by the time I was done, but that probably had to do with the amount of chips I ate to facilitate guacamole ingestion.

We followed our dinner with dessert at the other Pix Patisserie location on SE Division. We ordered a marjolaine, a pear-rosemary tart and a salt, pepper and olive oil French macaron. The pear-rosemary tart was fun and intriguing, but not as good as the Shazam! (What is?) My unexpected favorite was the salt, pepper and olive oil macaron. A-MAZ-ING!

Marjolaine: Almond/hazelnut meringue with a praline butter-cream and chocolate ganache.

Pear Rosemary Tart: Cashew cream and sauteed pears baked into a sweet crust topped with a milk chocolate rosemary ganache.

Salt, Pepper and Olive Oil Macaron