The Quest for the Best Burger – Part 2

The Quest for the Best Burger in Portland – Part 2

After biking 38 miles around sunny Portland on Sunday–including crashing my bike–we had calories up the wazzoo. I’d burned 1788 and Michael did over 2500! We were tired, some of us were bruised, and we were both craving a burger.

I suggested we check out Laurelhurst Market. A new(ish) trendy spot that is often hard to get into. The reviews of this place are all stellar. We cleaned and drove to Burnside. The evening was warm and sunny. I think I clean up nicely. 🙂 This is me after biking almost 40 miles:

The place was packed but we were seated immediately. The restaurant is also a meat market one side. I bet the meat there is great!

The place was typical Portland trendy– upscale looking, hipster and industrial. Very cool. There were a few bistro tables outside but they were full.

I ordered a glass of Sangiovese/Cabernet. It was a mellow red wine with a lingering after taste of black licorice. It wasn’t overpowering though, which is good because I’m not a huge fan of black licorice (or fennel) honestly.

For some reason the wine did nothing, no buzz — nothing! I wonder if I just metabolized it super fast because of biking 38 miles? I am such a lightweight than 1 glass of wine is totally buzz-invoking. Hmmm mysterious. We ordered the burgers. They arrived pretty quickly too! I was impressed because it was so busy. The staff was all professional and pleasant–very nice experience.

The burgers were amazing. And not just because we biked for 3.5 hours and we were famished.

The bacon complimented the burger nicely. The meat was delicious and juicy (and messy). The cheese was delicious, the bun was buttery and had garlic aioli sauce on it. Everything about this burger was AWESOME. I ate the burger in less than 2 minutes I think. 🙂  The fries were really good too but I didn’t eat very many of them.

The burger ruled. I woke up the next day thinking about that burger. My belly was happy! So how would I rate this burger in my quest for the Best Portland Burger?

BURGER QUEST:

1) Slow Bar

2) Laurelhurst

3) Gruner

4)  Foster Burger

5)?
After dinner Michael wanted dessert. I said I’d split something with him but I definitely couldn’t eat something on my own. The burger sit heavy in my stomach. A friend recommended a dessert joint about 6 blocks from Laurelhurst so we headed there.

I had never heard of Alder Pastry and Dessert but it was cute! It’s right next to the Matador Mexican restaurant on Burnside. Loved the dessert!

We split the Chocolate Caramel Tart. It had salted caramel inside.

I’m so glad we split this. It was rich and I never could have eaten it all by myself. It was so good! I washed it down with a cup of nonfat milk. Perfect.

I was so exhausted after the bike ride and the heavy dinner that we got home around 8pm and I went right to bed. I finished reading one of my books until my eyes grew heavy. It was a good day!

QUESTION: Do you ever split dessert?