Some Restaurants That Serve Nutritious and Tasty Food
Casba
201 NW Davis, 971-544-0875
Casba’s menu is half-authentic, with some splendid Mediterranean specialties, and hot, deli sandwiches and cobb and chef salads. The gyro is a perfect mid-day portion, and filled with delicious, thin slices of non-greasy, spiced beef (no lamb), lettuce, tomato, and cucumber sauce on a fluffy warm pita. They have lasagna on the menu which is weird, but really quite fabulous. I only sampled the meat variety, which was restrained on meat and ricotta, and heavy on a full tomato sauce, blend of melted cheeses, and thick, moist noodles.
The spanakopita (spinach pie) was light, and stuffed with crumbled spinach. It had a noticeable feta/onion taste (not erring on the bland side like the hippie stores often do) and–like the generously and expertly vinegared and stuffed grape leaves (dolmathakia)–served warm. All of the previous dishes come served with a generous Greek salad dressed with tangy Italian dressing.
Casba is also key for the panicked morning drive-by, beca use they have bagel sandwiches, the Euro highbrow Torrefazzione coffee, and so far they’re not super-crowded. KS
Dahlia Café
3000 NE Killingsworth, 287-4398
There are two things NE Portland could definitely use more of, and they aren’t quickie marts or gutter punks. We need bars and restaurants. Yay for the owners of the Dahlia Café, who have smartly capitalized on the obvious.
The Dahlia Café is bright and friendly, without an ounce of pretense, and doesn’t make the exclusive all-veg mistake of its predecessor, Counter Culture. There are a perfectly manageable number of selections on the menu, and the Dahlia serves breakfast all day for people like me, who want to go for a three-hour run before a satisfying havarti, spinach, and sundried tomato omelet.
The Northwest Eggs Benedict is a winning item, with huge slabs of fresh flaky salmon and a light, creamy hollandaise. When I ordered this dish, my eggs were slightly undercooked, which wouldn’t have been much of an issue if not for my raging hangover. But I still ate them all so, in short, it’s a minor complaint. If you’re really hungry, go for the giant, two-egg, hashbrowns, meat of choice, and pancake breakfast–a perfect medley of salty and sweet.
The fluffy polenta lasagna is a completely random item on the menu, but a darn good one. It looks like a giant piece of cake layered with eggplant, mushroom, and airy polenta ladled with a zingy, chunked tomato sauce. KS