Choza

 

Choza is a fine dining restaurant specialized in Mexican cuisine.  Choza is located South of Portland, in the shopping center of Bridgeport Village.  It offers various Mexican dishes such as nachos, tacos, burritos, and many other Mexican food.  It is one of the most popular restaurant choices at Bridgeport Village.

We got to Bridgeport Village around 12:30PM and there was a lot of cars.  We drove to the parking garage and it was packed with cars.  It was difficult to move forward because the parking garage area was only single lane and one way only.  Luckily, we were able to find a parking space rather quickly as someone was just leaving when we went into the parking garage.

When we went into Choza restaurant, the restaurant was about 70% full.  Half of the restaurant was dedicated for the bar.  The restaurant provided a bowl of tortilla chips and salsa sauce for free.

We ordered a nachos, a bowl of Pozole, Carnitas taco, Asada taco, Al Pastor taco, and Barbacoa tacos.  The Pozole soup was served quickly with a lot of vegetable stacked on top of the soup and with half of a small avocado.  Lot of pork meat was put in the soup.  The nachos came in a large place.  When it was served to the table, the plate was sizzling hot.  We did not add any meat on top of the nachos but it came with bell peppers, jalapenos, beans, and tomatoes.  The nachos was quite good.

The tacos came with amazing freshly made soft tortillas.  On top of each tacos, lot of cilantro was placed on top.  We didn't like cilantro that much but it was quite fresh and the taste of cilantro was not that obviously.  We really enjoyed the taco as the meat was juicy and the vegetables were fresh.

We really enjoyed the dining experience at Choza and loved the food there.  Next time we would try other Mexican dishes and see how they compare to others.

Tidal Raves Seafood Grill

 

Tidal Raves Seafood Grill is a classy seafood restaurant located at Depoe Bay.  The restaurant is located right on the coast and has an amazing view of the coast of Depoe Bay.  It is an amazing spot for a romantic dinner for couples.  The restaurant offers a variety of seafood dishes and also a large selection of alcohol for people to enjoy.

We went to Tidal Raves Seafood Grill after watching the whales.  We got there around 1:30PM after the peak lunch hour.  When we got there, the restaurant was about 50% full and all the tables along the window were taken unfortunately.  However, the seats on the upper deck were great as well since the floor was elevated.  The view from these seats was just as amazing as the seats along the windows.

We ordered a Salmon house special and a Ciopinno, which is a seafood mix dish.  Both dishes were served on a round black plate.  The salmon was a huge piece of salmon and cooked perfectly.  It was soft and tender.  The salmon was also sitting on a buttery risotto which was amazing as well.  Ciopinno came with a lot of clams and calamari.  The dish covered with tomato based soup with great taste.  There were few pieces of rockfish in there and 2 large shrimps.

Overall, the dining experience at Tidal Raves Seafood Grill was great.  We really enjoyed the food and the food taste as amazing as it could be.  Next time we would like to come here late in the afternoon such that we could see the sunset while we dine at the restaurant.  That will be an amazing experience.

Depoe Bay

 

Depoe Bay is a small town along the central Oregon coast.  It is about 10 minutes South of Lincoln City and about 2.5 hours from Portland.  Depoe Bay is known to be a great place to watch whale migration during the migration season.  There is a small whale watching center along the main street of the town.  Depoe Bay also houses the smallest harbour in the entire world!

We left Portland around 10AM in the morning and headed towards Depoe Bay.  It was a very foggy morning in the Portland area but we decided to go anyway.  Instead of taking Highway 26 to the coast first, we decided to take the smaller route through McMinnville to get to Lincoln City first.  It was extremely foggy all the way to Lincoln City.  However, once we got to Lincoln City, the fog disappeared and it was sunny weather.  We were really enjoying the sunny weather along the coast.

We then headed South to Depoe Bay to get to the whale watching center.  There was a lot of parking space along the street for people to park the car.  The watch watching center was not big, but there were about 15 people there with 3 other volunteers going over how whales migrate.  Everyone was holding a binocular trying to spot a whale.  There were 2 buoys out there in the ocean.  The first buoy was about 3 miles out and the second buoy about 5 miles out.  We were able to see whale splashing water about 8 miles out, which was quite far.

There was a second floor at the whale watching center but not much was up there.  It was probably meant to have more space for people to watch whales.  The space downstairs was just for restroom.

After whale watching a bit, we took a walk outside and saw the smallest harbour in the world.  The way for going in and out of the harbour was small and narrow with waves splashing along the rocky cliffside.  There were several gift shops along the street as well but not many tourists in the shop unfortunately.

Depoe Bay is a popoular whale watching place, but we felt that there is little to do in the town.  The shops along the street aren't too exciting either unfortunately.  Hopefully one day the down will be more lively in the future.

Philly Spot

 

Philly Spot is a food truck stall located at the Hillsboro food cart site, the Station.  It is one of the 20+ amazing food truck stalls at the side.  Philly Spot specializes in Philly steak sandwiches, but also offer other dishes such as burgers, hotdogs, and corndogs.  The Philly Spot food truck is located on the East side of the Station food cart site and it is right outside of the indoor seating area.

When we got to the Station, it was around 12PM and many food truck stall just opened.  We did see a few food truck stalls closed due to the day being a Monday.  We strode around to see what was available to try and came stumble upon Philly Spot.  The smell coming out of the food truck stall was so aromatic and made us even more hungry.

We then saw a lady picking up her order from Philly Spot and it was a giant box. This was when we decided to try Philly Spot for lunch.  We ordered a Philly Steak sandwich since we figured that it is the signature dish.  The cost of this was $16, so it was not cheap either.

After about 10 minutes, the order was ready.  It was indeed in a large box and it was so hot and fresh.  Other than just the Philly Steak sandwich, it also came with a large portion of fries.  The fries were the thick cut fries, which are the ones we really enjoy.  It also came with a small serving of sauce.  The taste of the sauce was similar to the sauce used in Big Mac burger at McDonald's.  The Philly Steak sandwich had a lot of meat in it, but we thought there were going to be more bell peppers in the sandwich based on what we saw on the picture, but there was very little bell peppers in there, which was a bit disappointing.

Overall, it was an average experience having the food from Philly Spot.  It is definitely a place to try but we will probably try a different food truck next time when we visit the Station food truck site.