Time in the Pearl

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

I went to Mom and Dad's for the afternoon. We decided to go to lunch and Dad had just the place, the "Elephant Inn" in NW Portland. I enjoy visiting Portland because there is so much to see and do in downtown Portland, it is such a cool city. I wish we had considered buying a condo there. NW Portland is famous for it's "Nob Hill", or as I used to know it, the "Pearl District", which is home to blocks of fine dining and shopping. Dad thought the place he wanted to go to was on 21st or 23rd street, north of Burnside, so we toured up and down the streets looking for a place with an Elephant on the sign. After much back and forth, we weren't able to locate it, so seeing an old familiar place, "Roses Deli and Bakery", we parked and waited in line.


I grew up knowing Roses as the place with the really, really, really large cakes. We're taking like 6 layers of cake, held together with beautiful frosting, yum! Roses is in a new location now, but the food hasn't changed. You can see mile high cakes in the dessert cases, as well as huge eclairs and other fabulous looking desserts. If you want to have some dessert, it's best not to order lunch, or only eat half of it. Nope, half was too much also. Our family loves Rueben sandwiches, and Roses is famous for it's Rueben. If you are super hunger, or want left overs for 2 meals, you can order the "Original Roses Rueben", which resembles a very large Club sandwich only with "Rueben" ingredients. YUMMM! (There's turkey on that Rueben, it's not all sauerkraut). We all ordered our with a mix of pastrami and corned beef, and it didn't disappoint. Except the part about not having room for dessert....


At lunch I found a map with Dad's "Elephant Delicatessen", located 1 block north of Burnside on 22nd St. Dad wanted to stop in and show me what I missed. This little deli has everything! You can put things on a plate and eat there, or buy food to go. I saw salads, cheeses, wines, desserts, casseroles, meats, and olives. I bought some of the olives and they were the best I've had. If you're in Nob Hill, besure to take a stroll through this interesting deli, I know I didn't even scratch the surface of the possibilities here. I will return someday and I'll be hungry.