In all my Portland poutine perambulations, I’ve never encountered a truly satisfying vegetarian gravy – until now!
Earlier this week I learned of a few new Portland poutine purveyors, and I couldn’t wait to try them out. Beer is the perfect accompaniment to poutine, so my first stop was the Hawthorne Hophouse.
Heather and I ordered a couple beers and split a sandwich and a large order of poutine. The poutine, as you can see, was plenty big, and set us back $8.00 (there’s also a smaller size for $6.00, and at happy hour you can fill your poutine needs for a mere $4).
Wow, this was a good poutine. The fries ran the gamut between crispy and soft, but were all golden brown, hot, and not too salty. The cheese curds, though orange, were distributed throughout the poutine; those on the periphery were still cool while those on top and inside were melty and gooey. And the gravy poured over the top was fantastic. Herby and meaty, but without the meat. We chatted briefly to the chef Bernie, and he confirmed that the gravy was 100% vegetarian, and house made. It’s my favorite so far of the vegetarian poutine gravies I’ve tried.
The Hawthorne Hophouse is a great addition to upper Hawthorne. We thoroughly enjoyed the poutine, and the beer selection is better than any other poutine purveyor in town.
Hawthorne Hophouse
4111 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Portland, Oregon97214
Phone: 503.477.9619
Web: www.HawthorneHophouse.com
Leah Lockwood
on Nov 30th, 2010
@ 8:48 am:
Hey, thanks for the excellent write-up. We greatly appreciate it. You wouldn’t believe how much poutine we’ve sold since we opened!
One thing, can you change the website address to http://www.hawthornehophouse.com (there’s an errant “e” in there).
Thanks again for stopping by!
Leah
Dave
on Nov 30th, 2010
@ 3:24 pm:
Howdy Leah – Keep up the great poutine! (Oops, removed the extra e!)