Rating / 5 out of 5 stars

Portland’s Screen Door aims to rep the South proper with a simple menu of classic dishes served up with that world famous hospitality. All that Southern goodness must be legendary though, because you should expect to wait a while to get a seat at this East Burnside Street restaurant.

Screen Door is as charming as its name suggests: whimsical, casual, and a friendliness that has a distinct Southern drawl. The open dining room filled with family style tables bustles with activity as servers zip back and forth from the kitchen.

(Above: Nothing says serious business like a plate full of chicken and waffles with a knife stabbed in the middle of the dish.)

First thing I noticed on the menu: Chicken and waffles. Now, seeing that I’d likely have to go all the way to Los Angeles to get my fix, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. The chicken and waffles arrived on a plate stacked with a knife driven down the center to hold it altogether.

The crude, yet dramatic plating foreshadowed what we were about to experience: three pieces of expertly breaded chicken breasts that was both crispy on the outside and unfailingly juicy on the inside. Cushioned below was a fluffy and delicate waffle that provided that sweet yin to the yang of the chicken’s savoury. Perfect harmony.

(Top to bottom: 1. Screen Door gets busy. 2. Supreme, indeed.)

Case ordered a waffle with a generous dusting of crushed pralines served with a rasher of crispy bacon and topped with dollops of whipped cream. It was like having dessert for breakfast: the savoury bacon a final exclamation point on this perfectly crisp soft statement of Southern pride.

(Above: Praline, bacon, and pancakes topped with whipped cream — all the four major food groups for breakfast. Your mother would be proud.)

Our meal came to under $30 including tips and two coffees, which quite frankly, felt like a bargain given both the generous portions and quality of food. Apparently, all of it is made daily with local organic produce and meats, but more importantly Screen Door executes without dumbing down or dressing up their dishes. You really do have to wait a pretty long time to get in, though — so get there early.

Perfect for: A taste of Southern hospitality — in the Pacific Northwest.

The Details

2337 East Burnside Street, Portland
503.542.0880
screendoorrestaurant.com

Rating / 3 out of 5 stars

Located on West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles, Rocoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles have been holding it down old school dishing out their specialty classic — chicken and waffles.

(Above: Plate full of fried chicken. )

Chicken and waffles is not a only a unique combination, but it’s also probably a dietitian’s worst nightmare. How can something so wrong be so good at the same time? Well, Roscoe’s must be doing something right — still going strong since the 70s, Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles has the menu to keep their patrons happy: good old southern style fried chicken, waffles, deep fried chicken livers, mac and cheese, greens, corn bread and a whole lot more. It’s breakfast time. Time for some chicken and waffles.

(Above: A big ass waffle with a truckload of butter.)

Tre and I shared a Herb’s Special: 1/2 a chicken (chix) prepared southern style with two waffles and a slice of sweet potato pie, plus two cups of joe to cut through the grease. The order arrived quickly: the fried chicken was decent; the skin crispy and seasoned with Roscoe’s own mix. The meat was slightly tender, but a little dried out. The humungous waffles were on the thinner side and topped with whip cream and loads of butter.

I felt the winner out of our meal was the sweet potato pie: mashed sweet potatoes with spices baked into a pie crust. The pie was rich, yet light, and tasted similar to pumpkin pie. It was delicious, but felt very heavy after the big meal we had just polished off.

(Top to bottom: 1. The coffee was meh. 2. A slice of sweet, sweet potato pie.)

Our bill including taxes and tips came to just under $33. Surprisingly, not the best chicken and waffles we’ve had given Roscoe’s iconic status. However, we would definitely return and try the deep fried chicken livers that we saw flying by us as we ate. The atmosphere is a dive, but we wouldn’t want it any other way.

Perfect for: It’s Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. It’s a classic.

The Details

5006 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles
323.934.4405
roscoeschickenandwaffles.com

Rating / 5 out of 5 stars

Le Bistro Montage on South East Morrison St. serves Cajun inspired foods in a laid back atmosphere. It sits on a corner underneath the Morrison bridge in an industrial part of Portland. Long, communal wooden tables occupy the spacious dining room of what was once a hotel, where one dines amongst the company of strangers. Their menu boasts such items as Cajun gator bites, jambalaya, gumbo, and some of the best oyster shooters ever.

Our friends Mike and Virg tipped us off to Le Bistro Montage, having enjoyed the food here before. Virg was excited about the oyster shooters and Mike was laying in wait for the fried chicken. The oyster shooters appear to be the most popular items on the menu as each order is relayed by the server to the kitchen by hollering it across the room at the top of their lungs.

(Clockwise: 1. Session Premium Lager. 2. Oyster shooter. 3. Crawfish Hush Puppies.)

It was the 6 of us for dinner: Mike,Virg, Steve, Yi-Fan, Tre and myself. Unlike the eerily abandoned industrial wasteland outside the restaurant, the inside was alive and packed with excited diners. The atmosphere is similar to — what was once cool — Subeez. The music blared and everyone appeared to be having a good time with both friends and strangers.

(Top to bottom: 1. Buttermilk fried chicken with cornbread. 2. Mac ‘n cheese — a classic.)

We started with a couple rounds of oyster shooters, which were phenomenal! Served in a shot glass with creamed horseradish, lemon and a Cajun cocktail sauce, I couldn’t get enough of them and would have been happy having just the oyster shots as my meal. I ordered the Spold (Spicy & Old) mac and cheese. Unlike most mac and cheese we’ve been had, this one wasn’t hidden under a layer of cheese skin and crusty pasta. The macaroni was practically poached in the spicy, creamy and cheesy broth.

Tre ordered the catfish: flaky, tender and flavourful. It was served with rice, salad and corn bread. Steve and Yi-Fan bravely ordered the gator bits: battered and deep fried bits of alligator served with a dipping sauce. Not surprising, it tasted like rubbery chicken — not something we’d necessarily order again. The crawfish hush puppies, however, were tasty bits of seasoned, battered goodness. Buttermilk fried chicken and scallop linguini were also had (and were all well executed) as were some local beers.

(Clockwise: 1. Catfish with rice and cornbread. 2. The menu taped to the window. 3. People enjoying a meal in the company of others.)

For just under $40 for Tre and myself, including tip (no taxes) — we ate well, really well. The food was great, the service was decent and we had a great time. If you have leftovers, they even wrap your food in tin foil and create a little sculpture. Virg and Yi-Fan’s leftover corn bread was transformed into an easy chair and a whale. How cool is that?

Perfect for: Cool food, cool atmosphere, cool people and spicy Cajun flare under a bridge.

The Details

301 Southeast Morrison Street, Portland
503.234.1324
montageportland.com

Rating / 3 out of 5 stars

So, where would you expect to find the Best Burger in the Lower Mainland? Yaletown? Downtown? Kitsilano? Main Street? Well, Burgers Etc.’s claims the viewers of CTV have given this Burnaby restaurant that distinction. If this was done in as scientific fashion as American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance, then we’d have to take the results with a grain of salt.

(Clockwise: 1. Chargrilled salmon burger with fries and mayo. 2. A saxophone hanging on a red wall. 3. Ketchup, but I prefer mayo.)

Case and I arrived for a late dinner (around 8:30pm). I keep forgetting restaurants in Burnaby close early, so the restaurant was empty except for one table and the staff was preparing the restaurant for closing. Inside, the sweet scent of Barbeque sauce swelled and enveloped our senses. Fiery red painted wall surrounded us, adorned with images of Miles Davis, saxophones and other jazz paraphernalia. Down south blues drawled from the speakers.

The menu at Burgers Etc. read more like a Southern barbeque house: pulled pork, beef brisket, barbeque ribs and chicken, and sausage and chicken wings. Sitting alone was a small section dedicated to their burgers. We were here to test their burger claim, so that was what we ordered. Case had the lower mainland’s “best” burger (quotes their own): 6 oz. of ground chuck with spices and all the fixings. Instead of fries, their burgers come with a side of baked beens, cole slaw, corn niblets or potato salad — Case chose the corn niblets. I ordered the night’s special, a grilled salmon burger, substituting their regular side with fries  and mayo for an extra $3. I was afraid my salmon would become lonely, so I also got a beer to keep it company.

Our dinner arrived in black plastic baskets lined with classic red and white gingham wax paper. Case’s burger was pretty tasty: fresh and moist with a nice smoky char from the grill, but slightly under seasoned. The bun were perfectly shaped, fresh, and lightly toasted on the outside and pillow soft on the inside. The corn niblets had a nice crunch, but appeared to lack salt or butter. My salmon burger was surprisingly tasty (most restaurants overcook the salmon and turn it into a hideous cardboard jerky). But my salmon was moist, well seasoned, with excellent smoky flavour from charring. The fries were so-so, but I was dunking them in the mayo, so they tasted dope to me.

Our entire meal set us back about $30, which is pretty decent. The burgers here are definitely solid if not under seasoned, and I really enjoyed the salmon burger —  but lower mainland’s best burger? Perhaps not. There are enough good burger joints out there to make that claim disputable.

Perfect for:

The best burger in… Burnaby?

The Details

4091 Hastings Street, Burnaby
604.299.8959
burgers-etc.com