These past couple weeks have been busy with design for local agencies. With that sort of activity, as I’m sure you know, come lots of emails, phone calls and meetings. I had a meeting that overlapped lunch and decided to go back over to the Green Castle Food Court to get some nourishment. To my surprise, another cart had sprung up.
Kayla’s Mango Tango is in the spot where Weenies On the Water used to be. I’m glad they filled the spot. Kayla greeted me at the window with a smile and a seductive spillage of menu items including quesadillas, burritos and a sample of chicken tinga. Roberto, a small man in the back scooped me up a sample from the pot and let me try it. Full of flavor and moisture and a good amount of heat, I decided to try that for lunch.
Served with a side of black beans, rice and a tortilla, this made a solid meal. I made a burrito out of it so I could eat it fast for my meeting, but the flavors were dynamite in my mouth. This is the kind of thing you can’t fake. They get up early, make the food with love and sell it at a reasonable price. $6.00 for a solid meal that stays with you for quite a while. I’m not normally a spanish rice kinda guy but that is based on eating too much cheap rice. This rice was so flavorful and fluffy, I kinda want to go back and get a side of it. 8.5/10 Finger-lickins! This cart is going to do awesome.
Onto the drawing. Thanks to generous support from Speedi Gourmet, I’m happy to announce I’ve got 2 Buy One Tasting, Get One Free from Ardiri Winery & Vineyards. You wanna win? Subscribe to my blog and leave a comment below about what you think of design and food culture in Portland. Winner will be chosen at random sometime this week and I will write a blog about me giving you the winnings. How about that?
I look forward to reading what you have to say!
-Gabe
