Green Curry with Duck and Avocado - Bangkok Duck and Chicken - SW 10th & Alder

I went for a walk today at lunch, up to the cart pods on SW 9th and 10th off of Alder. This is by far the most populous encampment of Portland food carts, and is home to some of the most successful of the bunch.

Imagine my surprise when I came across Bangkok Duck and Chicken.
If you have duck on the menu, I'm interested. This stopped me dead in my tracks as I looked over the menu of what appears to be a fairly standard Thai/Curry setup -- only, with duck. - Curry *and* duck... and this dish, #6 on the menu, the Green Curry with Duck and Avocado. No need to look any further, folks. This was where I was getting lunch today.

Served with a VERY generous portion of rice, the curry and other ingredients were placed in a separate container. Definitely enough for two meals.

While waiting on the food, I chatted with the owner a bit, who didn't hesitate to tell me this was the best curry around. I asked how long he'd been there, and, much to my surprise -- the answer was "two years" - and that he had, in fact, changed the appearance of the cart a tad recently.

At least 100 times, I must have walked right by this cart and never noticed. I reviewed the cart right next to it as one of my first posts to this blog. Yet, here I was, waiting on my food from what I thought was a relatively new cart... WITH DUCK. How could I have missed it?

My love affair with duck has only occurred over the last year or two -- before then, I'd never had it, to my knowledge. Now, if there's duck on the menu, I'll often order it, as I'm enjoying all the duck dishes.

This curry is no exception - this is AWESOME. The curry is, indeed, delicious - and may be one of the best curries in Portland, as the owner claims. A *lot* of duck meat, alongside crisp bell peppers, avocado chunks, and cashews. As much as I want to eat the whole thing, this is really enough food for two and there's no way I will finish it all at the moment, despite that urge that good spicy Thai food gives me to just keep shoveling it in until there's nothing left.

Bangkok Duck and Chicken, SW 10th and Alder.

T & P's Chinese Cuisine - SW 5th and Oak, North Side

Today, I had a conference call to attend, right at lunchtime, on short notice - so I had to run and grab something fast. Since I've spent most of this week eating from carts on the North side of the pod on SW 5th, I figured - why not continue the pattern?

This is the one cart on the North side on Oak I have yet to try, located next to Sin Wagon, which I wrote about yesterday.

I also haven't eaten Chinese food in almost 5 years. Partially because the last time wasn't very impressive, and also because I tend to favor Thai food, of which there is plenty to be had from carts in Portland.

My former measure of the worth of a Chinese restaurant was always based on their Kung Pao Chicken, so that's what I ordered.

T&P's is a fairly new cart, maybe two weeks or so. They offer a pretty standard set of Chinese dishes, with beef, chicken, tofu, or fish. No pork on the menu. There were some salt and pepper fish dishes, and a beef and shrimp teriyaki that looked interesting. Proudly displayed is a sign stating "No MSG."

The food is prepped on the fly with woks, and they'll spice it to your liking. They offer fried or white rice with the rice based dishes, and the non-crispy type of Chow Mein noodles.

Also, most of their dishes are under $5 each, which is below average these days.

Now, as for the Kung Pao Chicken -- delicious. The vegetables are crispy, it's got a good kick to it, the sauce is how I like it, savory, not sweet. One of the reasons I've avoided Chinese food is the sweetness in a lot of the sauces. Not the case here.... and I have missed Kung Pao.

Western versions of this dish lack the peppercorn variety used in China, partially due to a rather lengthy ban on their import due to a tree disease they could carry. The ban was lifted in 2005, and now I think I'd like to see if I can find a place that uses those instead - as, apparently, the flavor is quite distinct, and I would like to know how the 'true' version of my favorite Chinese dish tastes.

Thanks, T&P Chinese Cuisine, for re-awakening my desire for Chinese food. :)