Taco Time.....(anyone remember that place?)

Por Que No

I went out for food the other day.

Oh yeah. This is a food post. Deal with it.

When my girlfriend, Karen, asked me out to tacos, it was entirely for her benefit. She's a dental student and had been working hard to make sure she stayed competitive in her field. I promised her the day before that she could be anywhere she wanted, and she chose "Por Que No", off Mississippi Ave in Portland Oregon.

This is her. The rest...is Por Que No.

Now, Por Que No does not display itself on the street with signs so pervasive they make it impossible to enjoy a morning walk. They don't blast their music, door open, so you can't hear yourself think. Their hole-in-the-wall setup causes people to react in one of two ways- either you question the food's integrity, or you revel in that cross cultural indentity clash. I chose the later. Taken away from my humble abode off Bond street, whisked away to another place where my sense of self gets repurposed to theirs. You feel displaced, the feeling curling around your shoulders like the smell of sizzling goods on the grill off to the left of the counter. The lights, the paint, the nooks and crannies of magic makes you feel like you've always been there or never want to leave.

Then came the food.

It wasn't impressive. No garland hung around the plate. No sauce drizzled over things to give that high society class. It was simple. A corn wrap taco and some flat cooked cheese quesadillas. I cocked my eyebrow- this was disconcerting. My appetite was whetted by the colors and sounds around me. I expected more flourish. More display. More....well more. Then, choking down my pride (and hoping I wouldn't have to do the same to my meal), I took a bite.

Everything was as it should be.

And explosion of flavor coalesced over my taste buds, my previous uncertainty washed away by the delicious meal at my fingertips. It stood up to the atmosphere, it complimented my surroundings and fulfilled my every expectation. Though the visual didn't match up, the flavor more than stood the test of tests.

I will return to Por Que No, eager to taste some of their other delights and wade into the fountain of pleased voices, while I myself veg in their flavor.

I give Por Que No my seal.