Special news coverage and analysis on The Buchanan and Seaton Show w/ @davidaseaton and live streams on WVON or WVON 1690AM on iHeartRadio Friday at 9pm – midnight Central

Portland does not have many 5-star hotels.  If you walk downtown, you will see a lot of homelessness. Tents are strewn throughout the city streets as far as the eye can see. The blight is quite jarring. That said Portland is a great town and there are a few hidden places to dine and enjoy the city. In my recent travels I found the Hotel Rose -a Staypineapple Hotel whose real treasure is their restaurant Bottle+Kitchen. 

It is located in downtown Portland across the street from the Riverwalk. The hotel is a three-star hotel with room with balconies. The rooms have European-styled duvets that are extremely luxurious. I didn’t ask about the pineapple theme, but it is everywhere. 

The hotel is ok, but the restaurant makes up for what the hotel is lacking. I dined there for a few meals and I was never disappointed. My first meal was lunch and I had a turkey sandwich and fries. The sandwich was substantive with thick slices of turkey joined with tomato and lettuce. It was as visually appealing as it was delicious. 

My second meal was the pot roast with mashed potatoes and collard greens. The roast was one of the best I’ve tasted. You don’t need a knife with this slow cooked perfection. The gravy was deep mahogany accompanied by olfactory temptation. The mashed potatoes were blended well, but would have been better with roasted garlic. The greens aren’t what you get in the South, but they were better than the failed attempts I’ve often sampled in the Northwest. 

My final day I had breakfast and again I wasn’t disappointed. Eggs, bacon, and potatoes sound easy. But the applewood smoked bacon was delicious. The bacon was somewhere between blond and cooked hard. There was definitely more meat than fat. Often hash-browns are the small strings that you get from a box cutter.  These were big pieces you only get from cutting your potatoes with a knife. I appreciate a departure from the ordinary. Their homemade jam completed the experience. Great job. 

The bar is done well given its small footprint. And is that tarragon I see in the fridge?  The decor is inviting. There’s a three-sided fireplace that completes the intimacy along with a baby grand piano. There’s also a larger room if you need to accommodate a larger gathering. 

At the end of the day I was very pleasantly surprised by this find in Portland and I will be back.