Cart de Frisco

I regret that I didn't have a blog when I ate at this little cart because I wish that I could have posted my initial feelings. The story behind Cart de Frisco is that it is a little food cart (literally a cart, not a truck) that is parked outside of the University of Oregon gate near the Duck Store on 13th. When I attended the UO during my freshmen year, I had always noticed that this little cart was either closed or had a line. They would also participate in the ASUO Street Fair! Sadly, I never had the opportunity to try this deliciously messy food of the heavens until my most recent trip to the good ol' Eug.

So you're probably wondering "why Frisco?" Apparently frisco sauce is made red wine, olive oil, butter, thyme, and salmon bones! I am sure that everyone makes their sauce different, so I am not exactly sure how this specific cart makes theirs.

I went with my friend Carmen, so I knew we had to do the split technique so that we could try more things. I ordered the Chicken Sandwich and Carmen ordered the Frisco Noodle. You can customize how spicy you want your dish to be so I chose spicy and Carmen chose mild.

Chicken Sandwich [$6.50] 

Frisco Noodle [$6.50]

The prices were phenomenal! As you can see, both of the dishes were $6.50! Carmen and I only ate about half of everything! That's ridiculous, if you ask me. Everything was super tasty and hardy. My favorite dish would have to be the sandwich. I'm sorry, but nothing compares to the euphoric feeling of sinking your teeth into a delicious burger/sandwich and having the sauces just get all of your face and drip down your elbows. There wasn't THAT big of a difference between mild and spicy, but that can change daily. The only thing that could be improved is the flavoring of the noodles in the Frisco Noodle. The container that the food was in was so small that there was no way I could have mixed the sauce from the chicken onto the noodles without it getting everywhere. But that is just my first world rant, I should be happy that they gave me such a large portion!

Anyway, would highly recommend this place, especially if you are on a budget. It is superb as far as campus food carts go!

Bún bò Huế Restaurant

Hey guys! So today we roadtripped it up to Portland from Eugene which took about two hours. There was some drama this morning. I LOST MY CAMERA BATTERY. The frustrating part was that I was holding it in my hands and then I got distracted (by lord knows what) and then when I remembered about my battery, it was gone. It's somewhere in my friend's apartment, but I ended up giving up because we needed to get on the road. We stopped by a Best Buy in nearby Springfield and I picked up a new (generic) battery! It cost about $54 (ouch!) and I got a little leash for my lens cap too which was about $7. I was so flustered, I almost had a panic attack due to all of the events that took place prior.

Anyway, after spending sometime at the local mall (Clackamas) we went to a small restaurant that has been getting rave reviews from the locals in the area. This Vietnamese restaurant is known as Bún bò Huế. Bún bò Huế is a Vietnamese soup that contains vermicelli noodles and is known for it's harmonious balance between spicy, salty, sweet, and sour flavors. 

Upon seeing this sketchy little restaurant on the corner of SE 82nd, I was honestly a little skeptical about the food. "Will I get diarrhea from this?" was my initial concern. My friends and I decided to go with the Bún bò Huế, for obvious reasons. 

Between the three of us, we were given three lime wedges, basil, bean sprouts, cabbage, and a heaping serving of a mysterious red tasteless veggie.

 Each bowl was adorned with cilantro and other spices along with thin flank steak, pig feet, this pork bologna, and congealed pig blood. I didn't eat the pig blood, but everything else was amazingly tasty. This was my first experience with Bún bò Huế, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. It was also extremely affordable and the service was very friendly.

Bún bò Hue [$7.50]

Bún bò Huế [$7.50]
with vegetables added

The ingredients were pretty fresh, the only downside was that the basil looked a little sadder than what I am used to. I would definitely recommend this if you are craving a hot bowl of some tasty Vietnamese soup on a rainy Oregon afternoon.

Larry's Cupcake Cafe

My friend Brian had told me about this new cupcake place that he had heard good things about, and I knew we had to go there immediately. Now this place isn't your typical "make it just for kids" type of cupcake place, they actually make such sophisticated flavors (some involving alcohol) that would only target adults. It is located in downtown Eugene, conveniently close to the Saturday Market.

The impression I got of this place upon entering through the glass doors, was how organized and clean it looked. So different from the typical Eugene way of haphazardly decorating with whatever "hipster" decorations can be scavenged from yard sales.

I had heard things about their cupcakes and their cream puffs, so I knew I had to get both. As a way to both taunt my boyfriend and show him that he's always in my thoughts, I decided to get the "Apple Pie Surprise" cupcake, because apple desserts are his favorite.

(Left) Raspberry Cream Puff [$0.75]
(Right) Apple Pie Surprise Cupcake [$3.75]

White Chocolate Marionberry Cupcake [$3.75]

Tiramisu Cupcake [$3.75]

Mocha Madness Cupcake [$3.75]

Very Berry Cupcake [$3.75]

Each cupcake was filled with a surprise of some sort! Not to toot my own horn, but I believe I made the best choice with mine. The presentation of the cupcake was adorable, and I love how the frosting piped so that it looked like an apple pie! The cream puffs were also amazing! The cream wasn't heavy at all, but it still had the strong flavor of raspberry. The puff pastry was beautiful crafted to be amazingly soft and fluffy. They also had a buy 3 for $2.00 deal. Although the cupcakes were pricier than what you would normally pay for a cupcake (standard $3.75 price), I believe that "gourmet" cupcakes are worth every penny. Larry's cupcakes were particularly moist and creative. Best I have had in Eugene so far. Would recommend to ANYONE.

Larry!

Party Downtown+Red Wagon Creamery

Just a warning, this will be a long review because I have A LOT to say about this place. First of all, I have heard a lot of things about the popular food cart "Party Cart." I had always wanted to go here because apparently they make amazing pies and have delicious locally sourced food. When I heard that they had just opened a restaurant in downtown Eugene in early May (it was mid-May when we went), I knew we just had to try this place!

The concept of this place is very interesting. The minds of two successful Eugene food carts came together and made this fusion restaurant. The "front" of this restaurant is Red Wagon Creamery, which is a very popular ice cream cart serving crazy, original flavors using almost completely locally sourced ingredients. We were originally confused because we intended on just going to Party Downtown, but hey, we got ice cream!

"Saturday Morning"
Junior Sized [$2.25]

Anyway, you have to walk through Red Wagon Creamery and past the Party Downtown bar to get to the eating area. The eating area had a very "hipster/chic" vibe.

We had a party of seven, so we were told to wait 15-20 minutes, we were seated in about 15. They definitely still have a lot of kinks to work out, seeing as they just opened. Accidents happened, but they were almost a freakout about whether or not we were the group that was supposed to be sitting at the table they put us on.

Menu

By the way the menu was arranged on the wall (on removable chalkboards), I am assuming that the menu changes daily. Also, when they run out of items, the chalkboard is taken down. By the end of our meal, there were about 4-5 boards taken down.

House Bread [$3.50]

 We starts with the "House Bread" which was pretty good! There were three different varieties of their bread totaling 9 slices. This was a good little appetizer, but some of the bread was really dry. On the bright side, the honey was surprisingly sweet.  Now, here's where my review kind of goes south. I can understand that they are a new restaurant, but the food took YEARS to come out. I am not exaggerating when I say that it took at least an hour. The food also came out at very spread apart times, so the first person wanted to wait to eat their food, but by the time everyone else got their food, her food was cold. I know that was on our own accord, but the food should have come out around the same time.

Flank Steak [$13.00]

Turkey Leg Confit/Gnocchi (small) [$8.00]

We ordered other food, but due to the dim lighting I wasn't able to snap really good photos of them. Orders included the "Pickled Filipino Sausage with Dirty Wild Rice," "Sweet Pea Honey Pot de Creme," and "Spinach Artichoke Dip."  The sausage dish was really good because they make the sausages in house! The food was okay, nothing to hate, nothing to love. I love the concept of being locally sourced, but the portions were a little TOO small. As much as I love the idea of paying for experience, this place wasn't memorable enough to make me want to pay $8.00 for a little dish. However, I am glad that I went to this place at least once in my life, just because the idea behind it is so neat. I guess it also didn't help that my friends were complaining like no other about the size, price, and everything. It made me feel extremely uncomfortable. 

I would recommend this place if you are into the whole "fresh and locally sourced" fad because that's exactly what it is. However, if you want a lot of food and are on a budget, I would not recommend. If you are like me and in between, it's good for a one time deal, but DO NOT be expecting to get full off this meal. I am excited to see how this restaurant will blossom.

Little Big Burger

Currently, I am in Eugene, Oregon visiting my old friend. If you didn't know, last year (2011-2012) I attended the University of Oregon! I missed my friends so much that I HAD to come back and visit them. Slowly but surely I have been meeting up with all of the friends and we partake in my favorite activity, eating. On this particular day, my friend Keith and I went to "Little Big Burger." Now this place prides itself on it's fresh ingredients and slider sized burgers.

Burger flippin' goodness

As you can see in the background, the menu is extremely simple. You can either have a cheese burger (with Tillamook cheddar, bleu, chèvre, or swiss), hamburger, or veggie burger.

Menu

I got the cheese burger with chèvre, and it was amazing! I never had chèvre in a burger before, so I knew I HAD to try it. Apparently, you can request to get your burger "pink" or else they just prepare it well done, but I forgot to mention it because I was too excited about getting my burger. Nonetheless, it was still deliciously juicy and just the right size for me.

Cheese Burger with Chevre [$3.25]

Some may think that it is really expensive for what you get, but I believe it is fair priced. It's true you can probably get a bigger burger at McDonald's for cheaper, but would you really want to? I'll take quality over quantity any day. Plus, when you think about it, gourmet burgers usually run about $6-$9! This burger is more than half the size of a gourmet burger and still about half the price. I'd say it's a good deal.

Now arguably the most exciting part about eating at "Little Big Burger" are the truffle oil fries. Even if people don't like the burgers here, they definitely cannot resist the beautiful aroma and taste of the fries!

Truffle Oil Fries [$2.75]

I really enjoyed my experience at "Little Big Burger," but I had a feeling I would. The owners (or employees, not sure what they were) were SUPER nice! They let us sit and talk for like a good 2 and a half hours. While I was waiting for my friend I even just sat in their restaurant without buying anything for a good 20 minutes and they never bothered me. I would definitely recommend this spot if you are craving a good little burger and are near the University of Oregon campus! Don't forget the fries!

Oh yeah, they have their own special brand of ketchup they use too! It is a little tangier than regular ketchup. It's not for everyone, but you should try it!

Available for sale, too!