The Original Dinerant

Is there anything better than a leisurely Sunday afternoon with nothing to do and no rush to do it, including eating? Some Sundays we're so busy doing nothing and enjoying it that we suddenly realize we should get something to eat. That's where Sunday happy hours come in. Usually served all day in most bars in Portland. Sunday happy hours in many ways has replaced Sunday suppers.

So when when we were invited to happy hour at the Original Dinerant downtown on a sleepy Sunday afternoon when there are no crowds, no need to pay the parking meter and we can continue to leisurely enjoy our meal in the same leisurely manner we've been enjoying our leisurely day, we accepted the invite.

Part of the Sage Hospitality company, the Original Dinerant is a "modern, urban diner" hence the name Dinerant. Part diner, part restaurant. The sleek modern interior looked more cafeteria/diner than restaurant/diner, but a hip sleek cafeteria/diner.

To our surprise the Original Dinerant had an interesting and appealing happy hour menu. There were your typical diner inspire and happy hour staples of burgers, chicken wings, fries, and token side salad. The Original Dinerant bumped it all up a fancy notch with some interesting items, such as poutine, a Canadian dish consisting of french fries, cheese curds and gravy; meatloaf sliders with caramelized onions; and mini milkshakes and fries.

We started off with one of their housemade sodas. We decided on the ginger mint soda with Makers Mark and citrus lemongrass with Tangeray. These were delicious, by far the best sodas we have ever had. Just yummy! Housemade does come with a stiff cost so we sipped and savored every drop of our drinks.

Soon all our food arrived. First thing we tried was the short rib and carmelized onion perogie. Truth to be told if there is a perogie anywhere on a menu we will order it. It's hard to resist the potato dough ravioli. More texture than short rib and carmelized onion, if there was more than just two to an order we could have enjoyed it more, but it was gone before we knew it.

Same goes for the Kobe frank pig in a blanket, served with cheddar fondue. The two small bites that came per order were insufficient enough to be memorable in anyway. They looked pretty though.

We also ordered the lamb meatballs. These were good, but again so small and insignificant that there wasn't much to recall unfortunately.

The one item that was fairly memorable was the frito pie, presented in a frito chip bag. The chili was tangy and the cheese sauce was silky and smooth. But like the other items we ordered the presentation made our stomach rumble more than the food itself.

Even though the food wasn't that memorable, the whole experience was worth the leisurely Sunday afternoon meal. The restaurant was interesting looking and the housemade sodas are definitely worth it.

Photos are courtesy of our old, barely can hold a charge cell phones, not bad huh?

The Original Dinerant 300 SW 6th Portland, Oregon 503.546.2666 Happy Hour: Monday - Sunday 4:30pm - 6pm Their late night diner menu looks good too - open until 4am Fridays and Saturdays