Last night for Mrs. Zimba's birthday, we got dressed up and drove into Portland with another couple to do a restaurant hop with a food tour company we found on Groupon. We met up with eight others to make a group of twelve at the Irving Street Kitchen in the Pearl neighborhood of Portland. The concept is to have appetizers at one restaurant, main course at the second, and dessert at a third. Our guide ordered an assortment of each restaurant's best or most popular dishes with everyone taking a small portion and sharing every dish as it's passed around the table. The second restaurant was the Peruvian fusion restaurant Andina, and the dessert place was Clyde Common. At first I tried to take pictures of the dishes to write up a fuller report, but I found it too hurried and obnoxious for tons of people at the table to be constantly taking pictures. So here are some pros and cons I found from the experience:

Pros

- We got to try so many delicious dishes over the evening.
- The appetizer and main course selections were excellent.
- Discovered two new good restaurants and revisited a former anniversary dinner location.
- Meet some new people.
- Walked through the neighborhood.
- The cocktails were inventive and delicious.
- The Groupon food value was good for the experience.

Cons

- Sharing each dish amongst the table caused you not to have more than a bit or two, even if you really enjoyed a dish.
- All alcoholic drinks were extra, with pricey cocktails, so our alcohol tab and tip was easily more than the original Groupon purchase.
- The last dessert bar was over 10 blocks away, a fair walk for the third place and 13 blocks back to our cars.
- Our guide was on his second restaurant outing on his own and could have hosted and guided us a bit better.
- The dessert restaurant had some "out there desserts" like blue cheese apple pie, beet sorbet, and parsnip tapioca. We also tried Absinthe, for the first time. I don't recommend it unless you are a big fan of anise/black licorice.

Overall it was a fun evening out and a good excuse to experience many dishes from the foodie scene in Portland. Since the gallery days, we don't go into Portland as much so it's always a fun time.