More Like a Stumble?

Pub crawls have never sounded very appealing to me. It's not the pub part, since I happen to like beer and find that the pubs here in PDX are getting more and more convivial in that British "let's pop down to the pub for a pint" way. And the food they dish out, while it's not going to give the city's better restaurants anything to worry about, has improved from the days of beer nuts and pretzels out of a bag.

The part I find less than inviting is the bit about the "crawl," as if the point of visiting pubs is to get so blasted that perambulation becomes problematic. Not to say that I haven't suffered from an error in judgment a time or two. (Say, those five vodka martinis on a youthful sojourn in San Francisco…but I digress.) Or that the purpose of beer consumption is quantity, not so much quality. Which here in Microbrew Central is somewhat of an outdated idea, n'est-ce pas?

Which brings me to the Division Street Pub…um…Crawl scheduled for Saturday, March 20, featuring a chance to meet eight of the Northwest's top brewers at four different locations:

• Noon: Victory Bar, with Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland; Double Mountain, Hood River. 2509 SE 37th Ave.
• 1:30 pm: New Old Lompoc Hedge House with Lompoc, Portland. 3412 SE Division St.
• 3:00 pm: Bar Avignon with John Harris from Full Sail, Hood River; Spencer Gotter from Fort George Brewery, Astoria. 2138 SE Division St.
• 4:30 pm: The BeerMongers with Walking Man, Stevenson; Barley Browns, Baker City; Beer Valley, Ontario. 1125 SE Division St.

Sounds like it might be just the thing to do on a (presumably) rainy Saturday in Portland. So bring your umbrella and, please, try to stay vertical.

Details: Division Street Pub Crawl, sponsored by BrewPublic. Sat., Mar. 20, noon-6 pm at four locations along SE Division St.

Hot Spot: Nuestra Cocina

Deciding what to do for a special occasion is always fraught with indecision around here. Tradition would dictate choosing one of several high-end dining spots on the list of favorites, like Castagna or Paley's Place. Or going to one of the seemingly endless number of new restaurants that have opened and we haven't yet made it to. Then there's the temptation to grab a couple of steaks, fire up the 'cue and shake up a martini right here at home.

But to take advantage of the occasion (our anniversary), we decided to go for a drink at our new favorite hangout, Bar Avignon, and think about where to have dinner. After a cocktail and their killer pate plate, we took the easy way out and simply walked across the street to Nuestra Cocina.

It was a warm Friday night and packed, so there was a substantial wait for a table, but we settled in at the bar and in short order were presented with their amazing pork tacos. A plate of four of the most sumptuous tacos you'll ever hope to meet for only six bucks, these were incredible. When we got our seats at the kitchen bar, we ordered the ceviche, a mindblowing mixture of mango, chile and seafood served with house-made tortilla chips that rivaled the best ceviches we had in Mexico.

Not having the sense to stop there, we ordered entrees, Dave deciding on the classic (and one of the best dishes on the menu) Cochinito Pibil with my choice being the Enchiladas de Hongos, mushrooms, potato and cheese-stuffed tortillas in a light chile sauce. Both were terrific, but we were so stuffed we brought half of each one home, a windfall for Mr. B who was happy to destroy any evidence of our shortcomings.

Details: Nuestra Cocina, 2135 SE Division St. Phone 503-232-2135.