Simpatica Dining Hall

Simpatica Dining Hall
828 SE Ash

Date: 5/31/09
Arrival: 8:50am

This past Sunday I was fortunate enough to eat brunch at Simpatica Dining Hall. It was hands down the best breakfast I've ever had in my entire life. Seriously.

Simpatica is a catering company during the week, but on the weekends they serve dinner on Fridays and Saturdays and brunch on Sundays. I had never heard of it before, but my friend Erin's co-worker, Hillary, is a waitress there on Sundays. Hillary treated us well. We received free breakfast cocktails (strong mimosas and a bloody Mary for Erin), free biscuits and gravy "appetizer" (the best biscuits and gravy that I've ever tasted, probably because I'm used to veggie gravy and this one was full of sausage and bacon), and a free strawberry rhubarb trifle dessert (amazing). Hillary just kept handing us free stuff. Needless to say, we tipped her well.

And that wasn't all that I ate...

I ordered the banana pancakes for my main course and they were absolutely the best pancakes that I've ever had. So fluffy and full of flavor, they just melted in my mouth along with the home made whipped cream and fruit syrup. Even Mandy, my friend who is not a fan of banana pancakes, practically died of happiness when she tried my meal and kept asking for bites while making obscene moaning sounds. Seriously, they are that good. This picture (that I stole off of the internets) does not do these pancakes justice.



Erin ordered the chicken and waffles. She said the waffles were good, but the chicken was probably the most flavorful chicken she had ever had. I didn't try it, but I trust Erin's judgment when it comes to meat.



Although Simpatica is not the most vegetarian friendly restaurant in Portland (it is very meaty and does not have the typical fake meat options that many PDX restuarants have and they have things on the menu like "chicken fried bison"), there are many veg options to choose from (strata, frittata, and of course the banana pancakes). I've also heard that they mix up the menu often, so there will probably be additional surprises in the future. I can hardly wait to go again.