A few weeks ago, my co-worker Kelly (who is also a big foodie) told me about this restaurant by our office, the Double Dragon. He said they had awesome bahn mi sandwiches for lunch. So the following week, Jonah and I went to get lunch there with our co-worker Sarah. I had the pork belly bahn mi, which was delicious. Now, let me say that I am not usually a sandwich person. There is usually just too much bread and all the fillings squeeze out as you eat it and it can just be a big mess. I’m a fan of silverware. But this bread was so good – like a baguette but really light and the crust was more crispy than crusty. I don’t know what they did to it, but it was awesome. The pork belly was wonderfully cooked and just melted in my mouth, and the whole thing was topped with aioli, jalapeno, and pickled carrot and daikon. It was awesome.

So when Little Green Pickle invited me to the celebration at Double Dragon to welcome their new expanded menu (after 5 pm) and cocktails (yum), I was more than happy to show up, eat some food, and drink some drinks. The party was open to the public, so I was happy to bring Jonah and our roommate Mac along. It was a beautiful day in Portland, and the picnic tables outside were packed. Here’s what we ate (and drank):

While Mac and Jonah both got the IPA on tap, I decided to try the Run Castro Run, a cocktail with tequila, pineapple, jalapeno agave, egg white, and angostura bitters. It was creamy (thanks egg white) and light, and perfect for a sunny day. We also were gifted an unclaimed cocktail, Double Dragon’s punch, which consisted of gin, lemongrass, ginger, and champagne. It was also really light and refreshing, perfect for a sunny day.

We had a little basket of the miso disco fries, Double Dragon’s take on the every popular poutine. Crispy, perfectly cooked fries, drenched in a miso sausage gravy, and topped with melty queso fresco. These were a really good start, and a more unique version of poutine (which you’ll find on a lot of happy hour menus in Portland) than I’ve had before.

Probably my favorite thing we ate was the rice cakes and Chinese sausage. I don’t know what they did to this dish, but it was awesome. I am a really big fan of this kind of rice cake, and I haven’t found it a lot in Portland. But rather than just being a little chewy, they must have pan fried these, so the edges got a little crispy, which was awesome. And the combination of that with the sliced sausage (which also seemed pan fried and had nice crispy edges) made for a really delicious dish. More bar snack than entree, it’s definitely something I’ll be returning for.

Overall, the food was really good, and the cocktails were really refreshing and light. I will definitely be hitting this place up for a post-work drink and bite. I recommend you do the same.