CHEAP EATS: The Perfect Portland Takeout Plate

[March 28th, 2007] This is a shout-out to the shitass broke. Don't front—you wouldn't be reading Cheap Eats if you had any green stuff. However, being light on dough doesn't mean you can't chow down like the more

well-heeled, though you may not be able to do it in a four-star dining room. Luckily, PDX food

purveyors have birthed enough delicatessens, bakeries, cheese shops and specialty markets that takeout needn't be limited to pizza. Not that there's anything wrong with pizza.

Choquettes by St. Honoré Boulangerie, $3.25 a dozen
These popular pastry balls are heavenly. Made from pâte à choux, the same buttery dough used in éclairs, they're sprinkled liberally with rock sugar and baked into something rich, crunchy and addictive as hell.
St. Honoré Boulangerie, 2335 NW Thurman St., 445-4342.

Garrotxa at Pastaworks, $4.25 for a quarter pound
Don't let the Basque-sounding name fool you—garrotxa is as Catalan as Salvador Dalí, and you can find this earthy goat's-milk cheese all over town. Its mild manner will make converts of folks not used to goat.
Pastaworks, 3735 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 232-1010, and other locations.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich by Pearl Bakery, $2.50
This PB&J puts your mother's version to shame with creamy organic peanut butter and Glenwood Farms raspberry preserves on Pearl Paesano bread. This is a grown-up rendition of a childhood staple, and one that makes a sunny day out of a rainy one.
Pearl Bakery, 102 NW 9th Ave., 827-0910.

Seaweed salad by Uwajimaya, $8.99 a pound
Wicked salty, savory and more than slightly chewy, this wakame salad is served cold in sesame vinaigrette and is a good enough excuse on its own for a trek into Beaverton.
Uwajimaya Beaverton, 10500 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, 643-4512.

Jamón Serrano at Wild Oats, $6.25 for a quarter pound
If you've never tried Spanish ham, you're missing out. More toothsome and with a lingering flavor that outlasts that of Italian prosciutto and German Black Forest ham, salt-cured Serrano goes as perfectly with a fresh slice of melon as with a dry martini.
3535 NE 15th Ave., 288-3414, and other locations.

Chai bomb soda by Blueplate, $3 ($4.50 with ice cream)
Blueplate's chai bomb soda is a complex marriage of cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and anise on crushed ice. Sweet and peppery, it's one of the most unique and delicious soda concoctions you'll ever try. Get it solo or add a scoop of vanilla.
Blueplate, 308 SW Washington St., 295-2583.