Cheap Eats 2011: Hash

Portland has many restaurants that do the seasonal, local, we’re-friends-with-our-farmers new-menu-every-week thing. Portland has many community cafes that do well-executed brunch classics. But this city still has very few places that do both. Whilst we wouldn’t quite call Hash the Paley’s of Portland’s brunch scene, it’s a bloody good start. The restaurant delivers its namesake dish as an artfully arranged pile of soft, herby potato cubes, individually pan-roasted with Carlton Farms pork belly ($12), house-braised corned beef ($10.50) or seasonal mushrooms (market price), and topped with a poached egg. A blackboard next to the open kitchen greets guests with the day’s seasonal offerings—on one visit, dishes were accompanied by poached pears with cinnamon, brown sugar and hazelnuts. The Danish aebleskivers ($8.50) are outstanding—soft pancake puffs served with sweet vanilla sabayon and filled with warm fruit compote that explodes inside your mouth. Caution: portions are adequate but not the three-meals-in-one many have come to expect. This is not a hangover breakfast. But when you want to start the day with a well-composed plate of simple, fresh ingredients, Hash helps fill a gaping hole in Portland’s morning dining scene.