I recently had a week-long stay at my daughter’s home in Portland and enjoyed two dinners out with her . . . just the two of us, no kids, no distractions. Between caring for her two little girls and working as a NICU nurse, Jenny doesn’t get to indulge in “grown-up” dinners very often, so it was nice to treat her to some positive “time out.”

We decided to stick fairly close to home and try a favorite of Jenny’s in nearby Multnomah Village, a cozy historic neighborhood with a quaint collection of locally owned shops and restaurants tucked into a corner of Southwest Portland. Its narrow streets can make parking a bit of a challenge, but I never really mind a bit of a stroll to my destination, as it allows for window shopping along the way. Now, we didn’t plan far enough ahead to make reservations, and it was a Friday night at the end of the month, so we weren’t surprised to learn that we’d have an hour’s wait for seating at Yalla, a Mediterranean smokehouse Jenny had introduced me to last fall. We didn’t want to wait that long, and we knew there were several other possibilities nearby, so we headed out the door to try our luck. The solution presented itself . . . right across the street.

Fat Kitty Ramen looked like a friendly, laid-back sort of place, and we could see through the storefront windows that there were tables available; perfect! I later learned that Fat Kitty is employee-owned, started up when workers from the now-closed Boxer Ramen decided Portland still needed an authentic ramen shop. Their menu, though not extensive, provides just enough choices while maintaining quality and authenticity. The service was great, too, with a crew that fluidly shifted roles as needed. You can start with a selection of “Plates,” sharable-sized apps and salads; we ordered some spring rolls with a sweet chili sauce and a heaping bowl of garlic-ginger edamame. Both were delicious and took the edge off our hunger pangs (although I could have made a meal of the edamame alone — perfectly cooked and just the right amount of garlic). For my main, I chose a bowl, choosing grilled chicken (from a selection that also included ahi tuna, pork belly and fried tofu) set on a bed of rice (or mixed greens) and my choice of four toppings (various veggies and fruit) and up to two sauces. I selected the citrus mayo and teriyaki and found my particular combo very satisfying and filling. Jenny chose the Tonkotsu Shio ramen bowl from four offerings. She also found her selection to be chock-full of pork belly, noodles and a rich broth . . . and had plenty left over to take home. For a spur-of-the-moment choice, we decided Fat Kitty was a winner and figured it had earned a spot on our “will return” list.

Our second dinner out came with a bit more preparation, so we found ourselves back at Yalla (this time with a reservation) on the following Wednesday. We arrived at 4:30 . . . and, really, at that hour, we probably didn’t need the reservation. We were on our way to see Brandi Carlile downtown, thus the early dinner, and already had a pretty good idea of what was on the menu. Yalla smokes all their meats out back (you can smell them the minute you walk in) and has a Mediterranean-leaning menu made up of salads, mezze and mains, complemented by cocktails, mocktails, beer and cider, and coffee and teas. Many items are meant to be shared, and we dove in with hummus with burnt beef ends (and roasted poblanos and garlic) and house-made pita. We also find it pretty impossible to pass up the Schmaltz cornbread (we failed to do so this time, too) served in a cast iron skillet with a bourbon glaze and honeycomb butter. Because we had to leave room for dessert, we chose to share an entrée of the cedar plank salmon in a Levant marinade and with salsa verde and grilled lemon. It was nice to see Yalla can do fish as well as they do meats; though a thick slab, the salmon was cooked through perfectly, still moist and flavorful. A slice of the Basque burnt cheesecake with blood orange caramel and walnut streusel topped off the meal perfectly.

I would say that my only complaint with the meal was the lack of attention from the wait staff once the food was brought to the table. I waited unsuccessfully for someone to top up my Moroccan mint tea with more hot water, and it took a lot of effort to get someone’s attention to bring the check, long after we had clearly finished. I recall we had this same issue the last time we dined there. It’s more of an annoyance than a big issue, but I would expect more from an otherwise fine restaurant.

We left Yalla right at 6 and found that, in spite of rush hour traffic, we got to our concert on the other side of the river with time to spare. More on that experience next week!

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor