Earlier this week we were in Portland for a few days, so of course we managed to make time for dinner out. I’m pretty sure you could dine out in Portland at a different spot every day for a year for lunch and dinner and not visit the same place twice. It can be overwhelming trying to decide where to go next, but often we rely on our daughter’s copy of Portland’s 100 Best Places to Stuff Your Faces guidebook, and it’s never let us down. We zeroed in on chef John Gorham’s downtown eatery, Tasty n Alder, renowned for its daily brunches and eclectic menu. Located at the corner of 12th Avenue and Alder Street, its location in the downtown core makes it a popular spot. We arrived right at the beginning of the dinner hour (5:30 p.m.) on a Tuesday night, and nearly every table was taken in short order. (They don’t take reservations for parties less than five.) The bar menu offers a generous selection of cocktails and liquors, as well as “grown-ass milkshakes” which could double as dessert. The dinner menu features sections including “smaller,” “boards,” “meats” and “sides.” Most items are designed to be shared, family-style, which perfectly suited our desire to try several dishes without getting too full. (We’d already glanced at the “Sweets” and determined they needed to be sampled, as well.) Influences from Southern U.S. cooking appear in dishes like Low Country Hush Puppies, while Far Eastern flavors appear in several items, including Ryan’s Hmong Steak Tartare. Our server made a few suggestions and provided casual yet prompt and friendly service. (She brought my husband a carafe of iced tea when she quickly determined that he would be drinking quite a lot in the course of the evening.) We started with the Goat Cheese Dumplings Arrabiata, light, creamy and flavorful in a red tomato sauce — one of our favorites of the night. We ordered two sides — Saigon Brussels Sprouts and Duck Duck Potatoes — and three mains: Rendang “Indonesian” Lamb Stew, Peking Duck (not always on the menu) and Lamb Chops. Harry and Jenny warned me I’d have the Brussels Sprouts to myself, but once I’d coaxed them each to have a bite of the sweet and tangy roasted veggies, they were eager to have more. The potatoes proved a decadent delight: Yukon gold potatoes sautéed in foie gras truffle butter topped with an enormous fried duck egg and sprinkled with green onions. The savory lamb stew was a wonderful blend of flavors served over rice, and the chops, cooked to a perfect medium rare, came with wonderfully roasted cauliflower. I was impressed with the generous, thick slices of the duck, although it didn’t have the traditionally crispy skin accompaniment. We did save room for dessert and found it difficult to narrow the choices to just three. The Fluffernutter sounded wonderful but perhaps too rich: banana cake, peanut butter mousse and toasted marshmallow; the panna cotta with whiskey caramel almost got me, and the oatmeal and golden raisin cookies with bourbon ice cream sounded like a perfect combo. In the end, we shared an apple and huckleberry crumble with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, a slab of steakhouse brownie with butterscotch ice cream and cajeta artisan goat caramel sauce, and a dense chocolate potato doughnut with crème anglaise. I would be embarrassed to report that I probably ate more than my fair share of each, but to have left any of those delectable dishes would have been sinful. (It was, after all, Mardi Gras!) I would certainly recommend a visit to Tasty n Alder should you be in Portland (some of the same dishes plus a whole bunch of unique, intriguing items may be found at sister restaurant Tasty n Sons in North Portland), and I think you’d be equally impressed with those Goat Cheese Dumplings and Duck Duck Potatoes. — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor