My family and I decided to go have a mini family vacation before school started so we decided to go to Oregon to spend some quality time together and do a little shopping for ourselves. We stayed at the Marriott Waterfront hotel in downtown Oregon and did some shopping in the dt area and some of their outlets. I have to say I haven't been to downtown Oregon in a while and the last time I was there, it was still lively and crowded! When we arrived I was so surprised at how much things have changed since the last time I went! Usually we would go to Washington Square for shopping but sadly since we went along with a tour bus and they didn't include this place in their itinerary, we didn't really have much freedom to go anywhere by ourselves. Hence, we couldn't go :( and since we were staying in the downtown area, that's where we did most of our shopping and of course at the outlets. We also didn't get a chance to eat in a lot of places since being with a tour, the food that we had to choose from was most of the time from the food court. The second night that we were in Oregon however, we were lucky enough to have time to eat a nice decent meal and since we were already in Nordstrom, might as well go eat at their restaurant Nordstrom Cafe.
When it comes to food, Nordstrom Cafe is not actually bad, in fact you could say that they are surprisingly doing quite well in the food department considering that they're a department store. Usually I eat at their downtown Seattle branch and during peak hours, line ups are all the way out to the door but in this branch, the place was practically empty but still thinking from our past experiences in Nordstrom Cafe we weren't that scared to go in even though there were zero people when we walked in. If you guys haven't been to Nordstrom Cafe before, it's Nordstrom's restaurant that's located inside their store (not all Nordstrom locations have this though). The way their restaurant system works is that you have to pay and order at the front of the cashier then the servers will bring the food to you. The Seattle branch requires you to order first then a hostess will bring you to a table but since the Oregon location was totally empty, we just sat wherever we wanted to. One of the things that we usually order here is their Turkey Sandwich, I just love love their version of it. As simple of a meal as it may sound, I just really like the consistency of how it tastes like and how everything is put together. Their pasta dish is also a good choice to get when your here. The pasta is cooked perfectly (not too chewy and not too hard) and the thickness and amount of sauce that is mixed together is just right. They also have a great selection of salads to choose from but on this trip, we didn't get a chance to order any since their main dishes were very filling.
Even though the place was practically dead, at least the food quality is still consistent through out their cafes.
Half Turkey, Organic baby greens and Tomato Soup
Cranberry Turkey
Angel Hair Pasta w/ Asparagus & Salmon
