Nice to Finally Meat You

In Portland there is no shortage of culinary adventures. From restaurants to food carts there is a plethora of places to try at every corner. After falling off the mark last Saturday, I decided to fully commit to finding a purely Paleo meal outside of my kitchen.

A friend recommended that I try the Cultured Caveman. The Cultured Caveman is a food cart with two locations in the NE and SE neighborhoods. For being a food cart they have a pretty nice website to go along with it. It not only has the menu posted on it, but a short nutrition breakdown for most items as well. You can even check out a couple recipes on it. 

Mr. NN and I ventured out on a sunny Saturday after our workouts to give it a try. We visited the one in SE, which was right across the street from a popular natural/ local foods store. This location had a single table in front of the cart near the bustling intersection and tent in back with a few more tables that offered a more secluded dining experience. But enough about the location, let's get down to the food!  

For the main dish we both opted for the Grass Fed All Meat Chili and Caveman Coffee. For a side, I selected the Beet and Walnut Salad while Mr. NN tried the Ginger Carrot Kale Salad.  You can see our selections pictured off to the right. Our grand total came to $20, not bad for a lunch with high quality ingredients.  

I love a good chili and I have been disappointed in what I have found in Portland so far. That was until I had the chili here. It was full of flavor and there were large chunks of tender meat rather than minuscule meat-like crumbles floating about. The portion size was perfect for me, but Mr. NN could have used a larger size. 

The Ginger Carrot Kale Salad was just the right mix of crisp vegetables and ginger flavor. While the Beet and Walnut Salad was described as containing jicama, but I didn't find any. The jicama was either really well hidden because it had absorbed the color from the beets and carrots or jicama was simply not in it. If it was left out, I don't think it was a major loss (to me jicama doesn't have much taste anyway). The bright salad still had a nice earthy flavor balance. 

The Caveman Coffee was delicious. There is no shortage of good coffee in Portland and One Drop Coffee is no exception. It was perfectly iced and not watered down. If you're interested, you can order their cold brew online and play barista at home. I'm not sure what made this coffee "caveman" though. Maybe because you could order it with coconut milk or heavy cream. 

All in all, I would give my meal a 4 out of 5 caveman clubs. I'm withholding one club due to the fact we were both hungry an hour later. One way to avoid that would be to order a little extra. For a perfectly Paleo (and tasty) meal give the Cultured Caveman a try.