CombatCritic's TravelValue™: September 2019

CombatCritic™ ... World traveler - 42 countries and counting; Military Leader - Four combat operations; Amateur chef; Published author and producer - over 4 million visitors on seven platforms! Yelp "Black" Elite '14/'15/ '16/ '17/ '18/ '19 / '20/ '21/ '22 / '23 / '24; TripAdvisor ¨Local Guide¨, Zomato "VERIFIED CONNOISSEUR"; Booking.com "GENIUS"; and Foursquare "INSIDER". On the Front Lines in the Battle Against Mediocrity - Follow Me To TravelValue™ ... That's A Freakin' Order!

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Vancouver, WA: CombatCritic Recommends Husky Fence For Your Next Fencing Project, DOGgone It

Husky Fence
1604 NE 49th Street
Vancouver, WA 98663
Phone number: (360) 882-3801
Website: Huskyfence.com
Prices: $$$$

Phil, owner of Husky Fence, talks the talk and walks the walk, following through as promised every step of the way. His bid for a six foot ornamental iron fence with gate was not the lowest, but it was a third of the price of the highest bid we received, a relative bargain.

Before

The turnaround time from giving him the go-ahead to completion was less than a week and Husky had the fencing in stock, so there was no need to special order. I got a ridiculously high bid from a massive fence company in Portland and the soonest the said they could install it would be "in 12 weeks", so we got a beautiful fence for a very fair price.

After

I was not at home when Husky Fence completed the install, so there were a couple of minor things that I thought needed to be addressed. Phil was here the very next day with his entire crew to resolve my concerns. Now that's customer service!

There are not many businesses these days that make customer service a priority, a core value, so it is refreshing to work with a company that shares three of my seven values: service, integrity, and excellence. So, if you need a fence installed, I can highly recommend Husky Fence, a veteran-owned small business ... HOOAH!

CombatCritic Gives Husky Fence 10 Bombs Out Of 10 And A Spot On My "WALL OF FAME" ... More Bombs Are Better!

Ten Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians:

HOOAH!: "Phonetic spelling of the acronym HUA, which stands for 'Heard Understood Acknowledged.' Originally used by the British in the late 1800's in Afghanistan. More recently adopted by the United States Army to indicate an affirmative or a pleased response." - Urban Dictionary

"The Department of Military Science and Leadership, University of Tennessee claim HOOAH 'refers to or means anything except no' ... Regardless of its meaning ... the term is an expression of high morale, confidence, motivation and spirit." - WarChronicle.com

"The U.S. Air Force stole 'HOOAH' from the Army because we were part of the Army until 1947 and rather than waste a bunch of time coming up with something new and unique like "ROO-YAH" or "HAL-A-LOO-YAH", we said 'screw it, let's go with HOOAH' ... thanks Army ... HOOAH!" - CombatCritic

Portland, OR: Decent Thai, But Where's The Beef?

Cha Ba Thai
3024 NE Alberta Street
Portland, OR 97211
Cuisine: Thai (Obviously)
Phone number: (503) 719-6917
Website: chabathaipdx.com
Prices: $$$$

The Alberta Arts District is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Portland due to its' eclectic, Bohemian feel, great restaurants, and art/music/theatre scene. We deployed to the area of operations to see a Little Shop of Horrors charity extravaganza at the Alberta Rose Theatre just a couple of doors west of Cha Ba Thai.

Not surprisingly, the large dining room was virtually empty at 5pm when we arrived, so we were guided to a four-top next to the window. The room is simple and tastefully decorated with a full bar on one side and tables on the other. There is also a large outdoor seating area with several picnic tables, so feel free to enjoy your meal al fresco if you so desire. We were promptly greeted when we entered and, after being seated, our drink/appetizer orders were promptly taken.

I ordered a Ninkasa IPA ($5.50) for me and the Chicken Satay ($9.50) and Egg Rolls ($6) for the both of us to share. Each of the four satay sticks had a large serving of grilled chicken served with a tasty peanut sauce, my favorite, and some chunks of onion and cucumber in a mildly sweet sauce. The satay was very good, but I am not sure it was worth the extra $3 or $4 when compared to satay prices at most Thai restaurants I have been to. The egg rolls were small and somewhat bland, also being a buck or two more expensive to similar dishes elsewhere.

My wife decided on the Pad See Ew (Tofu - $11.50), wide noodles and broccoli florets stir fried in a mild, slightly sweet soy sauce. She was very happy with the dish although I found it somewhat tasteless as well. I tend to favor the spicier and more savory Thai curry dishes, so I went with the Massaman Curry w/ Jasmine Rice ($13). The curry sauce was delicious, but not quite as thick as many I have had and the vegetables (carrot, potato, and onion) fresh, but there was a paltry amount of sliced beef on top when it arrived. Again, the prices for our entrees were each a few bucks too high in my opinion.

The service was excellent, fast, friendly and efficient, and the food came out post haste. Overall, we were well satiated and happy with our meal, but the prices were a tad high in comparison to other Thai restaurants we have visited and the less than abundant beef content of my curry was disappointing, so "where's the beef?"

CombatCritic Gives Cha Ba Thai 6 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Six Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "Good To Go"

Monday, September 9, 2019

Portland, OR: Holy Cow! Does Voodoo Doll Have Something In His Pocket Or Is He Just Happy To See Me?

Voodoo Doughnut

22 SW 3rd Avenue

Portland, OR 97204

Old Town

Phone number (503) 241-4704

Website: voodoodoughnut.com

Prices: $$$$

If you have never been to Voodoo Doughnut, give 'em a try. The original location is here in downtown Portland (Old Town), but they have shops in Eugene (OR), Denver (CO), Universal Studios Hollywood (CA) and Orlando (FL), as well as Austin (TX).

These photos are from our trip to the original shop in Old Town yesterday. As you can see, their look is quite eclectic, colorful, and retro, the menu a bit pornographic, and THE DONUTS ARE GREAT!

Most donuts run between 75¢ (plain cake) to $3.25 with a couple in the $5 to $7.50 range. Dozens range from $14 to $18 unless you want to pick your own. They even have vegan doughnuts, although I do not know how many. You can reportedly get a coffin (photo above) full of donuts for $130.

Their menu is a tad on the perverted side, with a Cock-n-Balls going for $6.50, a Triple Chocolate Penetration is $2, a Butterfingering is $2, an Old Dirty Bastard is $3, a Portland Cream (the Official Doughnut of Portland) is $2.25, and /or, finally, a Custom Cock going for $7.50, not a bad deal considering the fact that creating a doughnut that looks like a rooster is probably a very intricate and time consuming process! C'est la vie, after all, their slogan is: "The Magic Is In The Hole".

We got a Bacon and Maple ($3.25), an Apple Fritter ($3), and a Voodoo Doll ($3.50). The bacon and maple was glazed and covered with maple icing with crisscrossed slices of fried bacon on top and it was OK, but the taste was a bit weird and not really my thing. The apple fritter was big and tasty, but it could have been much crispier in my opinion. And, last-but-not-last, the voodoo doll (see above) was also glazed, iced with chocolate, colorfully decorated to look like a perverted gingerbread man complete with a sugary confection erection (see photos). As Harry Carey would have said, "Holy cow!".

BOO!

Hey, Voodoo Doll, is that something in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Yep, you're happy

The only negatives are that you should have your E ticket ready ("E" does not stand for "electronic" - SoCal natives will know what I am talking about) because there always seems to be a line outside, sometimes with several dozen people queueing up to get in. They even have a serpentine setup for their line just like the ones at the Magic Kingdom. Finally, the cashiers are never particularly friendly, not quite rude, but seemingly indifferent to customers. I presume that after their 700th customer of the day, they could get a bit cranky, but there is never an excuse for not treating customers with the utmost courtesy, friendliness, dignity and respect. They get a two BOMB deduction for the grouchy employees, otherwise, Voodoo Doughnuts would have gotten my PERFECT SCORE and a spot on CombatCritic's "WALL OF FAME".

So, march on down to a Voodoo Doughnut near you for an overload on your sensations' of sight, smell, and taste. The massive wall painting just across the street wraps this place up in a nutshell: "Keep Portland Weird". If you happen to go to the original location, tell 'em CombatCritic sent you ... HOOAH!

CombatCritic Gives The Original Voodoo Doughnuts 8 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Eight Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "What-The-Fuck ... Over!"

Oh, and keeping with the theme of this review ... BITE ME!

Read this and many other reviews from around the world on my popular blog, CombatCritic's TravelValue - www.CombatCritic.com - 70,000+ Visitors a Year ... And Counting!

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Faro, Portugal; Great Expectations, Oustanding View, But A Disappointing Breakfast Buffet

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Vancouver, WA: CombatCritic Recommends Husky Fence For Your Next Fencing Project, DOGgone It

Portland, OR: Decent Thai, But Where's The Beef?

Monday, September 9, 2019

Portland, OR: Holy Cow! Does Voodoo Doll Have Something In His Pocket Or Is He Just Happy To See Me?

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