Rating: 
Lauren and I went to Portland yesterday to help out the Obama campaign register voters in time for the May primary. We got up early this morning to check out a recommendation from Mike: St. Honoré Boulangerie in Northwest Portland.
We arrived at 9AM, and there was already a line almost out the door. But that gave us time to check out all the pastries on display and peruse the breakfast menu. And while we waited we could also peek at the activity in the open kitchen behind the counter.
Lauren ordered the Quiche Jardinere, with spinach, roasted red peppers and roasted leeks. The pastry shell was of medium thickness, making a crunchy and buttery edible bowl for the fluffy egg mixture inside.
The quiche was quite tasty, but the star of the breakfast was the Champignon Frittata Croissant. A mix of eggs, mushrooms, chicken apple sausage and fresh herbs served in a croissant with béchamel. This was a fork and knife croissant dish. It looks like a melted lump here, but the taste more than makes up for the visual 🙂
In the background is a Cranberry Hazelnut Roll that we had for a snack later in the afternoon. It was a hearty wheat roll with a touch of tart-sweetness from the cranberries.
While I waited on line to order our meal, Lauren had scored the best seats in the house. There is a counter top with 4 stools directly in front of the bread-maker. We watched baguettes, brioches, rolls and pastry shells made while we dined. The oven was enormous. The wheel on the left rotated a lazy-susan inside of the oven so that the baker could access different parts of the oven over time.
We also tried a raspberry jam croissant and a Pain au Chocolat. I enjoyed the raspberry jam croissant, but the chocolate croissant was ho-hum. It has been raved about on the web, but I personally thought it was the weakest item we tried. Not that we didn’t polish it off mind you, but there are much better things available at Saint Honoré.
Overall we had a very enjoyable breakfast and I will definitely swing by again on a future Portland trip!
St. Honoré Boulangerie
2335 NW Thurman Street
Portland, OR 97210
503-445-4342
Daily: 7:00AM-8:00PM (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner)
Update: We’ve been back a few times since our awesome first meal and, while still tasty, the food hasn’t fully lived up to that original experience. Still a good neighborhood choice, but not worth crossing town for (rating updated accordingly from 3 Kennys to 2)