Our theme of trying new things during our Labor Day PNW Adventure last year, we ended up meeting up with friends for breakfast at a Nordic spot called Border Nord PDX. Honestly, I was skeptical going in, but ended up loving.
Broder Nord PDX
Broder has three separate locations throughout Portland. Two of them – Nord and Cafe – have similar menus, while Soder has a bit fancier menu. For our visit, we headed to Broder Nord PDX. It’s located in the city’s Boise neighborhood, which itself to the north of, and across the Willamette River from, Slabtown. Parking is mostly street, but there are public lots in the area, so it’s far easier to park than at Jacqueline.
Service & Atmosphere
Broder Nord PDX operates in a kind of cafeteria-style of service. You queue up, order at the counter, you’re given a number, and your meal is delivered to your table. That means that we had little interaction with staff, though the staff we did talk to were fantastic. It’s worth noting that water is also self-serve here via a dispenser inside.
As far as seating goes, you can choose to sit inside, in the courtyard, or in fully covered pods they have along the street. We sat in the pods, which were nice.
Broder Nord PDX Food
As I mentioned earlier, Border Nord PDX specializes in Nordic cuisine. That means a mixes of dishes you may have heard of, such as Æbleskiver (Danish Pancakes), to less familiar offerings, such as Förlorade Ägg (Lost Eggs). Being that we had a 3-ish-hour drive back up to Seattle that day, the Mrs. and I chose to keep things on the lighter side. So for her dish, Mrs. Island Miler went with the Breakfast Sandwich. Here’s, it’s an open faced affair, utilizine a single THICK slab of bread, two soft-baked eggs, creamed leeks, crispy-fried leeks, and bacon. Ok, so this one was a little heavy, but it’s tasty and comforting.
For my order, I went with the Pytt I Panna (Swedish Hash). Here, you have four options, house-smoked trout, corned beef, sherry & herb roasted mushroom, and brussel sprouts & delicata squash. Naturally, I went with the mushroom. Accompanying the mushrooms were Yukon gold potatoes, sweet peppers, two baked eggs, roasted beets, scallions, and toasted rye bread. It doesn’t sound or look like much, but this thing is so flavorful and satisfying. The meaty mushrooms, crispy/fluffy potatoes, onion, sweet peppers, and runny eggs all combined to form a warming, delicious, satisfying start to the day.
Of course, we couldn’t come to a Nordic restaurant and not try the Danish pancakes, so we put in an order for that as well. Here, they come with your choice of two sauces: lemon curd, lingonberry jam, or seasonal berry compote. We went with the curd and jam. These pancakes are light, airy deliciousness, while the curd and jam are the right amount of tart and sweet. So good.
Final Thoughts
With tax and tip, our meal plus an iced coffee came out to about $60, which is a pretty good deal. Mind you, the portions were big enough that we couldn’t finish everything. We split a pancake and took the rest with us – along with a box of Blue Star Donuts since they were right next door. At any rate, the Mrs. and I both enjoyed Border Nord PDX and would definitely return. Thanks to our friends for introducing us to the place!