Portland Showdown: Crème Brulee

By: Tammy Lynne Stoner | August 02 2011
Posted in Portland - Find It - Portland

June's Chocolate Earl Grey Crème Brulee. So delish! Photos by: Tammy Stoner

With so many restaurants to choose from that serve similiar fare, The Local Dish has decided to start a "Showdown" series to determine which places have the best eats. Please join us as we pick dueling dishes, put them through strenuous tastebud testing, and pick a winner!

Andina Vs. June
In this corner we have Andina, a busy hotspot in the Pearl district, complete with wait staff in all-black and an expansive dining room with a separate bar area, and presenting not one but three tasty-looking crème brulees! In the opposite corner, we have relative newcomer June, a petite, charming, low-key restaurant, presenting a chocolate, earl grey crème brulee. Whose brulee will reign supreme?

Andina's trio of goodness.

On this day, Andina’s trio of crème brulees featured Vanilla Bean, Peruvian Tea, and Ginger crème brulee artfully topped with a flower, sprinkles of tealeaves, and a strip of ginger. The consistency is spot on, with a gentle custard topped by a thin layer of burnt sugar. The Peruvian Tea brulee had tones of light citrus and lemongrass. From their color and presentation to their flavor, these three are perfectly suited for summer in Portland.

At June, with its exterior wall (a garage door) opened to the cooling streets, they served up a Chocolate Earl Grey crème brulee with a beautifully browned crust. The custard itself was still warm and hadn’t set up as much as crème brulees traditionally do, but after the first few bites, the silky, complex, rich taste overcame these concerns.

This presented a complication – how much should the precise manner of preparation weigh on the decision? Andina beat June in preparation and originality, especially with the Peruvian tea offering – but in the end, taste won out (narrowly!) and June was declared the winner in the closest Showdown to date!

Tammy Lynne Stoner is a writer, foodie, painter, Law & Order junkie, lover of striped shirts and Fiction Editor for Gertrude Press. Her websites are TammyLynneStoner.com and StonerWrites.com.