Logo
ISSUE #34.05 • FOOD & DRINK • DISH FEATURE
[DISH]

Battered and Blackened


Miss Delta packs a punch with good old southern charm.

Recently in "Food & Drink"

January 27th, 2010
Candy Man | Get a major sugar high at Steve Gazda’s Northwest sweets.0 comments

January 20th, 2010
The Great Hall0 comments

January 13th, 2010
Melt Sandwiches & Bar0 comments

January 6th, 2010
Slap Happy | The best way to make pancakes? Make ’em your damn self, with help.0 comments

December 30th, 2009
Top 3 | Where we want to eat in 2010.1 comment

December 23rd, 2009
Doughnut World | This Christmas, we give the gift of ultimate bakery warfare.2 comments

December 9th, 2009
The Hard Stuff | Vintage Cocktail is a classic.2 comments

December 2nd, 2009
Kolache Klatch | At Happy Sparrow it’s what’s inside that counts.7 comments

November 25th, 2009
Fired Up | David Machado’s latest gets nice.1 comment

November 18th, 2009
Alu, Take Two | Same name, better game.2 comments


Delta Force: Sanny and Nick Snell enjoy Miss Delta’s polenta and gumbo.
IMAGE: JENNA BIGGS
BY LIZ CRAIN | 503-243-2122

[December 12th, 2007]

I’ve sorely missed—although I never met—Southeast Portland’s Delta Cafe of the ’90s. When I discovered the Delta after moving to town in 2002, it was seven years old and had expanded from a one-room into a four-room Southern food depot. My friends still reminisce about the early days of the Delta, how amazing the food tasted and how good the vibe was with everybody crammed into the cafe’s first scrawny space.

Anastasia Corya, who opened the Delta Cafe in 1995 with Anton Pace on Southeast Woodstock Boulevard, sold the business in June and opened another restaurant in August—Miss Delta on North Mississippi Avenue, next door to the Crow Bar. With its exposed brick and hardwood floors, the new space is saloonlike in stature, but the style is all secondhand charm.

Miss Delta’s menu has most of the Cajun- and Creole-smacked Southern specialties you’d expect—black-eyed pea fritters ($5), fried chicken ($12) and shrimp creole ($12)—which makes sense, because Corya signed on two of the original Delta’s most seasoned cooks: Miss Delta co-owners Chuck Westmoreland and Jennifer Hazzard.

The food at Miss Delta is Texas-sized, probably in part because Corya was raised there. All of the big-bowl entrees—from a spicy, fresh jambalaya ($12) to a bit-too-buttery gumbo ($12)—are large enough for two helpings and come with a choice of side and a cornbread muffin.

In other words, order starters cautiously at Miss Delta, but get at least one, because the fried okra ($5), with its fresh-not-frozen bite (it’s dipped in a delicious cornmeal batter with a good kick of black pepper), and the plump, breaded, pan-fried oysters ($10) are both too good to pass up.















icon Story continues below

advertisement

advertisement

As for entrees, Steak Solomon ($16) is a perfectly cooked slab of blackened flank topped with blue-cheese crumbles and shoved to its fiery fate under the broiler. But the spare ribs ($16) aren’t so hot. They’re pot roast-soft and too alcoholic—braised in beer rather than smoked or broiled.

All plates come with two sides (the six sides are otherwise $4 to $6), such as tasty tart collards with hunks of pork; buttermilk red potato mashers with an herby vegetarian gravy; and garlicky mac ’n’ cheese. One of the best sides is the house Caesar studded with fried capers and croutons, perfectly dressed in a rich and creamy dressing, and topped with crumbled Parmesan.

Desserts at Miss Delta sit in domes atop the bar, and there are a handful of good ones to choose from every night. Sweet-potato pie, marionberry cobbler and Milky Way cake are often on hand. The latter is a black hole of moist dark chocolate studded with chunks of its namesake and gobs of caramel.

For those who drink, dessert bourbon and whiskey lead the cocktail list ($5-$7), with a Jim Beam Manhattan, a Maker’s mint julep and an Old Grandad old-fashioned. Three draft beers ($4) and glasses of wine ($5-$8) also beckon, but most importantly, Miss Delta makes sure you can still get a 40 of PBR ($4) served in a champagne bucket. Now that’s some Southern hospitality.

EAT: Miss Delta, 3950 N Mississippi Ave., 287-7629. Dinner 5 pm-midnight; Monday-Saturday, 5-10 pm Sunday; brunch 9 am-2:30 pm Saturday-Sunday. $. Inexpensive.

 

Rate This Story
4.5 average/2 votes

 
read all 1 comments | add your comment
 

RECENT COMMENTS ON “Battered and Blackened”

1

Just got home from the Miss Delta. The food was awesome and the service was great. I highly recommend the meatloaf. I would suggest sitting as far away from the front door as possible though. There...

Casey, Jan 25th, 2008 8:53pm
 
 
 




 

Warning: file_get_contents() [function.file-get-contents]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents(http://portland.wweek.com/online/exports/Rss.xml?section=55838) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents() [function.file-get-contents]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents(http://portland.wweek.com/online/exports/Rss.xml?section=55842) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents() [function.file-get-contents]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents(http://portland.wweek.com/online/exports/Rss.xml?section=55844) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents() [function.file-get-contents]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents(http://portland.wweek.com/online/exports/Rss.xml?section=58781) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents() [function.file-get-contents]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents(http://portland.wweek.com/online/exports/Rss.xml?section=55843) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents() [function.file-get-contents]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents(http://portland.wweek.com/online/exports/Rss.xml?section=55841) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents() [function.file-get-contents]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents(http://portland.wweek.com/online/exports/Rss.xml?section=55839) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents() [function.file-get-contents]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61

Warning: file_get_contents(http://portland.wweek.com/online/exports/Rss.xml?section=55840) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/wweekco/public_html/xml/rsscacher.php on line 61


More


More


More


More


More


More


More


More

Ad

Ad

Ad

Sponsored Links: WW Personals
Musician's Market
Snowboard Jackets
Legal Tips
Camping Gear


Recently in Willamette Week
December 31st 1969Washington State | The Canada of Oregon has it all—a Stonehenge replica, a longboarder's concrete wet dream and dark, damp underground lava caves. Vive les rocks.
December 31st 1969Oregon's Outer Edges | Crater Lake. Hell's Canyon. Wallowa and Steens mountain ranges. Hell, yeah.
December 31st 1969Central Oregon/High Desert | No rain, plenty of snow, obsidian flows and great local beer. The folks from the real eastside know how to unbend outside.
December 31st 1969Great Cascades/Columbia Gorge | With plenty of room to roam—and hot springs for your weary feet—it's the place to ramble and relax for the weekend.
December 31st 1969Willamette Valley | Monks, tracks, tubing and wine make the fertile strip a virile place to play.
December 31st 1969Stumptown | Tons of public parks, an extinct volcano and nude beach volleyball to keep you jolly. Get out and collect those merit badges, without leaving the city.
December 31st 1969The Coast | The beaches are public. You own them. Go play—hike in the old-growth forests.
December 31st 1969Cycle Tour 101: Your on-bike guide to Highway 101 | To ride the greatest bike route in Oregon, you need to get out of Portland.
December 31st 1969Doggin' It | What happens when a Portland running club jogs with pooches from the pound?
December 31st 1969Over the Edge | Sam Drevo will paddle yr ass.