Bread and Ink Cafe

Name: Bread and Ink Cafe
Location: 3610 SE Hawthorne Boulevard
Portland, OR 97214-5144
Contact information: 503.239.4756
Hours: Most days 7 a.m.-9 p.m. with a two hour break between 3-5
Cost: Entrees around $12
Reservation recommended: Nope
Good for: Breakfast, supposedly
Insider tip: This is known as a breakfast place. Don’t make the mistake of going there for meals other than that

Review: Blah. I don’t know how else to begin talking about my meal at Bread and Ink.

To begin with, the service was horrendous. Although the waiter was pleasant, he had issues doing anything in a timely manner. I finally started flagging down any waiter that walked by, for fear of never getting a) an order b) water or c) the bill.

For a restaurant that has ‘bread’ in the title, I expected the namesake to be excellent…or at least on par with what else you can find in town. Not even close. The stale bread was dry, bland and served with pads of “value butter”. Mmmm…what a sell. The olive oil came with olives, a cool, novel touch, but tasted of the cooking, non-virgin, varety. Yeeech.

The kitchen apparently also has issues keeping anything in stock. Of the two entrees and two appetizers we were looking to order, there were out of ingredients for 2 of them, and one was given substitutes.

Off of the happy hour menu, we tried cheese skewers, which were nothing more than a piece of cheese warmed on top of the same awful bread. My vegetarian mushroom risotto sounded promising but was lacking two things that usually give it flavor: cheese and, well, most of the mushrooms. It was so boring even salt couldn’t save it and I quickly gave up. My friend’s vegetarian pasta looked equally unappetizing.

The desserts highly praised by others online? After that meal, even this sugar junkie wouldn’t give them a shot.