Hello! Will be in Seattle for 1 night, 2 days- Fri to Saturday. Looking for one excellent restaurant that we should not miss. We love good food- all types! Hip Atmosphere is a bonus. Also would love options for lunch (possibly by nice shopping or a site we should not miss), and also hip places for drinks after dinner. We are 30.

Will be in Portland on a Sunday night- would love to do a fun lunch somewhere- near sites we should not miss (up for ideas on those to) and another great restaurant for dinner, drinks.

We recently enjoyed a nice lunch on the weekend at the London Grill at the Benson Hotel. Very elegant, good but not great food, attentive service.

For a nice dinner in Portland, Paley's Place is very good and Hurley's is another great choice. They are now offering a four course meal for $40/pp. Wildwood, Higgins, Park Kitchen, Bluehour, clarklewis and Gotham Building Tavern are all great! Enjoy Portland! ***kim***

Portland sights? Unless you're up for a drive out the Columbia River gorge, I'd stick to the west side of the river, which would include downtown, the hip/trendy Pearl District, NW 21st and 23rd for shopping, Chinese Gardens, and Washington Park area for the Rose Gardens, Japanese Gardens, and Pittock Mansion.

Best areas for good eats are the Pearl and NW 21st and 23rd, which from ***kim***'s list would include Paley's, Hurley's, Wildwood, Park Kitchen and Bluehour. Of these, Park Kitchen and Bluehour I think are most like what you're looking for. Though the others have great food, I wouldn't consider their atmospheres as "hip" or "fun".

Higgins is good too, but more downtown. Clarklewis and Gotham Building Tavern are on the other side of the river. And London Grill? About as unhip as Portland gets!

You might try the Vault for before or after dinner drinks. It's a martini bar recently opened in the Pearl, and always seems to have a buzz of activity. Drinks are good there too.

And not to confuse you with another suggestion, but my wife and I can't get enough of the calamari caesar's at Paragon, also in the Pearl. Then there's Andina (Peruvian), Fratelli's (Italian), and the list goes on.......

Seattle/dinner:
Union
Lark
1200 Bistro

Seattle/lunch:
Etta's Seafood
Pink Door
Emmett Watson's Oyster Bar
all in or near Pike Place Market

Matt's in the Market for either lunch or dinner (Seattle)-make a reservation asap.
For drinks-Zig Zag on the Pike Place Market hillclimb, the Rendezvous, or the Alibi Room downtown; Baltic Room or Capitol Club on Capitol Hill.

Hip~in Portland would be Bluehour and also consider The Sauce Box.

Go to the MSNBC home page. Under Travel, click MSNBC travel. There is a long, excellent article about Portland, that is the best I've read. It will include restaurants, places to stay, and sigts to see, with great descriptions.

All in or near to the Pike/Pine corridor on Capitol Hill, which has lots of shops include: 1200 Bistro, Lark, Capitol Club, Baltic Room, as mentioned already, Illysian Brewery, Cha Cha Lounge, etc. IMO that area (or Belltown in downtown) are two most lively concentrations of hip bars, restaurants, and shops these days in Seattle.

Why does no one ever ask about suitable restaurants for those wanting hip replacements?

Oh wait - cruise forum.

Someone mentioned the Pink Door for dinner-I think the food is overpriced and mediocre, but the deck is a fabulous place for drinks.

Yet another thought-Restaurant Zoe for dinner.
You might consider Wild Ginger if you're in the mood for Asian. I somewhat hesitate to recommend it since you can get better for a fraction of the price in the International District, but it's downtown, has a swanky atmosphere and great service and cocktails.

gardyloo- =D> very funny!

I mentioned Pink Door for lunch (preferably on the deck!), agree about dinner there.