Cypress

Just under the cliffs and north of the elevator you'll find Cypress, sometimes Aegean, sometimes Indian and sometimes just “white bread”.

Oregon City is not known for its messianic draw for foodies, but bear with me, there is good food here. Even guys in Gett'r Done shirts want to eat well occasionally. To do that in Oregon City it seems you're left with pitifully slim pickings. Cypress, on 820 Main St., in the downtown area of Oregon City is one of the rare places you'll find worth eating at.

Owner Kay Houdroge describes the two and a half year old Cypress as a “niche restaurant with great food” and I suppose under the lens of Oregon City 'niche' is correct, as any semi-ethnic food here certainly will draw some extra attention after seeing only mediocre Mexican and awful Chinese on the 'not fast food menu'. I hesitate to call Cypress an 'ethnic restaurant' simply because the (delicious) options on the menu vary so widely it certainly does not hail from a specific gastro-tradition.

The feta and olives appetizer($5.50) came with sliced cucumber and tomato as well and, well...it wasn't anything exciting. The produce certainly wasn't as fresh as it could have been, but it was a nice snack before the entrees came out.

For an entree I ordered Chicken Coco($8.75) The Coco is code for coconut chicken curry and it is served in a small bowl with fluffy sumac spiced rice and a basket of warm pita. Presentation is not the focus here. However Houdroge(who is also the cook) does focus on making everything absolutely delicious. The curry, while a little salty, played nicely with the sumac spiced rice. The curry could be improved by having something other than just meat in the sauce, maybe some vegetables here and there would pick it up just a bit.

The service was absolutely impeccable at Cypress. I was there at the end of the lunch rush so it wasn't terribly busy but it was steady enough that Houdroge would have been absolutely within his rights to be behind given that he was the only cook and waiter on staff.

My only regret from the trip out to Cypress was that I did not order anything from their full bar. $4 cocktails and great food? Sign me up.

If you're headed south, definitely stop in at Cypress.

 

820 Main St
Oregon City, OR 97045

(503) 387-5914

Hours:

Mon-Thu 11 am - 9 pm

Fri 11 am - 10 pm
Sat 5 pm - 10 pm

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