Guilder Cafe
1005 W Burnside St, Portland, OR 97209
Something devious is afoot in the kingdom of Guilder. “Who’s Guilder? The country across the sea. The sworn enemy of Florin!”
It’s also the name of the new Cafe now open in Portland’s Landmark Powell’s City of Books. Named after the fictitious city of Guilder from the Movie The Princess Bride, they have done their best to really embrace the Princess Bride theme here. From a full list of themed menu items, to Princess Bride wall art, and quotes artistically spread throughout this book filled cafe.
The Princess Bride theme aside that have managed to make this small space wonderfully colorful and cozy. Vibrant and well lit, it has a very comforting atmosphere. Making it a wonderful place to come with friends after a long shopping spree where you can grab a snack and compare all your new favorite books.
Now as for the food. They have provided a quite extensive cafe menu of small bites, sandwiches, and pastries that are sure to please anyone. For starters we bit into Oma’s Corn Fritters $6.50
These crunchy fried fritters are a lovely way to start a meal, originally from Oma’s Hideaway a local Portland Asian restaurant now they are available at Guilders. Providing a subtle corn flavor is paired beautifully with a garlic aioli sauce.
Next we had The Gate Key $8.50 sandwich, this warm sandwich is served on Texas Toast and topped with Roasted Wild Mushroom Deli Slices with a Melted White Cheddar mixed with more of that Yummy Garlic Aioli.
Making for a almost perfect grilled melt sandwich. This was one of our favorite bites we had here despite being a vegetarian dish. Speaking of vegetarian dishes we also tried the Spicy Humperdinck $8.50 vegetarian chipotle sausage wrapped in a house made biscuit and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Which was as delicious as any pigs in a blanket we have had in years. So good news for vegetarian foodies. Guilders has your back.
And for those wanting something a bit fancier they also offer Dutch Babies. These fluffy stuffed treats are only available on weekends but are worth going out of the way for. We tried the Montoya $9 Dutch baby. Made in house this baby is then filled with a Roasted Tomato balsamic Hummus then a tossed Arugula salad, Garlic Paprika Yogurt and finally a poached egg. A wonderful flavor combination and perfectly balanced dish. Out only complaint about this one is it’s a bit too small! Only half a full Dutch baby per order which is fine for a light breakfast but left us wanting more.
Lastly we ordered a Miracle Max’s Breakfast Sandwich $9.25 served on Ciabatta. Which was their egg sandwich and veggie option and honestly this was the big disappointment of the visit.
The sandwich was under flavored, the egg bland and barely any veggies to speak of, mostly just bread. Would definitely not recommend.
Overall the food was good (excluding the Miracle Max) and not too expensive. Would not recommend this as a dinner spot or for someone who has a big appetite, but for a quick snack or lighter breakfast this is a nice spot to go with friends. Bonus point for the pleasant ambience and fun theme. Would definitely stop by again next time I’m roaming the stacks at Powell’s.
We give Guilder’s Cafe Six and a Half Swordfights against the Man who Killed my Father out of Ten ⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️🗡
Sibling Grubbery 