WILLAMETTE WEEK'S RESTAURANT GUIDE 1999-2000 Restaurant Listings A B C E F G H I J K L M O P R S T U V W Y Z Il Fornaio Il Fornaio, one part of a chain of upscale restaurants, floats all of the visuals for fine dining--waiters in boiled jackets, linen tableware--but when it comes to the food, you have to order carefully. Otherwise, you may as well be dining at the Olive Garden. The restaurant's namesake bread is undistinguished. And on a recent visit, an order of the spinach-pasta lasagna featured fine pasta, but its meat ragout was oversalted. The lamb chops, however, were properly rare and slightly gamey. The good news is that while the kitchen sometimes spaces out on the main entrees, the antipasti are well-executed. Try the fried calamari, which tastes as if it's barely touched cooking oil. Brunches, too, are good here. (PD) 115 NW 22nd Ave., 248-9400. Open daily. Moderate to expensive. Il Piatto Regulars all have a favorite dish, one that tastes so good they have to order it again and again, even if it means skipping something else that looks almost as delicious. For many, it's the portobello mushrooms in garlic cream with polenta, a blend of robust flavors that tempts eaters to dispense with table manners so they can actually lick the bowl clean. Other items trigger a similar response. Crespelle alla ricotta are herb-flecked crèpes filled with a warm blend of mushrooms, spinach, toasted pine nuts and ricotta cheese and served with crème frâiche that's been blended with smoked pear. The pear provides an intriguingly subtle flavor and balances the cloying crème frâiche perfectly. Vegetable lasagna, a classic saltimbocca and Sicilian-style rabbit slow-cooked with red wine, orange juice and raisins are only a few of the potential favorites, but save room for the unique polenta-cake tiramisu, a refreshing variation on the ubiquitous dessert.(JD) 2348 SE Ankeny St., 236-4997. Lunch Tuesday-Friday, dinner Tuesday-Sunday. Moderate to expensive. India Grill Some Indian cuisine can do a number on one's intestines, but a thoughtful meal derived from the subcontinent is positively therapeutic. Take your weary person to the romantically lit second floor sun room of the India Grill. Relax. Order a 22-ounce Taj Mahal--yummy Indian beer--and the vegetable or meat samosas straight away. Now take some time to linger over the involved menu. It's best to come here with at least a few friends to maximize grazing--there are so many tempting dishes, it's a shame to limit dining to just a few options. No matter what combination the table tally comes to, be sure to discover fish almond. The name is brusque, but the fish itself, mahi mahi, could only have been prepared with the most reverent care. It comes swimming in a thick, penny-colored almond curry; the flavor is earthy and increasingly better-layered bite on top of bite. Fire-eaters should explore the vindaloo--chicken or lamb--but to ensure spice!, ask for it hot. Surprisingly, medium-hot proves just right for those with mild-mannered tastebuds and lacking for anyone who banks on burn. Remember that Indian food is not served like much Asian fare: A dish of chicken breast pieces in masala sauce (Murgh Mazhedhar) is just that; there are no accompanying sides. Rounding out a meal with a curry of assorted vegetables is well advised. (CM) 2924 E Burnside St., 236-1790. Lunch and dinner daily. Moderate to expensive. Ivy House For many parents, the thought of dining out with kids is connected with the phrase "happy meal." But Ivy House offers families a very civilized, relaxed alternative to fast-food joints. Parents can savor delicious, expertly prepared food as the kids play quietly(?) nearby. It sounds idyllic, and it is. Owners Lisa and Brian Quinn offer an ambitious menu that changes seasonally. Summer '99 dinner fare included toasted-hazelnut-encrusted baked salmon with a cider-Riesling beurre blanc; grilled hangar steak with fresh pico-de-gallo salsa; and shiitake mushroom ravioli with Tillamook white-cheddar sauce. Lunch choices include deep-dish quiche and a variety of traditional and unexpected sandwiches. Excellent salads, desserts, microbrews and wines complement both lunch and dinner menus. The prices are very reasonable, especially for the tots, who can munch upon a hot dog, macaroni and cheese or a PB&J sandwich for just a buck. The Ivy House is a godsend for people who love a fine-dining experience but can't afford to pay the babysitter as much as the restaurant meal costs. (SW) 1605 SE Bybee St., 231-9528. Dinner daily. Lunch weekdays, brunch weekends. Moderate. Jake's Famous Crawfish For over a century, Jake's has been attracting crowds with a remarkably simple approach: well-produced, uncomplicated seafood served by a friendly, knowledgeable staff. The Southwest Portland fixture remains especially appealing in a town that can, at times, become a little fusion-happy. Sitting under the soulful gaze of a Bogart portrait recently, piped-in piano jazz tinkling gently, a white-jacketed waitress first brought a plate of lemon wedges that whispered of delightful things to come. And then she delivered: a mini-mountain of spicy mussels puttanesca; a broad plate of the restaurant's still-famous crawfish; a tangy bouillabaisse of halibut, salmon, clams, mussels, prawns and yet more crawfish; and a thickly sauced seafood fettuccine with rock shrimp and bay scallops. Then, just as we were cheerily reeling from our round with an academy of fresh fishies, a three-berry cobbler with a pastry-shell top appeared as the knockout blow. Marionberries, raspberries and blueberries mingled colorfully, providing a sweet-tart finish to another in a lengthening line of fine meals at Jake's. (MM) 401 SW 12th Ave., 226-1419. Lunch Monday-Friday, dinner daily. Expensive. Jo Bar and Rotisserie The brilliant white oxford shirts, wide gem-toned ties and trouser-quality jeans worn by the wait staff epitomize Jo Bar's pearls-with-leather ambience. It's a bar, not a saloon: a fine restaurant sans dining room. And it's one of the most luxurious places to sup on a rainy night. Tomato walls project color onto the wannest faces; a table-to-ceiling floral centerpiece pleases the eye while expert cocktails fortify. Toss back a traditional scotch and soda or try the Gingerman, which offers pulpy bits of ginger and enough zing to classify as an event unto itself. Jo Bar turns comfort-food on its head: Pizza is topped with chicken and hoisin sauce, oysters on the half shell come with a mango granita. The mac and cheese includes mushrooms and butternut squash. Chicken ravioli is given pad Thai treatment with a zesty tamarind sauce. Swordfish with a spicy satay of vegetables over jasmine rice is perfectly done. A gushing review? Well, yes. From the spot-on service to the classy decor, Jo Bar does not disappoint. (CM) 701 NW 23rd Ave., 222-0048. Lunch and dinner daily. Expensive. Khun Pic's Bahn Thai Khun Pic's Bahn Thai must be doing something right. On a recent, resplendent weekend evening--perfect for picnicking or sidewalk eating--the cozy remodeled Queen Anne's cottage was jammed. There's no typical Thai menu of 64 dishes, all under $7, to draw diners here. Rather, they come in search of high-end Thai food, and, despite a spartan menu (eight items) and dainty portions, Bahn Thai largely fits the bill. If you're looking for adventure, skip the serviceable spring rolls and jump right into the hot and sour coconut soup and papaya salad. Both are made with crisp vegetables that go beyond the standard cabbage-carrot fare and provide that balance of sweet and sour that gives Thai food its yin-yang appeal. For entrees, forget the uninspired phad Thai and dive into the green curry (eggplant, bamboo shoots and basil) with firm tofu or giant prawns in a complex coconut-milk broth. Or, if your palate craves something less complex, but just as zingy, the vegetable-garlic stir-fry will do the trick. (JS) 3429 SE Belmont St., 235-1610. Closed Tuesdays. Dinner only. No credit cards. Moderate. Koji Osakaya You can always count on Koji. It's the closest thing we have to a sushi chain here in Portland, and even though each of the three outposts has its own personality, there's a sense of continuity that runs through them all. For lunch, you can't beat Koji's bento platter, sticks of yakitori chicken and green onion served with a salad and miso soup, and the donburi bowl, a huge mound of rice with your choice of meat covered in strings of cooked egg and a sweet teriyaki-based sauce. Another winner is Koji's curry, a more restrained version than you'll find in other Asian restaurants, folded into a tomato base. Often the Koji downtown and the new restaurant on Northeast Weidler are filled to the gills with fish eaters, so it's definitely worth your while to check out the Macadam headquarters. It's huge and has mounted televisons that run sumo wrestling all the time--always good for increasing your appetite. (CBB) 606 SW Broadway, 294-1169; 7007 SW Macadam Ave., 293-1066; 1502 NE Weidler St.; 280-0992. Lunch and dinner daily. Inexpensive to moderate. La Catalana Don't worry that your tastebuds seem to be set on stun; they're in good hands. From the roasted-eggplant escalivada to the grilled prawns with aioli--a garlicky mayonnaise Provençal--and the anchovy-stuffed olives, strong tastes especially pervade the small dishes at La Catalana, the first among Portland's tapas restaurants. But just try the revelatory mussels gratin, broiled in the shell with a topping of creamy spinach and aioli, and you'll realize the subtlety of this Mediterranean cuisine--the broad, soothing taste of spinach accentuates the sharpness of the garlic and the silkiness of the shellfish. The kitchen brings a confident balance of power and delicacy to its dishes, such as romesco-stuffed pork loin or duck confit with seared peaches. That confidence shows both in the restaurant's inviting, cantinalike atmosphere and in the wine list, a careful selection of regional Spanish bottlings. Don't miss specialties like the shellfish-packed paella and the kickass potato pie with aioli--you'll never look at scalloped potatoes the same way again--but save room for the caramelized crema Catalana or the house-made lemon ice cream. With so many winners, it's hard to predict which dish will keep you coming back. Me, I'm mussel-bound. (IG) 2821 SE Stark St., 232-0948. Dinner. Closed Monday. Moderate to expensive. Laslow's Broadway Bistro I sometimes think of Laslow's as a kid brother of Paley's, which is meant as a compliment. Similarly housed in an old Victorian, similarly pleasant and warm with attentive service, Laslow's prepares a cuisine that also blends French and Northwest. This is not fusion cooking, thank heavens, just an intelligent way of reconceiving tradition with indigenous values. Local ingredients star here--you'll find wild mushrooms and berries on many a plate, including dependable rabbit, poussin and duck. Not everything works perfectly, but when a dish is on, it's a treat. Pumpkin custard crab cakes is an inspired idea, a light working of pumpkin seeds into the crab, and not, as a lesser chef than Eric Laslow might try, a mash of pumpkin with crab to arouse thoughts of Thanksgiving by the sea. But then a wild mushroom and shellfish risotto cake can be a tad dry and rather uninteresting. Laslow's usually has a nice way with duck, and preparations change according to season and chef's whim. A version rubbed with hibiscus, glazed with honey and accompanied by wilted greens and grilled sweet onions is terrific. Laslow sometimes pushes the envelope with the number of ingredients, usually stopping just before the pileup gets too great. Generally dishes are thought out with intelligence: I recently enjoyed a loin of rabbit with couscous and a surprising flan of chanterelles. The wine list is splendid, appropriate for a place that hosts numerous winemakers' dinners. You'll get a warm welcome here, and everything about the tasteful decor and attentive service lends to sophisticated friendliness. A very pretty garden patio is a bonus in warm weather. (RJP) 3135 NE Broadway, 281-8337. Lunch Tuesday-Friday, dinner Tuesday-Sunday, brunch Sunday. Expensive. L'Auberge L'Auberge combines some of the best things about French culture--passion, romance, Jean-Paul Sartre--with some very Portland qualities to create a relaxed and funky French restaurant that hasn't changed its philosophy much since its establishment in 1969. The menu is French countryside meets Oregon coastline, with an order of barbecued ribs thrown in for your dad or anyone else who grumbles about the French any chance they get. The house salad, a mixture of organic greens in a zesty lemon-garlic vinaigrette with chewy, dried cherries and filberts is smart and pretty. The Chinook salmon, that ubiquitous Portland dish, is served simply with grilled fennel and a yellow tomato coulis and makes you remember why we're so lucky to live here. Another winner is the bourride, a fish stew of sorts that's thickened with aioli. There's a more formal dining room and a deck for outdoor dining, but the heart and soul of this restaurant lives in the bistro or bar side, and it would be a shame to dine anywhere else--unless you are a total isolationist. Cozy banquets and small tables line the walls of the bistro, and though diners at L'Auberge are an introverted-looking bunch, you can usually find a good pick-up conversation among the regulars at the L-shaped bar. The bartender mediates when passion and reason, or filet mignon and ribs, collide.(ML) 2601 NW Vaughn St., 223-3302. Dinner daily. Moderate to expensive. Le Bouchon Le Bouchon does not serve haute cuisine, but its bistro dishes and the charmingly French ambience make this one of the best casual places in Portland to have dinner. Those familiar with Paris neighborhood spots, or the family-style restaurants in every small French town, will feel right at home at Le Bouchon ("the cork"). It's an entirely French-owned and -operated place, and the menu is filled with simple classics: onion soup, paté with cornichons, snails, sweetbreads, magret de canard sauced with cream and brandy, kidneys, crème caramel, chocolate mousse. Nothing is trendy here, nothing will stun you with its inventiveness or culinary finesse--just good, honest, straightforward cooking served with the kind of aplomb the French manage so impressively. There are always a few specials written in chalk on the board, and they're usually worth a close look. This is what the French call "cuisine de grandmère," or home cooking. You'll be especially in luck if you get Monique as your waitress (she's also one of the owners). She virtually sings her speech in that French lilting way and will let you enjoy your attempts at the language, if you so desire. It's almost irresistible. Le Bouchon is also a fine place to drop in for wine from the modest but nicely chosen list, especially its Côtes de Rhone. (RJP) 517 NW 14th Ave., 248-2193. Lunch Tuesdays-Fridays, dinner Tuesdays-Saturdays. Moderate. Legin You know that big pink pagoda on Division and 82nd? The one that's a social focus for outer Southeast? Well, behind the gaudy edifice sits one of Portland's best Chinese restaurants. Unlike the Mandarin and Szechuan offerings in town, Legin is thoroughly Cantonese. That means that very little on the 300-dish menu is spicy; instead, everything expresses itself with an assist from ginger and garlic sauces. But nothing is ordinary here: seven kinds of shark's fin soup, sea cucumber and frog dishes, as well as clay pot galore. The best offerings, however, come from the specials board and waitstaff suggestions, especially the seasonal seafood. On a recent visit, the lobster in ginger sauce and scallions was excellent. Large tanks in the lobby hold live fish and crustaceans. And even though there are often several wedding receptions afoot in adjoining rooms, seating in the restaurant's jade decor is prompt. (PD) 8001 SE Division St., 777-2828. Lunch and dinner daily. Inexpensive to moderate. Lemongrass Lemongrass is an awakening. This Thai restaurant presents all the greatest hits of that region with such freshness and authenticity that eating here will prompt you to search the Web for cheap airfare to Bangkok. Owner Shelley Siripatrapa comes from Portland's premier Thai restaurant family (her mother opened Bangkok Kitchen and her sister runs Khun Pic's Bahn Thai), and Lemongrass' birth signaled a new way for Portlanders to appreciate Thailand's flavorful cuisine. Unlike many of the quick-fix Thai joints around town, Lemongrass' menu features a small, focused group of traditional dishes prepared individually to order. The curries sing. A dish as simple as green-curry chicken hits the tastebuds from all sides--the smooth coconut milk, the bitter kafir-lime leaves and the earthy purple basil come together for an altogether outstanding zing. A don't-miss dish is the green papaya salad: shredded green papaya mingled with cherry tomatoes, peanuts, dried shrimp and Thai chilies that comes with sticky rice you can flatten on your fingers and use to scoop up the wonderful dripping mess. You may be sitting in a comfy converted house in Northeast Portland, but you're as close to Bangkok as one meal can take you. (CBB) 1705 NE Couch St., 231-5780. Lunch and dinner. Closed Wednesday. No credit cards. Moderate. Lucy's Table Lucy's Table has become a very satisfying venue for contemporary cooking with Mediterranean inflections. The room is dimly lit with pretty amber lamps, while soft velour curtains and crisp napery lend a sophisticated feel, creating a warm yet slightly formal setting. The ample menu has recently featured a number of "Spanish" dishes, including fried calamari dipped in a poblano tomato sauce, and a seared Spanish mackerel with Manila clams in a tomato-parsley sauce. Italian items on the menu include mussel capellini with pancetta, fennel and saffron garlic broth, risotto with prosciutto di Parma, and eggplant-and-ricotta rolls. Dishes largely international in conception frequently are enhanced with such Mediterranean touches as couscous with the grilled lamb, Gorgonzola whipped into mashed potatoes served with a charred tenderloin of beef, and heirloom tomato soup in which floats an island of grilled bread crumbs splashed with pepper oil and green onions. There are even a few Asian touches, but Lucy's is adept at not jamming together incongruous flavors or cuisines that could never join an entente cordiale. The best dessert on a recent outing proved to be fresh berry fritters with a rum vanilla sauce; it takes the kind of sweet you might associate with carnivals and brings it to new heights, a fritter's leap to immortality. All in all, this is a place to come back to, and you'll always be gratified. (RJP) 706 NW 21st Ave., 226-6126. Dinner. Closed Sundays. Expensive. Mallory Hotel Dining Room Generous portions and affordable prices are only one reason to check out this venerable institution. While it probably won't satisfy so-called "gourmets," the food is pretty damn good. James Beard, Portland's most famous culinary son, always ate here when he returned to his hometown for a cooking class or book tour, and the menu represents the same honest all-American food that Beard championed. Steaks, chops and chicken dominate, but local seafood is available, too, and when razor clams are in season the Mallory's version--lightly breaded and fried--is as good as any. Breakfast time may be the most crowded, especially on weekends, when the city's established families descend from the adjacent hills to partake of fluffy German pancakes, respectable blintzes, and less traditional fare such as grilled polenta with tomato sauce and poached eggs. (JD) 729 SW 15th Ave., 223-6311. Open daily. Moderate. Metronome With its open, airy dining room and its moderately priced bistro entrees, Metronome is a welcome addition to the growing number of restaurants jumping on the Northeast Broadway bandwagon. Sunday brunch is great here--you get to choose from three different styles of potatoes to pair with your eggs. A recent dinner stop in the heat of summer offered the perfect light supper: fresh, tangy plum tomato and cucumber gazpacho, pungent with cilantro, followed by smoked salmon and crab cakes served with house-made potato salad and mixed greens. There are tons of veggie dishes on the menu, in case your dining companion is that way: The curried vegetable risotto is chock-full of asparagus, zucchini, tomato and goat cheese, all melded perfectly. There are also options for the simple-at-heart, including a 7-ounce cheeseburger with fries and a dish of roasted pork with polenta and cooked greens. Viva la Metronome. (CBB) 1426 NE Broadway, 288-4300. Lunch Tuesday-Friday, brunch Sunday, dinner Tuesday-Sunday. Moderate. Montage This restaurant created its own mythology. It began as a hipsterish haunt in a small house on Belmont Street (where Wild Abandon now resides) and served simple dishes of macaroni and cheese for a mere buck, and flavorful gumbos and blackened proteins at working man's prices. The place took off, and the demand was so great that it moved to bigger digs underneath the Morrison Bridge. An expanded menu followed--you can now get that mac 'n' cheese with ham, green basil, Spam or chicken, and hearty entrees now include linguine with frog legs and a braised quail. Still, the thing that makes this place so attractive remains--it's not just because waiters holler out to the kitchen when someone orders an oyster shooter or that they pack your leftovers in aluminum foil sculptured to look like a swan. There is an energy to this place that is rarely matched. While the dishes often seem to be sharing the same basic stock (so the linguine sauce seems just a kiss away from the jambalaya), you crave that root purpose just the same. The white-jacketed server--usually one part fawner, one part smart-ass--will pour you a huge glass of wine and might leave that little bit left in the bottle for you to finish up. The Mississippi Mud pie is one of the most addictive desserts around--the huge slab of ice cream, whipped cream, nuts and fudge on a cookie crust is enough for the table, and you'll find yourself going four on one with the thick chocolate crust as you all stab it with your steely knives. Montage Theory of Eating: Light + Energy = Time squared. (CBB) 301 SE Morrison St., 234-1324. Lunch Monday-Friday. Dinner daily. Moderate. Morton's of Chicago Morton's, perhaps the premier steak chain in America, opened with a flourish this year, and it's a haven for expense-account high-rollers, quaffers of big Bordeaux and lovers of enormous slabs of perfectly grilled beef. Like its rival a few blocks away, Ruth's Chris, Morton's serves up everything à la carte, so be prepared for a wallet-busting experience. The room is elegant and glamorous, the service impeccable (though perhaps a tad sycophantic) and the theatrical demonstration of the ingredients (including a large and scary-looking lobster thrust your way) rather wearisome and pretentious. Still, Morton's delivers the goods. The porterhouse is spectacular, fork-cutting tender, and it weighs in at 24 ounces, making you pay for more than you can eat and forcing you to have leftovers--not such a bad idea, come to think of it. For those who prefer roast beef to steak, the center-cut prime rib is wonderful, but should be reserved the day before to insure that the restaurant will not run out--it's a popular option. Avoid the "Sicilian style" veal, which is crusted with Parmesan and bread crumbs and ought to be sent back to corporate headquarters with a tag on its proverbial toe. Morton's indulges itself with a great deal of self-referential PR, even inside the restaurant--you cannot forget that this institution is a phenomenon. But if you make yourself focus on why you're there--it's the beef, stupid--you might forgive the hoopla and indulge yourself. This is Neanderthal paradise. (RJP) 213 SW Clay St., 248-2100. Open daily for dinner. Very expensive. ¡Oba! Restaurant of the Year for 1998, Oba continues to break ground in the creation of nuevo latino cuisine. Food historians are quick to point out that cultures have traded flavors and ingredients since hominids first boiled a tuber, but that doesn't always mean you could find the crossover dish in a restaurant. Oba successfully adopts the flavors from a sweeping arc of the hemisphere's geographical menu, with influences from Texas, the Gulf Coast, the Caribbean, and Latin America from Mexico to Brazil, using them in dishes more familiar to norteño palates. New additions include the pollo confit tostada, marinated and slow-cooked chicken on a flat, crisp tortilla topped with mixed greens and sliced avocado, drizzled with lime-cumin vinaigrette and pomegranate molasses, and sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds. Smoky and slightly sweet guava-habanero barbecue sauce elevates a full 2-pound rack of rotisserie-cooked babyback ribs a few notches above rib-shack barbecue, and the signature ahi tuna encrusted with mild ancho chili and black pepper is still just plain delicious. (JD) 555 NW 12th Ave., 228-6161. Dinner daily. Expensive. Oritalia The decor is sumptuous: booths with curtains and tasseled rope ties suggesting Liaisons Dangereuses, polished wood everywhere, huge moodily lit paintings, elegant chopsticks resting on a disk illustrated with poetry by Basho. This San Francisco outpost is a most opulent purveyor of fusion food (Oriental + Italian, get it?), a testimony not to native traditions and the rootedness of place but to the ingenuity of a chef's unbridled imagination. Truth to tell, it is really a classy Asian restaurant with a few touches of the Mediterranean, but most of the fusion part is just a bit silly. Why would you want an order of foccaccia bread before tasting a beautifully delicate platter of raw tuna minced and blended with carrots, Asian pears and shiso--an herb something like basil--all placed gingerly atop crispy rice cakes? Part of you wants to scream "Basta," or whatever its equivalent in Japanese; and yet when things come together nicely, as they often do here, the tastes are explosive and marvelous. Perhaps it's niggardly to complain; as my dining partner said, "When in Tokyo do as the Romans." Not even Marco Polo dreamed Oritalia's baroque dreams. When you get your dish, you instinctively want to reread the description on the menu, because there's so much going on. Is this a good thing? Sometimes, yes, despite my belief that we're supposed to be bowled over by ingenuity, not by authenticity. To borrow from some wag, this is "Restauration Comedy." And yet, the sake-steamed bass is loaded with flavor, the portobello mushrooms provide just a hint of depth, and the Chinese black-bean sauce lends a heady and salty touch to the mild, even bland, fish. Even more wonderful is the plate of rare ahi slices, grounded in a heady mustard sauce, accompanied by a lotus leaf open like an offering on perfumed jasmine rice. But at some level there's more imaginative flash than cuisine that evokes its origins. The true test might be how frequently you would return, once the initial excitement faded. For the moment, Oritalia strikes us as an exercise in culinary multiculturalism, and something is wanting as a result. (RJP) 750 SW Alder St. (in the Westin Hotel), 295-0680. Open daily. Expensive-very expensive. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published October 13, 1999