Belly: "An Appetite for Food"

By jsword
large_belly-1.JPG

Although some Portlanders see a dark shadow over the newly opened restaurant in the space that last housed short-lived and stigmatized Terroir, the restaurant is as earnest and promising as they come. The roster: fresh/local/seasonal dinner and Sunday brunch. Bamboo tables and wicker chairs, deconstructed wine barrels, and a framed photo of humble russets set the scene in the 60-plus-seat dining room. If your appetite is solid, follow a starter and precede your entree with pasta. The "loaded potato" gnocchi is one of the best. Tasty entrees include pan-roasted sockeye with corn-kernel-studded polenta and sautéed green and wax beans, and grilled culotte steak topped with a puck of bordelaise butter and served with simple russet fries.

IDEAL MEAL: Egg salad "sandwich," gnocchi, brined pork chop.

3500 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 249-9764.

*Sunday Brunch is served 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Please visit Belly's website for more information and directions.

WWeek 2015

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.