Skip to main contentThe Heathman
1001 SW Broadway, 790-7752. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily; brunch Saturday-Sunday. $$$ Expensive.
Philippe Boulot's marriage of French-country and bistro cuisine with Northwest ingredients won him a James Beard Award in 2001. Sometimes it's easy to see why: A salad of peppery arugula and sweet Oregon berries, topped with a sachet of soft cheese, is a quiet little wow, as is an appetizer of chilled halibut over avocado-stuffed wontons. Cheese and wine lists are solid, and the exhibition kitchen is nice, bolstering the Heathman's rep as a power-lunch, Dad's-paying kind of place. But then comes a dull entree of black cod and grilled vegetables, and the restaurant's weaknesses come through: an uninspiring dessert list (flourless chocolate cake, crème brûlée, etc.), service ranging from cheerful to perfunctory, and a generic setting that harks back to the bad old days of anonymous hotel dining rooms. The Heathman's handsome "tea court" just outside the restaurant's entrance shows what the room could be. At its best, Boulot's food transcends its surroundings. (KA)
Signature dish: Northwest fish, prepared simply and with respect.
Standouts: The menu changes frequently; steer toward the freshest fish and locally grown ingredients (Boulot knows how special a salad can be).
Regrets: The room—neither classic nor modern—badly needs a makeover, and the staff ranged from professional to untrained.
Higgins
1239 SW Broadway, 222-9070. Lunch Monday-Friday, dinner nightly. $$$ Expensive.
Can we just erect a bronze statue of Greg Higgins and wheel it into the middle of the Portland Farmers Market, already? (See "Value," page 37). As a restaurant, this beloved downtown haunt is as well known for its local-food-sourcin', farmer-lovin' founder as its solid Northwestern cuisine. And that's OK. Whether you're working through a warm, filling bowl of bacon-studded bean soup or the fresh, local seafood of the millisecond in the traditional dining room or a handful of addictive honey-and-chili-roasted Oregon hazelnuts in the bar, this place exudes a jolly yet exacting charm. Higgins' better servers often exemplify that attitude as well. Wanna know where your pork loin (recently served on the sweet side with a cider glaze and a Teutonic jumble of braised cabbage and soft fingerling potatoes) was raised? Ask 'em. Just want a cheapish bottle of local wine to go with your sweet-corn risotto? They've got one covered too. After all, local is their business. (KNC)
Signature Dish: A devastatingly plump passel of Washington state mussels steamed with chilies, white wine and cilantro, then bathed in an unctuous plum gastrique.
Standouts: A legendary beer menu that features both $40 bottles of Belgian suds (Deus, served in a corked bottle like champagne) and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Damn, that's sexy.
Regrets: Due to its lower price point and more convivial attitude, the Higgins bar can be more welcoming than its dining room.
Hurley's
1987 NW Kearney St., 295-6487. Dinner Tuesday-Saturday. $$$ Expensive.
Hurley's 1987 NW Kearney St., 295-6487. Dinner Tuesday-Saturday. $$$ Expensive. This elegant, ivy-covered brick eatery feels like a slice of Georgetown. Chef-owner Tom Hurley, a former firefighter, has kept his name in print over the past year by trying to extinguish the anti-foie gras forces (he's holding firm with three selections featuring the controversial liver on his menu). He's also recently abandoned the "small-plates" concept for a return to more substantial portions. Hurley's got a deft touch with French and continental classics, such a chopped Caesar with asiago flan and duck au poivre done slowly on a cedar plank. (NJ)
Signature dish: At $6, Hurley's chips of parchment-thin potato topped with finely grated asiago and truffle oil are not only the cheapest thing on the menu, they're more addictive than caffeine.
Standouts: You'll speak with a French accent after the scallops with seared foie gras and celeriac purée; the fresh lavender crème brûlée gives subtlety a good name.
Regrets: The prices are a touch high and the mood is a tad serious.
Jake's Famous Crawfish
401 SW 12th Ave., 226-1419. Lunch Monday-Saturday, dinner nightly. $$$ Expensive.
Jake's Famous soaks in tradition the way its signature crayfish bathe in their spicy broth. The dark wood booths, period fixtures and landscape paintings are all reassuring visual cues to this top-notch seafood restaurant's century-plus history in Portland. Fortunately, though the decor is ancient, the fish is morning-fresh: The daily menu lists the catches on offer, along with their waters of origin. Some of the most satisfying dishes involve seafood inside other seafood, paired with something gooey (catfish stuffed with crawfish and cream cheese; salmon stuffed with crab; shrimp and brie), though lighter Asian-inspired preparations have been making headway on the menu. There are also expertly executed cow and bird dishes for the non-piscivores, of course, but the focus remains on the ocean and river critters that gave Jake's its enveloping sense of history. This is the place to take your parents to spring the news that you're moving back in—just wait until they've signed the credit-card slip. (IG)
Signature Dish: That'd be the crawdads. If you're not down with the live boil, try the deep, deliciously complex crawfish étouffée.
Standouts: Despite the fancypants trappings, most of the servers exude a warm folksiness—one waitress always seems on the verge of calling us "hon."
Regrets: The Cajun-spiced crayfish stuffing doesn't quite mask the mildewy note of the muck-dwelling catfish.
Justa Pasta
1336 NW 19th Ave., 243-2249. Lunch Monday-Friday, dinner nightly. $$ Moderate.
Justa Pasta 1336 NW 19th Ave., 243-2249. Lunch Monday-Friday, dinner nightly. $$ ModerateJusta Pasta stands out from Portland's profusion of upscale-casual Italian spots with a warm, attractive interior and inventive specials. The loft-chic style avoids harshness, with warm colors and lots of plants. The standard menu is basic—a handful of pastas combine with marinara, alfredo, and so on—but the specials are where the action is, like a recent penne dish tossed with pancetta, mushrooms, tomatoes and sugar snap peas. The spot is one of the best deals you'll find in Northwest, especially with the dirt-cheap small-portion options. At these prices you don't have to think twice about throwing in a salad or an enormous slice of silky, almondy cheesecake. It makes for a relaxing weekday lunch break as much for the comforting food as for the out-of-the-way location, just removed from Northwest's more bustling 'hoods. Speedy service expedited by a counter-ordering system means you can spend more time enjoying your meal. (SC)
Signature dish: Three versions of ravioli—goat cheese and herb, braised greens and pecorino, and three cheese—are available to eat in or cook at home.
Standouts: Hearty salads incorporating good cheeses and über-fresh veggies make it easy to be healthy.
Regrets: A lackluster Bolognese.
Karam Lebanese Cuisine
316 SW Stark St., 223-0830. Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday. $$ Moderate.
Lebanon couldn't get better cultural ambassadors in Portland than Tony and Emelin Karam, the couple behind this warm downtown Middle Eastern refuge. Travel here for mezza basics done right: From the lemony, garlic-bomb hummus and airy housemade pita straight from the oven to the flavor-packed chicken kebab that boasts both moist meat and charred skin, Karam makes humble meals sing. Even better, it provides a charmed atmosphere in which to branch out. Sample Kibbee Saneeyeh, the lightly spiced beef layered with soft bulgur that's known as Lebanon's national dish, or taste-test goat four different ways (see below). Vegetarians go wild on Karam's wealth of meatless offerings, especially a massive veggie mazawat, a eight-dish sampler that includes the restaurant's pungent grape leaves and its tart, silky housemade Lebanese yogurt cheese, labne. With the palatable air of care that goes into both the food and service at Karam, expect Portland to proudly pimp its rep as "Little Beirut" for years to come. (KNC)
Signature Dish: Who knew it only took red wine, garlic and vinegar to turn Billy Goat Gruff into a rich-yet-delicate platter of fall-apart tender goat bil tfeen.
Standouts: A tableside visit from Tony K. himself delivers a quick history or culture lesson along with your shawarma or groan-worthy lamb shank stew. Repeat it to your loved ones as you eat your way through at least two days' worth of leftovers.
Regrets: Americanized offerings, like pizza and a pallid green salad, can seem unexceptional next to Karam's staunchly Lebanese treats.
Ken's Artisan Pizza
304 SE 28th Ave., 517-9951. Dinner Tuesday-Saturday. $$ Moderate.
Ken's, the new pizza haunt by local bread man Ken Forkish, is smart enough to keep it simple: The menu lists just seven pizzas, all based on a flavorful tomato sauce and tender, fresh-style mozzarella. The spicy soppressata (a type of salami) and the crumbled fennel sausage with caramelized onions are especially delicious, but beware the fiery dried Calabrian chiles, which are only for serious capsaicin freaks. The beautiful roasted veggie plate stands out on a short list of starters, but the Caesar salad misfired with disappointingly timid dressing and croutons that were too darned big and hard to eat. Desserts are lovely, homey preparations, and an adventurous and fairly priced selection of wine and beer complete the menu. The young, smoothly professional servers keep the place humming, proving that dining in a newly opened restaurant doesn't have to resemble being trapped in some ghastly reality show. In fact, my biggest complaint about the place is that there's little room to wait, and wait you will, unless you arrive early or late. A year or so of practice apparently does make perfect—or close enough, for Portland's pizza lovers. (HY)
Signature dish: Margherita and the marinara, baked with a tangy handful of arugula.
Standouts: The tables and bar crafted from old-growth Douglas fir that was once part of Jantzen Beach's Big Dipper roller coaster from 1928 until 1970.
Regrets: The secret's out.
Ken's Place
1852 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 236-9520. Barbecue Tuesday, dinner Thursday-Saturday, deli and brunch Saturday and family dinners some Sundays. $$ Moderate.
1852 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 236-9520. Barbecue Tuesday, dinner Thursday-Saturday, deli and brunch Saturday and family dinners some Sundays. $$ Moderate. Be thankful that when Ken Gordon gets a wild hair up his you-know-what, he goes for it. In the course of three years, he's turned his time-warped Hawthorne kitchen into a comfort-food dilettante's wet dream. Most nights you can find the chef slaving away in the open kitchen, churning out the kind of grub that fostered the invention of the elastic waistband: salty-good sour cream- and garlic-smashed red spuds drowned in drippings-rich pan gravy. Hefty burgers and garlicky Caesars. Fresh, pepper-spiked green beans and toasted Marcona almonds that verily swim in butter. Tuesdays belong to the latest incarnation of LOW BBQ, complete with sauce-on-the-side pork ribs and lamb riblets courtesy of Ken's Texas-style offset smoker. Every Saturday is devoted to Kenny & Zuke's, a near-kosher Jewish deli that's got P-town's pastrami heads in a tizzy. Bread comes from Grand Central next door but nearly everything else from scratch, even the sweet stuff, of which a pecan tart is a gooey, caramelized wonder with fresh whip on the side. Believe the folks who show up in the doorway and say, "We just stopped by for dessert." But still, a pity they couldn't stay for the whole meal. (KNC)
Signature Dish: Eat Ken's fried chicken—every juicy nibblet, pan-fried in lard—and die happy.
Standouts: Sheer organizational chutzpah and sweet-as-pie service.
Regrets: Is that mac 'n' cheese or a block of sawdust I see before me?
Kinta
3450 SE Belmont St., 234-2623. Lunch Monday-Saturday, dinner nightly. $$ Moderate.
Kinta fills in Southeast Belmont's veggie-friendly dining scene with meat-free Malaysian food in a hemp-free environment. The choose-your-own-adventure-style menu lets diners combine favorite veggies in various rice- or noodle-based entrees but precludes the unique, expert ingredient pairings only a chef would think of. The absence of fish sauce, a relief for strict vegans, creates dishes milder than at other Southeast Asian restaurants, but still flavorful, like a zesty stir-fry with chili-miso sauce. Conscientious choices don't have to mean a spiritless experience; fast-foody fried tofu, a lovely soy ice cream dessert and tropical mixed drinks worthy of a girls' night out keep things lively. And savory satay chicken can be added to any entree for an extra protein punch. (SC)
Signature dish: "Kinta's Wondrous Noodles," stir-fried with soybean sauce.
Standouts: Garden-fresh veggies shine on their own rather than playing second fiddle to heavy meats or sauces.
Regrets: Service is a little on the laid-back side.
Lagniappe
1934 NE Alberta St., 249-7675. Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday. $$ Moderate.
Lagniappe 1934 NE Alberta St., 249-7675. Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday. $$ Moderate. For those of you wondering where the New Orleans grub joint Lagniappe went after leaving Northeast Broadway, look no further: It's settled on Alberta in a much bigger space. Customers can sit down now—inside, or outside on the huge patio. Seats, shmeats...we just want us some NOLA cookin', and Lagniappe has some of the best in town. Once a week, a two-ton iron smoker makes mouthwatering brisket and pulled pork for po' boys. Gumbo, fried crawfish, hush puppies, fried catfish, jambalaya...Lagniappe's got it all, and unlike Alberta's other Southern-fried joints, it's unassuming and authentic. You want some vinegar for your collard greens? Lagniappe will bring you Trappey's Peppers in Vinegar, the preferred kind found in the Big Easy. You want a fried-shrimp po' boy? Lagniappe serves up half a pound of deep-fried fresh shrimp on a huge loaf of French bread. We suggest you bring your appetite—and request extra napkins. (LS)
Signature dish: The beef-brisket plate, with your choice of two sides. You will get messy, and you will like it.
standouts: The laid-back authenticity. Chef Madison Ragland is as easygoing as his red beans and rice.
Regrets: Sometimes feels empty, and thus not inviting. So y'all are going to have to go and fill it now, you hear?
Lauro Kitchen
3377 SE Division St., 239-7000. Dinner nightly. $$ Moderate.
It's been three years since this Mediterranean-inspired "Kitchen" opened its fabulous doors, and the restaurant is still packed nightly. That, along with Lauro's no-reservations policy, is often annoying—think hour-long waits featuring lots of plate envy and salivation—but it's worth the wait. The ever-changing menu is all about dishes crammed with subtle flavor, using spices in surprising ways. The tagine of chicken uses preserved lemons and the meat itself as a supporting role to a fennel confit. Fried calamari is lightly dusted in a salt-and-pepper batter of sorts and gently sizzled—but the side sauce is a fiery Portuguese piri-piri. It's a precarious balance, but chef-mastermind David Machado makes it work. With a loud and bustling atmosphere, the energy in Lauro is strong, too. It's the perfect place to kick off a see-and-be-seen evening of fun. (LS)
Signature dish: The seafood paella—it is a Mediterranean restaurant, people.
standouts: Even the cheeseburger is transformed into an experience: Studded with red onions and fresh herbs, it's a foodie's feast.
Regrets: It's a long wait. So long that it might garner you a free appetizer—mostly so you won't fall down after the five glasses of wine you've had at the bar.
Le Pigeon
738 E Burnside St., 546-8796. Dinner Wednesday-Sunday, brunch Saturday-Sunday. $$ Moderate.
Ambitious 25-year-old chef Gabriel Rucker, a former Gotham Building Tavern sous, is pleasing diners with inventive combinations in a simple space. Patrons cluster, like the tattooed flock of pigeons he wears on his right forearm, around Rucker's open kitchen, a perch he ventures from when he finishes off a dish with a fresh herb garnish before personally delivering it to your table. The dinner menu shifts with Rucker's whims—he visits the farmers market three times a week. The risotto, often on the menu, is a sure bet. At weekend brunch, when prices drop substantially, you can order interesting riffs on typical stuff, like hearty eggs Benedict with whole-grain mustard hollandaise or the best of the bunch—a chile relleno. It's served over red potatoes, and hit, when hot, with cheddar cheese and cilantro. You'll eat every bite. You also might be surprised at how much you can spend at a plain-looking place like Le Pigeon, where nothin's fancy except Rucker's imagination. He's made a good start. Let's see where this hardworking urban bird lets his menu fly next. (AA)
Signature dish: Flatiron steak trimmed with a spoonful of creamed spinach and white truffle butter.
Standouts: The semolina-crusted onion rings were perfectly crisped.
Regrets: Some of the chairs are designed only for the toughest rumps.
Lorenzo's Tavalo Caldo
3807 N Mississippi Ave., 284-6200. Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday. $$ Moderate.
DIY types will appreciate this family-friendly Italian cafe. Order at the counter, set your own table and enjoy a pleasant atmosphere filled with natural light and checkered tablecloths. Typical entree choices include bland spinach-ricotta gnocchi baked in tomato sauce, rib-sticking smoked-salmon risotto cakes, and an oversized rustic raviolo—a blissful slab of pasta embracing hearty potato beneath caramelized leeks and cream, accented by prosciutto slices (optional). Even though it started off strong, Lorenzo's still has some kinks to iron out. An entree may cost close to $15, yet you'll be charged extra for bread. And a recent antipasto platter contrasted toothsome marinated mushrooms and pickled onions with listless white-bean spread and sun-dried tomatoes, thrown in with a skimpy portion of mortadella. A simple salad of bresaola and arugula was balanced perfectly with lemon and Parmesan, but the flavors fought each other—and lost—in Lorenzo's odd version of a Caesar salad. And when the crowds came in waves, service suffered. (TLB)
Signature dishes: Spaghetti with meatballs, house "Caesar" with arugula, shaved fennel and grilled ricotta salata.
Standouts: The incredible raviolo (and the overworked afternoon waitress who managed to overcome the odds).
Regrets: The tiramisu, pre-potted in plastic, sports a tantalizing, creamy top and a mushy, grainy mess at the bottom.
Lovely Hula Hands
938 N Cook St., 445-9910. (Moving to 4057 N Mississippi Ave., early Nov.) Dinner Tuesday-Sunday. $$ Moderate.
Searching for a restaurant that meets your standards on all counts—food, service and atmosphere—is like looking for Mr. or Ms. Right: There's always something off. But at Lovely Hula Hands, there really isn't anything that's off. Its charming, antique decor and beaming servers create a comfortable setting while chef Jesse Garcia employs his culinary expertise in the kitchen. Cocktails, like the cakey Silk Stocking, mirror the restaurant's self-consciously retro aesthetic, while the food nods to the diverse cultural elements of contemporary Portland. Start with the crab cakes—a smoked paprika remoulade sets them apart. Entrees range from a vegan Cuban rice dish with pumpkin, coconut curry and plantains to one of the best blue-cheese burgers in town. Top it off with a molten chocolate cake spiked with raspberry sauce, and head home happily bursting at the seams. (SC)
Signature dish: The spicy Thai flatiron steak, served lettuce-wrap-style, is something of a production, but worth the mess.
Standouts: With its vibrant poblano-pepper cream sauce, the polenta with seasonal mushrooms is to die for.
Regrets: The place doesn't take reservations, so expect to wait a while, especially on the weekends.
Lucy's Table
704 NW 21st Ave., 226-6126. Dinner Monday-Saturday. $$ Moderate.
With its superb attention to sound control, Lucy's Table wins for hearing-friendliness: When you can talk to your mates while savoring a roasted-beet-and-pear salad as good as the one served up the street, you score. Lucy's isn't the coolest Portland bistro, but the food is solid and changes with the season. A simply baked strip of sturgeon in early August trades off another month with lavender blackened ahi tuna over saffron risotto and sautéed Swiss chard. There's room on the menu for a vegetarian meatloaf stuffed with tofu, wild mushrooms and veggies, crusted with Parmesan panko crumbs and housemade ketchup. The desserts at times twist toward the innovative: A d'Anjou pear galette is turned out with black-pepper honey. A shoehorned bar and friendly smiles greet entrances and exits, and you can almost always get a seat at 7 pm when crowded out of other busy Northwest places. And there's valet parking Wednesday through Saturday. (AA)
Signature dishes: Goat-cheese ravioli with brown butter sauce over crisp shallots and pancetta; pomegranate-glazed baby-back pork ribs with an orange-and-red onion salad and manchego cheese.
Standouts: Boca Negra, a warm, flourless chocolate cake; wild boar ravioli with bing cherries and chevre.
Regrets: A dark, slightly dreary interior; imperfect service; some seats that require pillows against the wall for comfort.
Mama Mia Trattoria
439 SW 2nd Ave., 295-6464. Dinner nightly. $$ Moderate.
Chef/owner Lisa Schroeder's Mama Mia dishes up a comfort-food throwback to the days when Italian meant red sauce, and plenty of it. Swagged burgundy drapes, gold paint and small chandeliers make a suitable jewel-box setting for an old-country greatest hits menu. Skip the forgettable house salad and the completely flavorless Caesar and go for a starter like calamari or the spinach-stuffed portabella, a sort of mushroom Rockefeller. The semi-spicy marinara on the penne all'arrabiata is agreeable and familiar, and even carbonara, that coronary in a bowl, achieves a certain lightness. The Rat Pack would sneer at the kiddie-martini list (cantaloupe, tangerine, cucumber); try an Italian soda or the housemade lemonade instead, or check out the wine list (light on the Willamettes, heavy on the Italians). The young servers are adequate. (KA)
Signature dish: The lasagna del giorno, with its rotating cook's choice of fillings. A chicken-pesto version was tasty.
Standouts: Any of the pasta dishes with "red gravy" could stir some warm nostalgia on a cold night.
Regrets: Canned R&B? Whither Verdi, Andrea Bocelli, Dean Martin?
Mark's on the Channel
34326 Johnson Landing Road, Scappoose, 543-8765. Closed for fall until Dec. 5. Dinner Wednesday-Sunday, brunch Friday-Sunday. $$ Moderate.
A Culinary Institute of America graduate running a floating restaurant in Scappoose? Sounds like a crazy idea, until you sit down at a romantic little table on the very edge of chef Mark Altstetter's pier and watch the moon rise over Sauvie Island as ducks glide silently by. Then Mark's far-out address seems like a stroke of brilliance. The kitchen offers casual grub like burgers and mix-and-match pasta dishes for the windblown boaters who dock here, but the more interesting dishes like the fiery chili Colorado atop sweet corn cakes and multi-meat-loaded Brazilian feijoada are telling of the chef's passion and pedigreed training. (IM)
Signature Dish: Cioppino with hints of saffron and heaps of seafood.
Standouts: City folk can get near the water without getting anywhere near expensive boat payments.
Regrets: The wine list feels like Scappoose, and the mosquitoes get vicious at sundown.
Meiji-En
2226 NE Broadway, 284-6774. Lunch Monday-Saturday, dinner nightly. $$ Moderate.
The opening of a fourth Japanese joint within a 1-mile radius of Lloyd Center seemed like a crazy idea, but a couple of bites of the supple seared albacore at Meiji-En will change your mind. The menu centers on two pages of sushi options. The nigiri is top-notch, consistently doling out exceptional yellowtail, rich salmon and delicate fluke in generous portions. The long list of creative rolls follows, and the "Meiji"—a tempura shrimp roll crowned with spicy diced tuna and flying-fish roe—keep things fresh. The menu also includes classic Japanese appetizers—avoid the salad rolls, with their iceberg lettuce and ketchup-red dipping sauce. The kitchen does better with the traditional nibbles, like green-lip mussels broiled with spicy mayo and a soothing miso soup that has just enough smoky bonito-flake flavor to remind you what you're really here for: the fish. Meiji-En has minimalist elegance despite a silent flat-screen TV tuned to Japanese programs and the grating pan-Asian Muzak station. (IM)
Signature dish:Signature dish: Faddish Las Vegas roll with deep-fried salmon and cream cheese.
Standouts: Tatami-matted rooms and too-cute-to-be-true bonsai trees.
Regrets: A panko-breaded pork loin tipped the sodium scale to excessive.
Caffe Mingo
807 NW 21st Ave., 226-4646. Dinner nightly. $$ Moderate.
Take your chances nabbing a table at this no-reservations primo Italian cafe. It's booked up nightly for good reason: the food continues to live up to its simple-yet-superb reputation. Even the brief menu's simplest dish, an insalata mista tossed in a perfectly weighted vinaigrette of extra-virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar, reigns without competition among area trattorias. The semolina gnocchi, thick with butter and Parmesan, is baked under a salsa rossa, allowing for digging into a sturdy casserole rather than picking through a plate of individual dumplings. Current entrees include wild salmon and Sudan Farm lamb skewers over a chickpea-and-arugula salad. The cafe's liveliness trumps conversation at times, but the food and careful service make this a Portland keeper. (AA)
Signature dish: Penne al Suga di Carne (penne pasta tossed with Cascade Farm beef braised with Chianti and espresso).
Standouts: An extensive range of Italian wines; housemade pastas; panna cotta, a northern Italian cooked cream topped with fresh fruit.
Regrets: Tough to get a table.
Mint
816/820 N Russell St., 284-5518. Dinner Monday-Saturday. $$ Moderate.
Mint's well-deserved reputation as the crucible of cocktail creativity tends to overshadow the grub. And that's just wrong. Mixologist and owner Lucy Brennan recognized long ago that having the hottest shaker in town isn't enough to keep crowds coming back to a quiet NoPo enclave. Mint's scallops, recently served atop roasted beet and goat cheese risotto, are killer, but for the less high-toned palate, the Kobe burger with oak-smoked cheddar or Cuban lamb burger with mint chimichurri hits the spot. Go for the bar scene, stay for the food. (NJ)
Signature dish: Crab cakes with ginger-caper remoulade and roasted-garlic tomato sauce; Kobe burger with Monterey jack cheese and jalapeño jelly.
Standouts: The drinks, of course. But don't miss the boar-bacon-wrapped venison tenderloin with green-chile mole.
Regrets: Hard spot to get to on foot, which cuts down on the booze intake.
Mississippi Station
3943 N Mississippi Ave., 517-5751. Dinner Tuesday-Sunday, brunch Saturday-Sunday. $$ Moderate.
Since mid-summer, Mississippi Station has been serving fresh and inventive Pacific Northwest foods to songsters and showgoers from neighboring Mississippi Studios—along with a slew of Portland folks—in a warm (two hearths and a brick pizza oven warm) and inviting setting. The owners of Mississippi Studios co-own Mississippi Station, so it's eat, drink and be merry with live music in-house, silent movies in the side lot and shows next door nightly. The menu changes weekly but always features several intricate seafood entrees, as well as a couple of meatier standbys. Farm-direct sourcing leads to local, seasonal delicacies given the special treatment: Think tempura-battered fennel, arugula pesto pizza with smoked mozzarella, and wild coho salmon in a white-wine herb sauce. (LC)
Signature dish: Pan-seared halibut topped with a mint pesto and edible flowers, served with a fresh tomato broth and fennel sauce.
Standouts: Incredible back patio with a beautiful garden and hearth.
Regrets: Unexceptional cocktails.
Montego Bay
1239 SW Jefferson St., 228-1277. Lunch Friday-Saturday, dinner Monday-Saturday. $$ Moderate.
Who knew Jamaican food was so good? Sure, Jamaican patties and spicy and smoky jerked chicken is familiar to most gastro-adventurers. But gunga peas (tropical rice pilaf), toto bread (lots of coconut), and escovich fish (a thin white fish seared and sautéed in sweet vinegar, onions, hot peppers and spices)? Definitely worth a stop for anybody seeking a curry fix somewhere in between the sharp sweetness of Thai cooking and the sledgehammer mélange of Indian. Lots of ginger, lime and peppers in long-simmering pots here. (NJ)
Signature dish: Mama's chicken curry. Comfort food at its finest.
Standout: Curry goat—meat so lean and tasty you almost forget it once had a beard.
Regrets: Location, location, location. Plunk Montego Bay down on a busy street in the Alberta District and it'd not only be a lot funkier, but a lot more fun.
Morton's the Steakhouse
213 SW Clay St., 248-2100. Dinner nightly. $$$$ Very Expensive.
All you need to know about the Morton's Steakhouse chain is contained in the slogan on its menu: "The Best Steak Anywhere!" The Morton's experience is designed for the accidental tourists, the business travelers with fat expense accounts who want to parachute into a city and, when feeding time rolls around, have a rich, reliably excellent meal ("The Best Steak") in a well-appointed, clubby environment that's virtually identical from city to city ("Anywhere"). Make no mistake, the beef is worth the hype (and the megabucks)—tender, flavorful, grilled with a spatula in one hand and a stopwatch in the other. But in a city that makes a culinary cult of local ingredients and character, Morton's one-slab-feeds-all approach makes for an odd fit. We can only assume that's part of the plan, too. (IG)
Signature Dish: The cow flesh, trotted out raw in a gruesome but atavistically thrilling pre-meal "meet your meat" ritual.
Standouts: The prime rib, available only on weekends, is a luscious slab of double-dog-dare-you immensity.
Regrets: The little silver sauceboat for the filet mignon's béarnaise sauce is cute, but c'mon, let's not pretend we're counting calories here—just bring us the saucepan and a ladle.
Mother's Bistro & Bar
212 SW Stark Ave., 464-1122. Breakfast, Tuesday-Sunday; lunch Tuesday-Sunday; dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. $$ Moderate.
Mother's Bistro & Bar 212 SW Stark Ave., 464-1122. Breakfast, Tuesday-Sunday; lunch Tuesday-Sunday; dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. $$ Moderate.If your mother had access to the best farm-fresh produce, naturally raised meat and artisan cheeses, she could produce dishes like the ones Mother's Bistro and Bar's chef/owner Lisa Schroeder does (sadly, most moms back in the day had access only to the best that suburban Safeways could offer). Mother's Bistro and Bar does comfort food for the slow-food set with dishes like a macaroni and cheese of the week that's as great for grownups as it is for kids, delicate pierogis and soulful chopped liver. The dining room is flooded with light and draped in pale greens and yellows, making it the cheeriest place this side of, well, your mother's kitchen. And when Schroeder emerges to make the rounds in the dining room, it couldn't feel more like home. (MW)
Signature dish: Homey macaroni and cheese comes in two versions here, plain and gussied up with seasonal goodies.
Standouts: Feminine decor, perfect for a Mother's Day brunch; mind-blowin' mac and cheese.
Regrets: Not the hippest, but perhaps the prettiest joint in town.
Restaurant Murata
200 SW Market St., Suite 105, 227-0080. Lunch Monday-Friday, dinner Monday-Saturday. $$ Moderate.
There's a conveyor-belt sushi place around the corner from WW that serves perfectly decent fish for cheap in a casual, diner-like environment. Restaurant Murata is not that place. With traditionally clad servers, tatami-mat rooms and wide swaths of terra incognita on the menu, Murata is more like a Japanese immersion course (or rather, series of courses), with all the trust-falls into the unknown and the delights of discovery that go along with it. You can't go wrong with known quantities like the sublimely woodsy-yet-delicate matsutake mushroom broth, and barbecued-eel unagi. But you'll be rewarded for letting the chef pick the day's best cuts: butter-soft bonito, toothsome octopus legs straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean, a slab of cured mackerel whose in-your-face savor will slap that "I like fish if it's not fishy" wussiness out of you. Sure, the server might smirk if you try to enter the tatami room with your shoes on or pour soy sauce into your sake cup. But wear the good socks without the holes—and refrain from singing "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto" when the check comes—and you'll be just fine. (IG)
Signature Dishes: The special prix fixe group meals must be ordered well in advance; for impromptu shared delight, choose from the many clay-pot offerings.
Standouts: Tables full of Japanese businessmen are a sign that you're in for the real thing; the celeb Polaroids hanging above the sushi station wink that the place doesn't take itself too seriously.
Regrets: If you don't keep a mental tally as you go fishing, you might end up with a final reckoning that looks like it's calculated in yen.
Navarre
10 NE 28th Ave., 232-3555. Breakfast, lunch Tuesday-Sunday, dinner nightly. $$ Moderate.
Dining at Navarre is a little like attending a birthday party in chef John Taboada's pantry. The walls are adorned with shelves of books, pickles and imported dry goods; the subdued clatter of the small, open kitchen sounds from the back of the room; and the cramped room and long tables breed forced friendships and bruised elbows as nightly crowds pack in. But don't let the closet-cozy surroundings stop you from ordering three rounds of tiny edibles from the sushi-style menus—skip the blah terrine and mark a big X next to the always-good "pork," "bird," and seasonal salads. Leave room for inventive desserts like the smooth, savory fig pie and smoked chocolate mouse. (BW)
Signature dish: Tender figs roasted with serrano ham and smoky San Simon cheese.
Standouts: The lengthy, ever-changing specials board features regionally themed selections of Taboada's latest and greatest.
Regrets: The room is full by 6 pm—even on Sundays; outdoor tables are a little too close to the bustling nightlife of Northeast 28th; friendly, knowledgeable servers are perennially overworked.
Noble Rot
2724 SE Ankeny St., 233-1999. Dinner and late-night Monday-Saturday. $$ Moderate.
This is the kind of casual cave you expect to find tucked away in the French wine country, not off the mean streets of East Burnside. That's due in large part to the hard work of the taste-driven troika of co-owner/chef Leather Storrs; his wife, Courtney; and their business partner/wine expert, Kimberly Bernosky. They've got the whole small plate-meets-good wine thing down pat. Or, in their case, pâté, which may not be on the menu but is often available on the specials board at this small-scale but incredibly far-reaching restaurant. Personally, I have yet to have a bad meal at Noble Rot. Or a bad experience. Yes, you might have to wait for a table (popularity + snug dining room = you know what), but the wait is worth it if just for a chance to dip your fork in the best macaroni and cheese this side of the Mississippi. Or the Noble salad with butter lettuce and just enough other stuff, like blue cheese and red onion, to make it interesting but not overwhelming. The only thing that can get overwhelming here is trying to figure out which "wine flight" to take. Thank god the staff knows what they are talking about and are more than willing to take you on a tour of the Rot's trios of 2-ounce pours with a common theme (love the port flight, by the way). Save room for dessert: the crème brûlèe will take your breath away. (BB)
Signature Dishes: Beyond a stellar mac-'n'-cheese, gorge on mouthwatering panini stuffed with ham, cheese and veggies.
Standouts: Wine flights that take you to another place, cheese and meat plates that fill you up but won't weigh you down.
Regrets: Reservations are available for parties of six or more. That means you need to get there early on a weekend night or plan on drinking a lot of wine standing up.
Nostrana
1401 SE Morrison St., 234-2427. Lunch, Monday-Friday; dinner nightly. $$ Moderate.
Nostrana means "ours," and this sprawling cafe in a revamped Southeast Portland grocery store is distinguishing itself as a premier staging place for local foods, with at least 20 nearby growers and producers listed on the menu. The scent of smoky dishes—a mixed grill of quail sided with Portland Farmers Market fixture Fred Carlo's sweet Italian sausage, to name one—lures legions of diners to this 1-year-old fledgling. A wood-oven stove turns out thin-crusted pizzas and antipasto, such as a salad of oven-baked Corona beans and olive oil. Slow-fooder chef Cathy Whims shows off her Italianate acumen with local and artisanal ingredients, though Italian wines are always the drinks du jour. (AA)
Signature dishes: Margherita pizza, a thin-crusted pie with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil; wood-baked Corona beans.
Standouts: Seasonal fruit crisps, pizzas, Nostrano salad (radicchio, Parmigiano-Reggiano with rosemary and sage croutons in Caesar sage dressing).
Regrets: Seats are scarce on busy nights, and weekend crowds can be deafeningly loud.
Nuestra Cocina
2135 SE Division St., 232-2135. Dinner TuesdayÐSaturday. $$ Moderate.
Walk into Nuestra Cocina and you're struck by the sense you're in for an astonishing meal. Why? It's certainly not the ho-hum Southwestern motif. And while the citrusy Sauza margarita brought by the hostess provides its own spectral hum, the real reason is chef/owner Benjamin Gonzales, a study in poise and rigor as he pivots through the open kitchen. Here, pouring a complex Oaxacan red mole over a long-simmered half-chicken; there, tucking a sprig of cilantro on an appetizer of tacos de puerco, spiced shredded pork served on small, warm, handmade tortillas. Lime aioli-spiked Dungeness crab is mounded into an avocado half; gigantic white prawns with garlic and pasilla chiles (camarones al mojo de ajo) are arranged atop refried black beans and fried plantains, a symphony of pungency and brine and heat, with Gonzales conducting. (NR)
Signature dish: Cochinito pibil, tender-crisp Carlton pork with pickled red onions.
Standouts: Tortillas handmade before your eyes; white prawns with garlic and pasilla chiles; lovely, limey margaritas served in beautiful stemware.
Regrets: Standing-room only by 6 pm, but there's really no place to stand.
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WWeek 2015