Nostrana Italian
December 1, 2007
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Location: Southeast Portland
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Cost to fill up two people (minus booze): $70-$85
If you’re willing to hit the $75 range for full dinner for two (minus booze) this is some of the best Italian food I’ve had in the Northwest (including a couple of gazillion-star hotshots in Seattle).
It’s not downtown, it’s over on the SE side, and good luck getting in on a Friday night. But I will brave the crowd for their woodfire-baked ciabatta, and their antipasti is a sin. Never had an even questionable morsel there.
My only complaint: Crowds and noise—think Italian soccer riots. I may see if a Saturday lunch is any quieter.
Tip: If you want to tone down the budget a bit, opt for one of the antipasti or cheese plates and the rhubarb crisp for about $20. You’ll get the best of the restaurant (IMHO) and save some bucks.
Paley’s Place
August 1, 2007
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Location: NW 23rd Avenue (restaurant row)
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Price to fill up two people: $50-$75
OK, I’d like these guys just for their website–it’s one of the nicest small business sites I’ve seen in awhile, and they’re also on the glass in Portland list. I probably should call it “northwestern” cuisine–they do.
It’s northwestern, though, because they opt for organic, locally grown and sustainable raw ingredients, and when they get through with it you understand why. In most restaurants, the vegetables are pretty much platefillers. Here, you come in looking for greens. I particularly like what they do with poultry–it’s juicy and flavorful. And, oddly, a colleague ordered a liver dish on the menu that day, and we all loved it.
Again in the not-cheap category–if you are conservative, a salad, entree, veggie and beverage (plus tip) is going to run about $50 each.
Veritable Quandary
June 27, 2007
Location: West side of the river, downtown
Price to fill up two people (minus booze): $80-$90
Once again–what is it with European restaurants and priciness?–this is NOT budget fare, but I have to mention this place. I was driving a colleague from work back to her hotel one stormy evening. Unwisely, she depended on my sense of navigation to find the place, but I can get lost circling my own block. After 30 or 40 minutes of fruitless hunting, frustrated, soggy and hungry, we saw a warm glow from a distant restaurant, Veritable Quandary. We decided to slosh on inside for a fortifying burger.
Surprise–if there’s a burger in this joint somebody smothered it in truffles and served it with a nice mid-century French cognac. In fact, Veritable Quandary is a topflight continental restaurant with an imaginative (and tasty) menu and pupil-dilating prices. So much for the burger, but the food was delicious.
What I liked best, though, was the service–quiet, graceful and above all friendly to underdressed, soaking wet plebes like us. The restaurant itself wasn’t your usual overprecious ain’t-we-so-classy expensive restaurant decor, but more Portland-meets-Monmartre and settles in for a beignet. We’d stumbled onto serious cuisine that didn’t take itself seriously, and that was probably the most delicious dish of all.
Since writing this, I’ve been told that VQ actually DOES have a burger. It’s not smothered in truffles, but apparently it does offer aoli instead of mayo…I’ll bet it’s pretty tasty.
Gustav’s Bier Stube
February 27, 2007
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Location: All over Portland/Vancouver
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Price to fill up two people (minus booze): $25
There are several Gustav’s around, but I prefer the original, ‘way up on Sandy Blvd. on the NE side of town, if you can get in (it’s crowded, but the line moves pretty fast).
This is NOT the place to go if you’re on a diet or vegetarian, and I have a tendency to put on a deerstalker and warble “a-huntin’ we will go” when I see the decor (early Bavarian hunting lodge). But Gustav’s is a great place for hofbrau fare (i.e., roasted and grilled meat of just about any description). It’s also got one of the most affordable happy hour menus in town.
Me, I go there for the red cabbage, which is delicious. Never tried their desserts, but from the looks of them they’ll clog whatever open artery you have left. And, for a change, this European restaurant won’t break your wallet.