I think I need to jog down to Southern California when the week is over. Two huge (but tasty) dinners over the last couple of evenings.
Higgins
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This seems to be the generally recommended restaurant in downtown Portland. Set in some older retail space tastefully decorated in a subdued fashion, it’s a fancy cuisine, innovative without being radical. Menu selections were a bit on the esoteric for me, but I found a few things I was interested in. Serving sizes were good.
The food was tasty, but flawed. My steak was tough (though flavorful), and other diners had similar small complaints (a dish with saffron and fennel was nearly none of the former, too much of the latter), though by and large people were positive about it. The wine list was decent, and the service was friendly and helpful.
It may have been that it was a Monday night, but my (single visit) sense is that the place once deserved the reputation, but is either cruising a bit on it, or else it was an off evening.
Recommended, but not fanatically.
Higgins Restaurant and Bar – 1239 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205 – (503) 222-9070
Andina
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Specializing in Peruvian food (both traditional and “novoandino”), this is a very hopping place in the Pearl district. Our party of six ended up in a large booth in the bar area, with live music and much hubbub around us.
The food was generally excellent. Appetizers/tapas were interesting, but not spectacular. But everyone thought their entrees were amazing. I had a traditionally cooked lamb shank (Seco de la Nortena) that was one of those “Oh my God, this is so good, I am so full, but I can’t leave any of it uneaten” dishes. Yum. Followed by some excellent Xocoatl spiced/spiked Mexican coffee, it was alllllll good. Serving sizes were quite reasonable, and the wine list was good.
The only down part of the experience was the service — friendly when it was there, but with long intervals between appearance so the waiter, and even though we ordered the entree early, it took a very long time to get to us. Soup put down without spoons, no suggestions on replacing the wine when it was empty, etc.
That all said, I’d go back there again tonight, if someone suggested it. And then I’d be torn between some of the other number of dishes that looked good and going back to that lamb shank. Mmmmmm …
Highly recommended.
Andina – 1314 NW Glisan, Portland, OR 97209 – (503) 228-9535
Man, I want to fly up to Portland to LA just to eat at Andina…I love seco a la norteña, so hard to find a good one here in the US…
It was, in fact, very yummy. I don’t know how it compares to what one would find in Peru, but it’s enough to make me want to drag the family up to Portland just to have another excuse to eat some.