Review: Grüner

G-8

Note: this review was extensively updated 10/2012. Grüner isn’t a "German" restaurant, nor does it bill itself as such; rather it is Alpine. This is a vast region that includes pieces of France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Hungary, … [Read more...]

Review: Biwa

Biwa

Reader Survey Best Restaurants in Portland 2012 #16. New review 10/15/12 A lot has changed about Portland since my review of Biwa in 2008. Sure, Portland still isn't much of a sushi town as compared to Seattle, Vancouver BC, or San Francisco. … [Read more...]

Review: Nuestra Cocina

Nuestra Cocina Sopes

[This review is originally from 2006, but many parts have been rewritten for 2012, including some new dishes, great photos, updated prices, etc. This is the Reader Choice for Best Mexican Restaurant 2012.] There are few places in Portland that … [Read more...]

Review: Genoa Restaurant

Genoa Dessert

I’m going to assume that you know the history of Genoa, and its status as a Portland institution slowly sliding over the years as the restaurant began to be seen as a staid, old-fashioned relic of a time gone by. It closed in November 2008, changed … [Read more...]

Review: Back to Ringside Steakhouse

Ringside-seakhouse-table

In the early 90's, I had my first dinner at Ringside, yet I remember the night like it was yesterday. It was a cool, crisp winter evening. I wanted to impress a date, and knowing nothing about the Portland food scene, was told it would be a safe bet. … [Read more...]

Review: Gilda’s

steak

You hear all the time that one of the lamentable gaps in Portland’s culinary scene is the absence of great Chinese restaurants. Understandably there is little here to compare with the Chinese food palaces of San Francisco or Vancouver, B.C., but … [Read more...]

Review: June

Matsutake Mushrooms, Pear, Wild Rice

In every way June is the quintessential Portland restaurant--overstated understated. It boasts of having no sign in front, except for its obscurely etched name on an exterior piece of wood, looking like something a beaver might have carved if beavers … [Read more...]