• 4
• Great Food Quirky Folk

I had read about this place on happycow, and here's my Portobello Vegan Trattoria review. A friend brought us here on a past trip to Portland. It was my first trip to Portland, and I had mapped out a string of restaurants listed on HappyCow that I'd want to visit while here, and this was one of them. First of all, the reservations policy seemed rigid to me, as someone coming from Los Angeles. This restaurant, at the time of this writing, books only 1 party/group per table for the entire night. We showed up at 5.30pm to an empty place but every table had a "reserved" card on them. The hostess informed us that the they were booked, and that guests would be showing up, some not until 6.30pm. But they wouldn't let us have those tables even if we promised to eat and leave by then. It seems as if they want each party to take their time and enjoy their night, and they didn't care about making more money by turning the tables more than once! Fortunately, there were seats at the counter by the window, and the hostess was able to accommodate and let us sit there. We quickly sat and ordered our food. To share we got: a pesto gnocchetti (soft and fragrant with fresh basil but rich with olive oil), a manicotti bake (fresh large pasta shells with vegan ricotta, tomato sauce, topped with cashew cheese), a chickpea soup (hearty and large serving), a plate of pickle vegetables (pungent, interesting, some tasty), and a polenta cake appetizer (perfectly pan fried and delicious). Everything was delicious, especially the polenta cakes, the chickpea stew, and the manicotti. The prices were very affordable (cheap to moderate) for this good quality food.