In the brief time that Porta has been around, it’s earned a fine reputation among south coast dining enthusiasts. and always looked busy when we passed by, so we looked forward to trying it ourselves.
Porta is very Italian as its name implies, and as seems to be the fashion these days, is a little noisy, but not objectionable. We dithered over the menu, and decided on starting with a bowl of garlic stalk soup with black truffle oil, which was a beautiful dish, with the basic soup a pea green color, with white cream drizzled artistically over it. It was yummy.
For the main course, we chose a pork chop with Porcini mushrooms. It turned out that Porcinis (or Boletus Edulis, if you prefer) weren’t currently available fresh (although we were there in mid-May), and so they substituted Morels – and although there were plenty of them, they were absolutely the smallest Morels either of us had ever seen, nothing more than 1” in length, and most of them smaller. It was a pretty presentation, and completely unique to mushroom fanciers like us, but in all honesty, the flavor of the morels was not as good as the full-size ones we’re used to. Call them interesting. The pork chop, on the other hand, was delicious, a very thick cut that was perfectly cooked, done but not overdone, beautifully moist and flavorful.
Our dinner was accompanied by a hearty red wine well chosen by Kaisa, our knowledgeable server (and co-owner, with her husband, Alex Bourgidou) from a good wine list. The desert menu looked equal to the other offerings, but alas, we hadn’t saved room. All in all, a very pleasant meal and evening.
Porta
1802 Virginia Avenue
North Bend, OR
541-756-4000
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