13810 Sun Feb 13 04:23:42 -0800 2005 6 4 Pacific Northwest 0 30205 My wife and I went to dinner at Alba tonight for the first time as an early Valentine's. It's in a nice little part of Hillsdale (but be careful crossing the street), a little row of restaurants in an otherwise sparse neighborhood just south of where Bertha and the Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy meet. The interior is split into three rooms. The largest dining room, painted in Martha Stewart colors, white trim on a pale green wall. It has a tile floor and sort of random art. The middle room seems a little cozier, with warmer colors. The last room is a bar, I think. We sat in the first room. It's a bit cold and noisy and the chairs are uncomfortable. A cafe feel. But the service and food both surpass the room. The menu contains a good variety of interesting dishes: tuna stuffed sweet pepper rotolos; mizuna with sauteed duck liver, poached egg, pancetta, and balsamic vinaigrette; housemade cotechino sausage with lentils; tajarin with lamb ragu; pan roasted sweetbreads with a mustard sauce and a ficassea of vegetables; etc. We ordered a mountain of dishes. For antipasti, my wife got the Dungeness crab crostone ($11) and I got the pork and oxtail terrine ($8). The crab was served on top of a nicely crisped thick piece of baguette-sized bread sliced on the bias. The quality of the crab was excellent and mixed with capers, greens, and a light dressing. The pate was served with greens, mustard, and housemade pickled green tomatoes. It was rich and tasty, but the pickled tomatoes made it special and cut nicely through the richness. My wife ordered a primi, the agnolotti verde, spinach pasta filled with fontina ($13), while I ordered the formaggi ($8). The pasta were very good, small little pockets of green noodles filled with the creamy salty cheese. They were topped a harder aged cheese, such as pecorino or parmiggiano. Simple, but my wife loved it. The formaggi came with three small portions of cheese, maybe an ounce of each: a blue, a pungent triple-cream, and a harder cheese accented with truffle oil. They were served with some sort of chutney. All were enjoyable. For our secondi, my wife ordered the duck with balsamic-honey sauce ($22) and I ordered the porchetta stuffed with fennel sausage ($19). Both came with roasted vegetables, potatoes and turnips (I believe). Simple, but nicely done. The turnips were soft, but the potatoes were crispy. My wife's duck came with a leg-thigh piece with crispy skin and a breast sliced into several pieces. The duck was very tender and perfectly cooked. The skin was nicely seasoned. The sauce, while potentially too sweet and sour, wasn't. It was actually quite meaty. The porchetta, in this case only the loin stuffed with sausage, was also nicely seasoned and slightly crusty on the edge. It came as two relatively large medallions. They were perhaps a little overcooked. I prefer pork to have a little pink, especially pork loin, with how lean it is. I don't know how that would have affected the sausage stuffing, however. We actually had them pack up a sizable portion of our previous courses so that we could get dessert. My wife ordered the polenta cake with an almond zabaglione and I ordered the gelato (each $6). The polenta cake was moist and slightly sweet, grainy and somehow light, like good cornbread. The eggy sauce tasted nicely of, most likely, amaretto. Almond shavings were scattered around the plate along with a dash of powdered sugar. Again, rather simple but quite tasty. I ordered all three flavors of gelato: cinnamon, orange, and caramel. All three had excellent flavors, though all three were quite distinct. The texture was a little icy/grainy, but given the flavors it was easy to overlook. The gelato was served with a nice piece of biscotti. I'd say portions are sometimes a bit small for the price, especially considering the simple and somewhat skimpy side dishes for entrees. But the quality executions live up to the interesting menu, which is a flaw in many of Portland's Italian restaurants. Service was attentive, even if a little hurried at times. But they seemed knowledgable, pleasant, and on top of drinks and clearing plates. A very good meal overall. I wish they'd improve the comfort of the dining room a little more to live up to the rest of the meal, however. But I'd definitely go back. Link: http://www.extramsg.com Sun Feb 13 04:23:42 -0800 2005 0 extramsg 1 30212 Nick, glad you enjoyed Alba. The last room is indeed a small bar area, with a few cafe-style tables. If the place is crowded you can always sit in the bar and eat there, which is nice. The bar area is wood-paneled. I like sitting in the middle room best, as it seems a little more lively (but not really loud) and you can smell all of the delicious items cooking in the kitchen. Glad to see you had some of my favorite items. The crab crotone is always really tasty, and while I'm always someone who prefers meat-based pastas, that spinach agnolotti made me really happy the last time I had it. I almost always order the duck there, as they will change the sauce and presentation a bit with the seasons but it always comes with the breast/leg combo (each cooked just right), which gives you a nice "two-fer" entree. Many places in town only give you the breast slices or the hind quarter for the same price, so I think it's a good value, too. And thankfully, they always leave the beautiful duck skin on. Hurley's may get the press, but when we went they actually served Carolyn's duck breast without the skin...a travesty as far as we're concerned (G). I haven't had the porchetta stuffed loin there, but I've had similar dishes other places and it never seems to turn out quite like it should. I too like pork to be slightly pink inside, and I think it's extremely hard to keep the pork pink while also cooking the sausage thoroughly. Marshall Mon Feb 14 11:30:42 -0800 2005 30205 0 Marshall Manning 2 30217 Yeah, I'm usually hesitant with pork loin at restaurants. And since they have to make a bunch of orders all at once, they can't suit it to an individual. At least it was well-seasoned on the outside. Tried a pork chop or some such the other night (it was actually someone else's that I had a bite of) at Fife and it was cooked perfectly. But I don't think it was loin. But just a heads up. I'd say the one bad thing about value at Alba is that for entrees in the 20s, I don't think you get as much of a complete meal on your plate as some places like Wildwood or Bluehour, eg. And the sides seem to be one-side-fits-all. ie, if they have pototoes and turnips that night, that's what's going on most or all entrees, whereas other places in that price range will try to match better and you won't have to pay another $4 for greens or whatever. Mon Feb 14 14:57:36 -0800 2005 30212 0 extramsg 3 30219 I've had Fife's pork chops before, and they are excellent, probably my favorite in town. Just the right thickness, with a pink center and nice caramelization on the outside. I'd recommend their chop, no matter what the sauce, for anyone who really likes pork. I think I focus on the appetizers, pasta, and entrees more at restaurants than the sides. Since I don't eat many veggies I usually look at side dishes as a bonus if it's something I actually enjoy. Other times the sides just sit as decoration on my plate. Often the sides at Alba are interesting things that are different like pureed celeriac (sp?) root, which I've actually liked there. When we got to Alba for a full meal we normally split an appetizer like the crab crostone, split a pasta like the agnolotti and then order two entrees. That usually comes to about $60-65 and is plenty for us. If you eat more than that, you're going to gain back all that weight (G)! Another thing good about Alba is that you can order the crostone and a pasta, split it between two people, and combined with bread and olive oil (which they don't charge for like some places), it makes a nice lighter dinner. Get a couple of glasses of wine and you can get out for $40 for a good, simple meal. Also, I know it's not your thing, but for those who are interested the food is also very wine-friendly, and the staff can make good suggestions from their list. They also usually give you a deal on corkage if they get to know you and you share with the staff. Marshall Mon Feb 14 15:23:18 -0800 2005 30217 0 Marshall Manning 1 30214 Welcome to the club! ;o) I knew you would appreciate the place. I love that agnolotti verde and the duck and the crab crostone, and felt similarly about the porchetta which is what I had when I was there last - but I did find it very tasty, just more done than I like my pork. Every dessert I have ever tried there has been delicious and well-prepared. And anything with a crust is made by the genius who makes that pasta...so all the tarts (the savory ones for first course, and the dessert ones) have a delicious crust. And I agree with Marshall - I prefer sitting in that center room, near the kitchen. While it is not a comfortable place in terms of seating, to be sure, I don't think it is as bad as many others in town (Basta's, I am looking at you!!). Mon Feb 14 12:28:01 -0800 2005 30205 0 Jill-O 2 30220 It seems to me that the marginal costs from spending more on comfortable chairs would be worth the benefits gained from happy customers. I think every restauranteur should spend an hour in their chairs before buying. Mon Feb 14 17:51:28 -0800 2005 30214 0 extramsg 3 30222 Good idea...give 'em the chair!! In Marco's (Basta's) case, he should be forced to spend 3 hours in the chairs... ;o) Mon Feb 14 18:32:11 -0800 2005 30220 0 Jill-O