Address: | 1401 SE Morrison St Ste. 101, Portland, OR 97214, USA |
Phone: | +1 503-234-2427 |
Site: | nostrana.com |
Rating: | 4.3 |
Working: | 11:30AM–2PM 11:30AM–2PM 11:30AM–2PM 11:30AM–2PM 11:30AM–2PM 5–11PM 5–10PM |
MA
Marshall Brewer
$50 for one diner, not including tip In our party of three, we had the mixed salad, which was served family style for all of us and house-preserved tuna with cannellini beans, delicately flavored and deeply satisfying. Special, crusty bread was served with an olive oil that was quite grassy and peppery, a real "green" taste. What is it about some bread that it tastes so deeply satisfying? Lacy looking, it was chewy and cool in the mouth, and very, very delicious. There came a kitchen treat: arborio rice with multiple cheeses that had been rolled in breadcrumbs and fried. Served in a delicate, creamy tomato sauce, these little surprises were truly delicious. The tricolore pizza included hashed broccoli, grilled red peppers, and handmade mozzarella. Honestly, it was the best pizza Ive ever had in my entire life. The gnocchi alla romana were revelatory. They were designed and executed with with attention to the balancing of flavors and the balancing of textures. Shaped into a log, giant slices had been singed and then sauced. Served straight from the oven in a clay dish, it was an appealing balance of sweet (tomatoes, cream) with umami (cheese, mushrooms). The textural balance is worth noting: thickly liquid sauce, crunchy singed crust, and perfectly fluffy interiors. The rhubarb crisp was dressed with almonded cream and very, very special (and huge). The butterscotch pudding with salt was a visual treasure -- dark, light, white -- balanced by flavors that were sweet, salty, bitter, savory, and creamy. A very, very special meal.
AM
Amanda Wilson
Portland has always had a desperate shortage of quality Italian food. As a city without a historically large Italian population, its lagged behind in this regard, and what you get tends to be heavily Americanized Italian food, divorced by several degrees from its point of origin. Dont get me wrong, Americanized Italian food is a good thing too (pizza is pretty different in its original context), but sometimes you dont want incredibly heavy and rich American pasta dishes. Nostrana fills an important niche in this regard, providing both high-quality food and something thats a bit closer to what they eat in Italy. The pasta is freshly made, and while that sounds like a fluffy bit of hipster dreck, it does add a lot to the flavor. The pasta dishes arent super heavy, which I appreciate if only because it brings some badly needed variety to this towns scene. But the pizzas are where I thought Nostrana really shined last night. Theyre thin and uncut (the traditional way of serving them) and the flavor is beautiful. I went with the Dungeness Crab pizza (a good example of fusion, using a quality Oregon ingredient in a traditional pizza), but the folks at my table went with a Margherita and another meat pizza, the name of which escapes me. Lastly, the desserts. All of them were good, but the butterscotch pudding was nothing short of mind-blowing. I dont even particularly like butterscotch, but it was a melange of flavors: salty, sweet, tangy, creamy...Just let it wash over you.
HO
Hollina U
I took my cousin here to celebrate her birthday. We started with the vongole bianco pizza, which had a white sauce and clams--- seafood on pizza is always a good idea, if you ask me! It was absolutely delicious--- somewhat strange that we had to cut the pizza ourselves... and with scissors, but whatever. I ordered the goat cheese pappardelle with savoy cabbage--- pappardelle has to be my favorite type of Italian pasta. My cousin had the cappellini with calamari and a red sauce. OMG frucking amazing pasta. That has to be my favorite Italian dish that Ive had in the last year. We thought cappellini was a corkscrew pasta, so were surprised when angel hair pasta showed up--- which I freaking love. The red sauce was perfection, and there was SOOO much squid in the dish--- I was in heaven. I liked my cousins dish more than mine and she ended up liking mine more than hers. We were too stuffed for dessert, but there werent many dessert options anyway. Service was good, and not too intrusive. I loved the high ceilings and the rustic feel of the restaurant. I would definitely recommend this as a solid Italian option. Also, free parking in their parking lot, which was really convenient and appreciated since we were running late for our reservation.
A
A Private User
The food was tasty, the portions small, the bread was nice and filled the void, pretty spendy $18 for a bowl of soup and a small squid salad. The parking was free and easy in the lot. The waitress.... was, well, lets say she must have been having a bad day, as it was quite evident that she was less than interested in serving us. The food came out promptly, and dishes were promptly removed. But we didnt feel any warmth or welcoming from her.We were told when we got there that we had to be done and gone in 90 minutes as the table was reserved at 7:30. I checked my watch at 6:36 as we felt like we were being rushed to finish up and still had almost an hour. We figured then that she must make enough money by the hour and has no need for tips.... Then when the bill came, of course, the tip was an entitlement and stood for. TYPICALLY INTOLERANT PROFESSIONAL after all in straight terms, if you get paid for your work you can be called a "professional".... she didnt have to do anything to earn it, she simply had to go through the motions ... Not to dwell on the poor girl who only made $65 for the hour she spent putting plates down at our table.....but in this economy? Wow. And is unfortunate that this rating is average.
KR
Kristina Kern
"Mastered the art of pizza crust," should be written on below their Nostrana sign outside. We went on a Tuesday night. The place was packed; no thanks to Nostranas mention in Williamette Weeklys Restaurant Guide 2009. Even with the crowds, our servers were attentive. We ordered the Chantrelle mushroom trio special. One of them was a pasta and the other two were dips/spreads. All three seemed a bit on the salty side. Nostranas menu changes daily, but if they are serving the mussels on brushetta; get it! Nostrana served me the best mussels Ive ever tasted in my life. This was my favorite dish of the night. As for pizza, we had La Napoli (tomato, olives, capers, house mozzarella, Mama Lils peppers and oregano). The crust was crispy and chewy. The toppings were just enough. The side view was a sight to be seen. Nostranas pizza is a slice to be tasted. P.S. I know we ordered a pizza with capers and olives, but all the dishes we had were kind of salty. Just a warning.
KA
Katie Schneider
This was the delicious. Im trying to limit my levels of cheese and heavy dairy...but had the Cappelini pasta with tomato butter sauce and it was DELICIOUS. Also delicious? The Guns of Barbarossa, which is a drink I ordered because it had apple jack and about 4 other liquors in it...4 of which I had no idea what they were. Together? Nectar of the gods. Not inexpensive, but worth it. They were also very flexible with my group of 6 girlfriends and I--not all of us were able to arrive for our friends birthday dinner on time, and the staff at Nostrana was very understanding and not prickly about it at all. Many other restaurants wouldnt have seated us or would have been snarky about it, but not these guys! The waitstaff were great, my glass was never empty (even though they gave us a carafe to serve ourselves--I think we never touched it!), and they gave great advice. Nostrana = WIN.