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Vindalho - A trip on the spice route

Vindalho offers exotic fare with international flair

Friday, December 2, 2005
Angela Allen of The Columbian
Photos by Troy Wayrynen of The Columbian

You won't find chardonnay at Vindalho. Owner David Machado's discerning palate wouldn't allow such a thing. The varietal doesn't make the most of spicy shrimp and potato samosas, tiny light pastries filled with savory ingredients.

Rieslings, pinot gris, sauvignon blancs, chenin blancs and cabernets do better with this spice route food, and those wines you will find.

Machado again is performing his neighborhood magic after success with Lauro, his low-key Mediterranean restaurant on Southeast Division Street in Portland, which consistently draws a Vancouver-area crowd. At Lauro, most nights are standing-room-only, and Vindalho, the new spot on the block, appears to be following suit.

You can't make reservations, and you might have to wait for a table for 15 minutes, or longer on Fridays and Saturdays. But stick around. Lingering is worth it, even if the only places to wait are outdoors or at the bar orchestrated by a cheerful bartender.

Machado's Portuguese heritage runs deep, and until now, he wasn't about to let us forget it. He spent the past 15 years in the area tweaking and tuning Mediterranean dishes at Pazzo, Hudson's Bar & Grill (eight years ago) and Lauro. So the East Asian route turns out to be a surprise.

The surprises are pleasant, rather than bumps in the local rickety road of Indian cuisine. From the naan, enriched with fennel and cumin, to the petite pyramids of saffron basmati rice, the food rises levels above most Indian-influenced food in the area.

Add in the thick tamarind-date chutney that accompanies the warm, crisp, paper-thin pappadams (a wafer made of lentils) the instant you sit down, and you're in for some fun. The food is notably fresh and underpinned by the best products. Among the menu's premier ingredients: Carlton Farms' pork shoulder for the Pork Vindalho, pumped up with red chilies, garlic, and vinegar ($14), and Anderson Farms' pasture-fed lamb expressed in the tender pieces of Lamb Boti Kabab, tenderized further by a marinade of yogurt and mustard seed ($16).

As you can see, Vindalho is not offering chafing-dish food with an obligatory mulligatawny soup thrown in, though that soup, thickened with winter squash and lentils ($5) is on the menu. Instead, the food is vibrant with curries, cashews, chick peas, ginger and housemade chutneys and pickles.

The entree list is short: three curries; several chicken, lamb and pork dishes; and our favorite, Karara Jhinga Prawns soaked through with a ginger-lemon and cilantro marinade, prepared in the Tandoor oven.

Still, with the limited entrees, the side dishes and starters are exciting enough to satisfy adventurous appetites. The wait staff will push you or subtly suggest that you enhance your meal with such sides as Bengali Spiced Spinach, dusted with peanuts ($5), tart zucchini pickles ($3), and a palate-cooling Roasted Pumpkin raita ($2). For such a small price, they are worth the added spice.

If you choose to make a starter a meal, you could quite easily live off the bowl of huge mussels steamed in coconut curry with fresh chilies ($7). A Roasted Beet Salad, trendy enough to be dressed appropriately for any cuisine, is tossed with fennel and crispy chick peas, with a cardamom-yogurt dressing ($8). Our salad was limited to purple beets, a minor disappointment; maybe some other colors and stripes of beets will join the dish other nights.

The $6 desserts paled next to the main meal. Their heat comes down a number of degrees. A lime tart with coconut cream looked dispirited against the man-sized bowl of housemade ice creams, this time filled with coconut, pomegranate and mango flavors.

At one meal, we finished off, with pleasure, the ginger creme brulee decorated with disks of cardamom cookies. This dessert changes with the kitchen's whims as do the ice cream flavors. We skipped the creme brulee the night it turned into the Jasmine Rice Creme Brulee. A British officer lounging around India a half century ago would have loved it.

Vindalho is doing more for this modest neighborhood than importing exotic tastes in an unpretentious way. It has transformed an ugly southeast Portland corner into a "green" restaurant in a warehouselike setting. The wood is bamboo, and the tables' trim and bar counter are made of a composite called PaperStone, which is recycled paper combined with a cashew nut oil-based resin. The floors are honed concrete; there are no stains, acids or sealers on them.

What a pleasure to see a restaurateur serving fresh, imaginative food in an ecologically progressive setting. With an upstairs, downstairs and a patio, bets are that Vindalho will make room for more than the neighborhood.

Vindalho

ADDRESS: 2038 S.E. Clinton St., Portland; 503-467-4550.

HOURS: 5-10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

TYPE OF CUISINE: "Spice route" with emphasis on east Indian food.

PRICE POINT: Moderate.

NOISE LEVEL: Loud and lively when the house is full, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

RESERVATIONS: No.

WINE AND ALCOHOL: Full bar and limited but selective worldwide wine list by glass, half-liter and liter. Also, exotic teas, coffee drinks and cocktails.

AMENITIES: Major credit cards accepted; no smoking; wheelchair accessible; outdoor seating June-October (about 30 seats) in good weather.

HEALTH SCORE: 96 percent. The Columbian does not review Oregon restaurants that score below 80.

RATING: (1 to 10) Food, 9. Service, 7. Ambiance: 7.

Here's a guide: 1-2, poor; 3-4, acceptable; 5-6, good; 7-8, very good; 9-10, excellent.

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