Xing Eats

Portola Bistro

3130 Alpine Road, Portola Valley CA 94028

Items ordered:

• Grilled Octopus (House Tomato and Pesto Sauce, Squid Ink Aioli)
• Warm Napa Cabbage Salad (Sautéed Mushrooms, Bacon, Gorgonzola Cheese, Croutons, Red Wine Vinaigrette)
• Crispy Artichoke (Fingerling Potato, Rosemary Aioli)
• French Onion Soup (French Baguette Bread, Cheese Gratin, Chives)
• Branzino (spring cassoulet/ frutti di mare/ piquillo)
• Lightly Fried Brussels Sprouts side
• Slow-Braised Lamb Pappardelle Ragu (Sautéed Mushrooms, Olives, Parmesan Cheese)
• Steak Tagliatelle Marsala Cream Sauce (Diced Steak, Sun-Dried Tomato Cremini Mushrooms, Green Peas)
• Chocolate Volcana (Served with vanilla bean gelato, fresh strawberries and almonds)
• Château Saint-Sulpice Bordeaux glass
• Antinori Santa Cristina Chianti Superiore glass
• Ragavino Cabernet Sauvignon glass

We celebrated Melody’s birthday at this newish place in Portola. My expectations weren’t super high given the theme of the restaurant was both Italian and French cuisine (I tend to prefer restaurants that specialize, rather than generalize). Overall, it was a nice dining experience.

We sat down right as the restaurant opened, and it was a Tuesday night, so it wasn’t very busy (and would remain so until we left). The service was good. There was a weird hiccup in that I initially ordered a glass of a Côtes du Rhône, and the wine came at an almost warm temperature. It was probably the warmest glass of wine I’ve ever had at a restaurant. It very much felt like the bottle just sat in a hot room for a long time, without being chilled at all. Our server was gracious enough to correct it, and suggested another wine that was properly chilled.

In the first course, we ordered an octopus appetizer, fried artichokes, a warm napa cabbage salad, and French onion soup. The octopus was…kinda bad? It didn’t seem to have the right texture, and there was an overly briny/stinky seafood odor to it. I only had a small bite, though, as my daughters generally like octopus and finished it. Another weird bit is that the tomato sauce that accompanied the octopus was chilled, and didn’t really have any depth (it felt like canned tomato sauce). The salad accompanying it was also blah.

The crispy artichoke was good, but it felt a bit weird that there were also fried potato fingerlings in there. I didn’t pay attention to the menu when I ordered, otherwise I might’ve gone in a different direction.

The French onion soup was disappointing. I generally measure French onion soup by the amount of cheese, the amount of burn on it, and the overall burst of taste from all the combined elements. This one kinda didn’t deliver on any of it. There was minimal cheese, and none of it was burned or sticking to the cup. The flavor was extremely salty and sweet. I think it just didn’t have of the cheese, which normally ties the taste together.

On a positive note, the warm napa cabbage salad was a sensation and probably our favorite dish of the night. Our server described it as a throwback dish, reminiscing of the 80s. It definitely felt that way. But the taste was there, and the gorgonzola cheese (which I normally don’t like) really worked.

For the main course, we got two pasta dishes, a lamb pappardelle ragu and a steak tagliatelle, and a side of brussels sprouts. I’ll start with the brussels sprouts: they were well executed and very simple.

The two pasta dishes were good. Unfortunately, the pasta was premade and not done in-house. With the pappardelle, we could tell it wasn’t as rich as in-house pasta would be. With the tagliatelle, though, the pasta tasted good. The lamb sauce was well made and very flavorful. But the steak marsala sauce was much more flavorful and more fun to eat. Still, both pastas overall were very good.

For dessert, we got the chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream for my daughter’s birthday. It was good, although I only had 1 bite.

The surprise revelation of the night actually was my second glass of wine, which was cab from a local winery called Valencia Wineries. It was one of the most unique sips of cab I’ve had in a while. It was very highly fruity, full bodied, and highly tannic. I’ve since purchased two bottles of it for some aging.