May 29 2007
Natasha’s on Exchange Street
Our nice dinner out for this trip up to Portland was at Natasha’s, 82 Exchange Street. We got this as a recommendation from the bartender at Vignola’s the night before and thought we’d check it out. The meal was very good, and the restaurant quite charming. It was not, unfortunately, the best Portland dining experience we’ve ever had.
We made a reservation for 8:30 PM on Saturday and arrived about 10 minutes early. We were seated promptly in a small dining room in what appeared to be one of two adjoining buildings that had been combined to make one restaurant. Our first warning that this might not be a perfect dining experience was when a waitress told us she’d be right with us and then we waited for ten minutes until a waiter showed up to take our drink orders. The very nice, if pricey, glasses of wine arrived pretty quickly, and we ordered our appetizers and entrées. I ordered the pirogies and a filet mignon, medium rare. She ordered the lettuces with chèvre and beets and a filet as well.
Several minutes later, the waiter re-appeared with menus in hand and sheepishly informed us that they were out of filets mignon (even though the person at the table next to us had ordered one and received no such report from his waitress) and that our meals would be on the house. She ordered the duck, and I requested the mixed grill with sirloin and scallops. And then we waited.
And waited some more. Our apps finally arrived about 35-40 minutes after we arrived at the restaurant. They were excellent, but that’s simply too long to wait for food (we never received any bread). She reported that the lettuces were exactly liked She’d had in France and were simply wonderful. My pirogies were a lovely change from the usual pre-dinner salad and something I would order again. There was a nice little spiciness to them which was offset nicely by the tzatziki sauce.
We waited another 25-30 minutes after finishing our apps until our entrees finally arrived. At this point we’d been at the restaurant for over an hour–not good. She reports that her duck was wonderful. I was satisfied with my sirloin (the sauce was excellent, and the scallops quite good too), but it simply wasn’t anything near what I’d been hoping for when I ordered the filet. The sides of vegetables and whipped potatoes were tasty, if somewhat ordinary.
We ordered some dessert and coffee after the meal, and were finally presented with the check about 2:15 after our arrival. True to his word, the waiter had comped our entrées. Had this been a large party, or a meal with several courses and a few bottles of wine, the timing would not have been bad, but for a simple dinner for two, the coursing was just not good. I overheard a waitress explain to an adjacent table that an unexpected table of 10 had thrown the kitchen off and they were behind on all of their orders. For a restaurant where the average entrée is in the $25-30 range, this is quite disappointing, especially for a holiday weekend. And who runs out of filets mignon at 9:00 PM on a Saturday night of a long weekend?
Overall, I think that Natasha’s has the potential to be one of our favorite Portland dining destinations. I’ll chalk this one up to a staff having an off night. We’ll certainly check this one out again. I’ll just be hoping for more the next time around.