Jan 27 2008
Wonderful Dinner at Caiola’s
For our date night this past week, She and I headed, sans reservation, to Caiola’s in the West End. Caiola’s is one of the tougher tables in town, especially on Friday night, but we’d heard nothing but rave reviews, so we figured “what the hell?” Bonobo, a much-praised pizza joint, is just down the block, so if Caiola’s turned us away, pizza sounded good too. Luckily for us, late January is not the busiest dining season in Portland, so we were offered a table in the “back room” at Caiola’s if we were willing to wait about half an hour. Being not particularly hungry after a late lunch, we agreed.
Boy are we glad we did. After some wine at the bar, a pleasant, if random, conversation with two Portlanders also From Away, and about 25 minutes, we were led through the kitchen into an intimate nook where they usually hold small private parties. The menu was a modest one page affair (with a separate wine and cocktail list) and apparently changes daily based on available ingredients. She selected a French-style salad with greens and beets, and I opted for the ham soup after learning that they had just 86′ed the Little Gem salad. Both were above average as appetizers go, but they were just appetizers. After some consultation with the waitress, I selected the pork tenderloin and She, the hanger steak meat loaf, which one of our earlier conversation mates had ordered.
The pork tenderloin is quite possibly the finest I’ve ever eaten. It was cured (brined), grilled, and served with mushrooms and a spectacular brown sauce. A gratin potato and broccoli rabe completed a fantastic entrée for me. She was quite pleased with the meat loaf, which was served with the rabe and polenta. After tasting my tenderloin, however, much jealousy and begging for “just one more bite” ensued. Yes, it really was that good. For dessert we shared the warm brownie with vanilla ice cream. It was good, but I wouldn’t call it “the best dessert in Portland” like the waitress did. At $100 including gratuity and two glasses of wine, Caiola’s is probably not an every week sort of restaurant for us, but it has definitely vaulted its way to our top three list here in town. Next time, however, we’ll call ahead (207-772-1110).
Our experience at Caiola’s was exactly the same. Not only is there excellent food but I found the service to be first rate. Glad you had a good time.
I ought to have mentioned it in the original post, but it was you, Steve G, who first alerted us to this little gem on Pine St. Thanks so much!
[...] to Bonobo for date night last Friday. We’d seen the restaurant as we walked from our car to Caiola’s a few months ago, and I’d read some good things about it online. We got to the restaurant a [...]