Tabla Mediterranean Bistro

Amazing food, elegant, upscale surroundings with prominent bar and friendly staff. Pricey, but worth it. Good for dates! Very cozy. more

The menu is very limited and had few appealing items. Be sure to look at the menu to make sure you like the selection. The apparent intention of the chef is to produce items with interesting flavors and ingredient combination. In fact, the results were somewhat bland and not interesting at all. The portions are small. The service was adequate but not great. Not worth the price. more

Had an excellent meal at Tabla on a Sunday evening. The restaurant was busy but the service was impeccable. The (definitely Mediterranean) menu was varied and interesting but not overly lengthy for a small restaurant. The three-course prix-fixe menu (dessert not included) gives you a choice of everything, with supplementary charges for a few items. Nearly everything on the menu is prepared to order. Choosing a starter was tough, because everything looked interesting, but with a party of four, we had an opportunity to taste several. Fried sweetbreads were on the menu the night we ate there, and were delicate and delicious. Don't overlook the salads, which are spectacular. The by-the-glass wines are very good, and well-chosen. However, the wine list (which is a bit pricy) is unusually interesting. Ask your waiter for some information about the wines that interest you. more

My husband and I came to Tabla with an out of town guest. We were on time for our 6:30 p.m. reservation. We ordered cocktails, the three-course meal, dessert and coffee. Before 8:30 p.m., we were winding up our conversation when restaurant owner, Adam Berger, came to our table and said, ""I have to ask you to leave. There is someone waiting for your table."" When we looked at him horrified by his ungracious behavior, he added, ""You don't have to come back."" more

It was my first time to Tabla. We ordered the fixed price 3 course dinner which inclued an appetizer, past and main course. I ordered the fried ricotta, Ravioli and salmon. The appetizer I could have easily put the entire amount in my mouth in one bite - it was literally just a tasty morsel. Don't get me wrong, it tasted wonderful. It was just so small. The ravioli was singular, as in ONE ravioli. The salmon was lovely, with a wonderful flavor, but I'm certain it wasn't more than 3 or 4 ounces. The beer was really good, but I left Tabla like I'd had an appetizer and still needed to be fed. And after $100, that's just not acceptable. and that was without dessert! Pros: the food and beer is fantastic Cons: the portions are teeny tiny more

my friend and i sat at the counter and enjoyed watching the art of cooking. we loved pretty much everything, especially the dessert, but the meat they selected for steak was disappointing. it was so lean and tough that i got tired chewing it. Pros: atmosphere, friendly staff Cons: ??? more

I have been eating my way through Portland's food scene since moving from Seattle a year and a half ago and Tabla is far and away the best dinner, best service, and best atmosphere to be found. I now eat here almost once a week. The food is so fresh, well thoughtout, and impressively executed. And the $24 3-course option is the steal of the century. Run, don't walk, to Tabla. Pros: Best food in town, unimpeachable wine list, awesome staff Cons: They don't serve lunch! more

We got the 3 course dinner for $24 and the wine pairing - everything we tried was wonderful. Delicious sweetbreads, mouth watering agnolotti, good wine. We are definitely going again. Pros: Good food, good wine more

My husband went to Tabla last night with a long time friend. When he came home he told me that he was excited about finding this wonderful restaurant with good food and a lovely ambience. He said all was well until he and his friend were concluding their meal. They both had paid separately with their respective credit cards. My husband and his friend always leave the tip in cash. Well the manager/owner came out and demanded to know if everything was ok. He was advised three separate times that everything was fine. finally the manager asked why no tip had been left. Excuse me??? Had he bothered to not ASSUME no tip was left and shut his big mouth he might have seen the money laying on the table for the tip. He then demanded my husband and his friend leave immediately and never return. Well I can assure you that will not be a problem - what an unprofessional immature restaurant owner. We will be sharing this incident with everyone we know. more

My daughter is a student at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, CA. She came up for vacation over Christmas and was advised by one of her chef teachers to try dinner at Tabla. We made the trip on her last night in town. It was wonderful. Pros: Wonderful food, excellent service, fair price. Cons: Parking on NE 28th. more

on one of the hottest nites this summer who wants to be sitting near the kitchen?? I DO... since that's the very best spot at this fantastic restaurant to watch the passion that goes into their amazing cooking. Watching the chef prepare their signature raviolis was both fun and enlightening. Even more so when she stopped to answer questions, and then prepared a special one for us to taste. It was a mix of flavors that balanced perfectly. But most of all we apprecited the obvious care and joy that went into making it. We went for the happy hour but will return for dinner any time we get the chance. Pros: food, service, ambience, drinks, happy hour more

We have been going to Tabla since they first opened and we love it!!! Its a great place with awesome service! Love IT!! more

We have been loyal fans of Tabla for years - when they dropped the 3 course prix fixe dinner option we lost our enthusiasm and it felt as if the energy of the place took a dip as well - we went this past weekend and were so pleasantly surprised that not only is the 3 course prix fixe option back but the food is better than ever - it is and remains our favorite Pros: service Cons: parking more

I had to write this review after reading the previous one. We also went to Tabla on our anniversary this month and had wonderful service and exceptional food. We sat at the bar by the kitchen and met friendly Paul, who gave us great recommendations and made our food. All of our appetizers and entrees were unique and delicious with the whole farm to table philosophy. Our waitress was friendly and also brought us a special complimentary dessert wine and chocolates for our anniversary. They also served very good and affordable half bottles of wine for those wanting cocktails/beer AND just a LITTLE wine with dinner. I wish more restaurants in Portland were like Tabla and we will definitely be back for more! Pros: attentive service, quality of food Cons: none! more

What?s up??? We have been a good customer of Tabla , and have enjoyed the food and atmosphere since it opened in 2003. We were patrons in July of this year and the experience was fabulous. But after picking Tabla to be the place of our anniversary dinner the other night, we were shocked, dismayed and thoroughly disappointed. The menu was average, the staff slow, the electricity and energy from this place was gone. What changed since July??????? We really don?t know if we will return. more

Right after Tabla opened a friend described it as grossly over-priced with miniscule portions. Years later, after much prodding from the significant other, I finally went. How silly of me to take a review to heart right after the restaurant opened! As a result I?ve been missing out on the joy that is Tabla for years! Let me start off by saying that while the service was charming and fine, they clearly aren?t focusing on dropping appropriate silverware prior to delivering the food, or crumbing the table, and the like. However, you barely notice since the food is absolutely incredible? oh the food. I salivate as I type. I?m sure the menu changes frequently, as they introduce regional specialties from around the world each month, however, I will cross my fingers that the perfectly prepared Hawaiian ono remains on the menu indefinitely. The prix fixe menu is an incredible bargain, which might make one hesitate, quantity over quality, but rest-assured those fellas know their way around the kitchen. If you can, go on a Tuesday ? as we randomly did ? they have a special $20 wine list, bringing our 4 course, truly special meal w/wine to merely $100! I thought I might get arrested for robbing them blind on our way out, but alas, I made it home safe. Pros: Ono, value Cons: ambiance and service a bit casual compared to the exemplary food more

We went about 7:30 on a Saturday night and were only able to get seating at the bar. Instead of doing the $29 price fixe we opted to share a few different dishes and enjoyed the appetizers, pasta dishes, and chocolate dessert. The bartender was very good at describing the food and wine dishes and despite her need to hustle on a busy night noticed she gave thoughtful attention to each of her customers. Impressed with the food and service -- we'll go back. more

Although the restaurant has the potential to be pretty great, the chefs seem to have made it their mission to take quality ingredients and mix them in strange combinations that, while somewhat tastey, do not live up to their intended purpose (i.e. ""fine dining""). Don't get me wrong; had I paid only $30 for my meal, I might not feel so bitter about the experience. Unfortunately, my food alone cost $30. Add to this my incredibly overpriced drinks, and BAM!, I'm doling out more than $50 (with the 18% gratuity automatically added to our table's tab). Now, I would not mind so much, but I left thinking that I might like to drive thru to someplace where at least I get what I pay for. Don't get me wrong: it's not that the food is bad, but that it is pretentious to no good effect. I can't imagine that one would ever leave there satisfied and I'm sure they will leave there light in the wallet. Pros: food is kind of good Cons: cost too much (food is not prepared well enough for the price, drink prices are out of control) more

first of all i am a pastry chef and i know about creme brulee it is served cold would you want warm pudding? cause that is what it would be and if you put it in the fridge after you torch it the sugar on top would turn to a liquid and would be goopy... please dont be one of those tightwad retards acting like you know all i dont tell my doctor what hes doing wrong.... more

I really like the concept of the three-course meal and three-glass of wine pairing. But that was where my enthusiasm for Tabla ended. While the beets were fantastic, the salad needed just a pinch of salt. However, the folks at Tabla don't put salt and pepper on the table. Perhaps chefs take offense at seeing people through the open kitchen seasoning their food, but they should get over that. And if it is an aesthetic thing, a tiny dish of sea salt is would look nice on the table. My second plate was the pappardelle with rabbit. My dining companion likened it to tuna casserole, which I think was a overly generous comparison. This dish was flat-out boring. The third plate was the pork chop, served with an heirloom tomato puree and an apple fritter. I just could not understand this dish. The pork was tough. They should consider searing it, then deglazing, rather than grilling. I didn't taste any heirloom tomatoes, but I sure did taste a lot of vinegar in the glaze. Holy pucker! Way unbalanced. And the apple fritter, left me thinking ""huh?"". It added nothing. Perhaps the most annoying thing about our experience at Tabla was dessert. We ordered the creme brulee. It was cold! I realize that creme brulee is often refrigerated before being pulled out to get torched, but the entire thing exhibited no degree of warmth whatsover. I pointed this out to the waiter, who claimed that he just watched it being prepared. Unless they immediately chilled it in the frige after being torched and then brought it to us, there's no way it could have cooled off that fast (which means he was lying). While the service was attentive throughout our meal, this encounter with the waiter left a bad taste in our mouths (which still lingered of vinegar from the pork). I might go back to Tabla, but there are a lot of other places that deserve a shot at my money. more