Vindalho

The food tasted good but not great. Good quality ingredients but overall the food is pretty bland. I'm used to Indian food that is much, much spicier. The naan was great and so were the cocktails. more

This seems like an OK place for a cocktail, but it's not a good place for eating Indian food. They call it Indian 'fusion'. I guess fusion means over priced and under spiced. Nothing was what it should have been except the drinks, which were excellent. more

We've eaten at Vindahlo before. Had good food. Enjoyed ourselves and the whole experience. more

It is a fun place to have a dinner experience. The winter vegetable korma had a lot of depth to the flavor with a bit of heat from the chilies. Naan, coconut cooler and vegetable samosas were a delicious compliment to the dinner. Husband got the culotte steak, a bit tough but fragrant and spicy. The cauliflower and potato puree was amazingly delicious. We will be back when we need an Indian slash local fix. Pros: fluffy garlicky naan, local ingredients Cons: loud, busy, somewhat slow service, cold (sat at bar) more

A party of 6 of us enjoyed dinner there last night. Really enjoyed the food. Everything we had tasted fresh and was prepared well. Server was knowledgeable about the menu and good too (but could clear empty plates a bit sooner). We especially enjoyed the mulligatawny soup (yum!) and the appetizer special (fried sweet potato cakes with sweet tomato chutney). The culotte steak was very good as well. Interesting twist on the beet salad with the cardamon. All in all very enjoyable evening. Pros: Mulligatawny soup, roasted beet salad, culotte steak Cons: Little on expensive side, cold if sit by windows more

Nice looking place with good service. The Food is not Indian at all. It tastes like food cooked by someone trained in cooking western cuisines who happens to visit India and picks up a couple of bottles of Indian spices. .. wait is that not what the chef just did? Its like trying to order a hamburger in India. It looks like a hamburger, but would not taste like one. :) This is a decent attempt at fusion, but to call it Indian or list it under Indian cuisine is doing disservice to both the cuisine and this restaurant. Pros: Ambience, service. Cons: food. more

My wife and I went here for our anniversary because we love Indian food and heard it was one of the best places in town. The evening started out well with creamy, flavorful mango lassi. After that, things went down hill. The paneer pakoras had no taste and were served to us with what tasted like Ragu marinara sauce. I ordered the prawns for $20 and they were covered in a thick mustard sauce. My wife got the lamb. Small portion, tasteless, except for gameiness of the lamb, and she could only eat half of it. The waitress asked if we would like takeout boxes for all the food we left, we politely shook our head no. Pros: Mango Lassi Cons: Tasteless food, price, slow service, too loud. more

I have frequented Vindalho. I was there tonight in fact. Of the say 7 times I have been there 2 times it has been gross. The Ahi was 21 dollars and I could not eat it. When we told the waitress all she said was I'll tell the chef. I couldn't believe it! Pros: Take a risk and see if it's good Cons: food can be gross more

I appreciate what they are trying to do here, and while some of their dishes were a treat, most of them fell pretty flat. Dishes lacked the kind of brightness and zip that Indian food is celebrated for. The pork shoulder was decent, but didn't have a lot going on flavor wise. I ordered the Mardras lamb curry and for $18 I got a smallish plate of stewed lamb in a curry sauce with a few carrots and a single sprig of cilantro as a garnish. It was passable, but for much less money I can find you a much better lamb curry in Portland. The lamb kofta and Goan style mussels were real standouts, and worth the money. Now if only the rest of the menu could follow suit... Pros: kofta, mussels, service, cocktails Cons: overpriced for what you end up getting more

A recent dinner at Vindalho with 8 people was absolutely memorable! Dining at any restaurant with a large group of people can be problematic (especially if someone has special dietary issues, such as Celiac)--but not at Vindalho. The food was creative, inventive, with many gluten-free choices. The service was impeccable; friendly and attentive. And the prices are reasonable! Vindalho is a wonderful restaurant, with a relaxing and comfortable ambiance. If I lived in Portland this would be a restaurant that I would most certainly frequent often. Pros: All menu items are enticing more

My wife and I have been to Vindalho quite a few times. We really love the bar and we've done the bar probably more often than we've done a booth or table. You can see the whole room and it's fun to people watch and just observe. We've gotten to know Shannon the bartender and she is just terrific and very friendly. It's been incredibly consistent - some of our favorites are the mussels (coconut curry! fresh chiles!) - not to be missed, and the naan with chutneys which are fantastic. I've had a Steelhead special (unbelievable) , the pork Vindalho, Lamb Kofta, and the Somosa's which are divine. The tandoor flat iron steak is great too. This is a first rate restaurant operating at a very high level doing a modern interpretation of classic Indian dishes. This is one of the best and most creative restaurants in Portland. Don't miss it. Pros: Fantastic, creative food in an open and airy and very cool setting. more

Such a wonderful night! more

Take everything you love about Indian food and throw it out. Then turn around and pick out one of two notable spices, starting with clove. Then make a dish that reminds you more of the Mediterranean then a fully engaging and satisfying Indian dish. I have never been so disappointed by Indian cuisine. The price was unreasonable for the portion size. I initially thought the waitress had forgot the rest of my plate. Another classic example of Portland's pretentiousness without justification. In you are really after Indian food stick to India House, Swaggat, or New Dheli. more

I can only take the success of Vindalho as an example of the fawning that can haunt Portland's food culture and its better judgment. Because of the success of Lauro, its chef gets preemptive raves for his next spot, Vindalho, which is, essentially, mediocre Indian food that has been jacked up in price and served to you within a chilly, chic setting that strives to convince you that you're eating on the cutting edge of creative cuisine. Had Vindalho come out of the blue, with no connection to an established chef, it probably would have been dismissed. I've been there three times with a party of four, so I've tasted the bulk of its dishes. It's menu is never particularly interesting, some standards with a flourish or two. For all its talk of the glory of spice (or whatever), its dishes are bizarrely bland, often insipid. A chicken tikka, while moist, simply tasted like a grilled chicken kabob, with nothing to distinguish it from what you might pop out of your backyard grill. A mixed greens salad was a standard, drab affair. A pumpkin samosa tasted as if filled with an anonymous, starchy filling, not particularly recognizable as pumpkin, and without flavor. A couple of curries were middling, certainly not terrible, but bland and uninspired. Paneer pakora is the standard version, which you can find at any Indian spot in the world (or this city) for a lesser price. Pros: Decent ingredients. Cons: Bland, overpriced, overrated. more

+ excellent indian-american fusion food, moderately spiced. People should know that not all Indian dishes are mouth-scaldingly hot and spicy. more

A fancy box with absolutely no substance. The menu is small, with very few vegetarian options. The service was weird - I couldn't tell if the woman that was serving us hated us or was just that way... The dahl was burnt, the fancy veggie item we ordered could have been made at home with little understanding of Indian cuisine and for ten dollars less. When you order the Naan, be warned its only one piece, the server could have told us. The chutney's are good. Pros: The idea of trying someplace new. Cons: Realizing you shouldn't believe the hype. more

Where do I start? First, if you have a baby, ""DO NOT ENTER!""...they'll look at you like you're from another planet. The hostess informed us the wait would be roughly 15 minutes until she saw the baby...15 minutes quickly turned into 45...did I mention that there were four open tables with no one waiting? The waitress was pleasant at first, then from out of no where appeared Mrs. Hyde. Shortly after the appetizers arrived we decided that it would be best to take our meals home due to the fact that it was way past the kiddo's bed time. She was very understanding and accomodated our request. We stayed at most half an hour...the bill came to around $100 and with that a $15 tip was appropriate (not bad for 30 minutes of work)...so we thought. The waitress took the bill and arrived soon after with our carry-out...she was not happy! My wife tried to thank her, but she abruptly handed her the bag of food, turned and walked away without saying a single word. What about the food you ask? Decent at best and definitely over-priced. Pros: Good location & decor Cons: Bad service & rude employees more

We ate at Vindalho on a Saturday night we made reservations on Saturday morning and had the choice of 5:00PM or 8:30PM. We took 8:30. We were seated promptly on arriving, our appetizer came quickly after ordering. Watch that chili sauce it's pretty spicy so be sure your water glass if full before you begin. I had a specialty drink I was not happy with, but was assured that they had a bar tender in training and eventually after the people at the next table also didn't like the same drink she took it off our bill. My husband had the pork and I had the flat iron steak, both were delicious. The wine, Gamay Noir, that they suggested with the pork was fine with the food, but not so great otherwise. The naan was a bit tough and doughy. Dessert was VERY good, Chai Creme Brulee and Choc. Banana Samosas. During our meal there was a great lightening show and we were seated upstairs in so we had a fantastic view. Pros: Great food, super dessert, nice ambience (only marked down because of a leak over our table) Cons: Difficult to get in and same morning reservations still not possible, reluctant to take bad drink off tab or make-up for leaking roof over table. more

This is another of my favorite restaurants, especially when I am wanting to choose healthy, tasty Indian-influenced food. The selection is not huge for vegetarians but there are enough vegetables on their menu to be happy. And the vegetarian dishes, vegetable side dishes and appetizers are unusual and exquisitely prepared. The fish specials are amazing and they have an excellent cocktail and wine selection. The portions are generous, yet so healthy that you do not have to leave too full and feeling bad. Unlike most Indian restaurants, the menu is not heavy in the starch category. In addition, they have specials. Non-vegetarians will be quite happy here too. The service is very friendly (unlike the ""other"" restaurant of the same owners) and wait staff appear to be long term and experienced. more

What a find! We LOVE indian food but are always having a hard time finding a decent place, besides Bombay Cricket Club. This one was advertised in a great magazine that keeps coming to our house, MIX, don't know why it is but I'm glad it does. Anyway, it was listed as a great place because of it's chef. It was right on the mark, and it's located in the most tucked away cute spot in SE. It has great ambience, good for family or for just the two of you, like us. The food was fantastic. The price was steep but that seems to be very common anymore here in Portland. But I like being treated like a queen with incredible good food set down in front of me. Also, on a side note, they serve beer from this great microbrewery in Hood River that we really like - Double Mountain I think it's called. Yummy! Glad that little place has a foothold now in Portland. Pros: food, service, ambience - a great night out Cons: a bit spendy more