375 mL, max
Written: Sep 01 '04 (Updated Jul 11 '05)
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Pros: Incredible pommes frites
Cons: so-so everything else
The Bottom Line: Go for fries. Then head to Noble Rot for wine and tapas.
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| prfstars's Full Review: 750ml |
Thankfully, the cigar bars of the nineties have given way to the wine bars of the aughts. Call me crazy, but I’ll take a glimmering glass of garnet goodness over a burning, crap-colored phallus anyday. Unlike cigar bars, I’m hoping that wine bars are more than a short-lived trend; In addition to providing tastes of small production wines that aren’t available in stores, wine bars generally offer good selections of artfully prepared tapas. What’s so great about that? I’m glad you asked. Without splurging on a $300, ten course tasting menu, tapas—or small plates—allow you to put together (cheaply, I might add) a meal of several interesting dishes instead of forcing you to settle on a single entree.
It seems like there’s a new wine bar in Portland every week, and while most of them will likely vanish, there are a few that really get it right. My favorite so far is Noble Rot. An inferior example is 750 mL.
We’ve never made a reservation at Noble Rot, but since 750 mL is in the uber-trendy Pearl District, we decided to call ahead to guarantee ourselves an indoor table at 7:30 PM on Saturday night. This turned out to be unnecessary; 750 mL had a lively crowd, but it was never packed.
We were immediately taken with 750 mL’s décor, a clean, contemporary interpretation of 60s modern, with funky white plastic chairs and white pleather booths. The space is warmed up with maple tables, recessed lighting, and red curtains against the back wall.
While we looked over the extensive wine list, we munched on the spiced, house fired nuts ($5). The nuts were salty and sticky, with an Asian-inspired coating. We agreed that they were good, but I managed to get through all the cashews and walnuts (the good nuts) while my husband pondered his wine flight.
The Food and Wines
Most wines by the glass are available by the “sip.” We each decided to make a flight of three different sips (which were about half the size of a regular glass of wine) My husband chose three similar whites for his flight, then ordered a full glass of Cabernet. Having indulged in a little late afternoon drinking already that day, I decided to forego a full glass entirely. I chose a light bodied white, a full bodied red, and a shockingly good pink wine that had a gorgeous bouquet of raspberries and strawberries without any hint of sweetness.
Since most of the wines were new to us, it was hard to get a good sense of their value. We usually look for bottles that we recognize, and compare the prices to retail prices to get a sense of what we’re ordering. We did find one wine to compare-- Belle Soeurs"Wild Thing" Pinot Noir, a wine we have at home. At $72, 750 mL charges about 60% over retail. It’s not a huge mark-up by any measure, but it’s enough of one that we balked at ordering a bottle that we might or might not love. If I’m going to spend $72 on a bottle of wine, I don’t want a $45 bottle.
While we sniffed and sipped, we started eating an order of Pommes Frites--- A.K.A. French fries. These were the best fries I’ve ever tasted by far, scented with earthy truffle oil and sprinkled with crunchy sea salt. The fries are served in an elegant metal cone that look likes a four sided martini glass, with a small side dish of roasted garlic aioli. If you’ve never tried aioli with fries, you must. It’s a magical pairing, like champagne and strawberries. You’ll never go back to ketchup again.
After we finished our fries, we looked over the menu for our next course. Feeling guilty about my plan to order another dish of fries (which I ate with very little help from my husband,) I chose the romaine salad with shaved grana padano and candied lemon peel. We knew that all the dishes at 750 mL were small, but I expected an actual salad. Though elegantly presented, two leaves of romaine wrapped in a lacy crouton are just not worth $7. If there was any grana padano on my salad, I sure didn’t taste it. The salad was a bust.
My husband ordered the corn ravioli with crab, a dish he declared “very good.” At $9 for three ravioli, it wasn’t cheap. At that price, a dinner-sized portion would scale up to nearly $40, which is a lot more than any pasta dish costs at a nice Italian restaurant.
By the time I'd finished the second bowl of fries, I’d stopped pouting about the lousy salad. Those fries are just incredible, and worth the trip-- even if you never try a glass of wine.
Given that wine is what 750 mL does, I was disappointed by their relatively small list of wines available by the glass. Noble Rot offers a substantially larger selection. Despite 750’s already small selection, we were dismayed to learn that they were out of three of the wines we’d initially chosen. I’d been looking forward to a glass of Ch. Rieussec for dessert; when our waitress told me they were out of it, she recommended a late harvest Gewurtztraminer instead—only to come back a few minutes later to tell me they were out of that wine as well. She did, however, bring samples of the two dessert wines they had left. One, a late harvest Zinfandel, was seriously sweet and syrupy, but the other was interesting. Pineau des Charantes is 75% grape juice, and 25% cognac, but if we’d done a blind tasting, we’d have called it port.
To accompany the Pineau des Charantes, we chose two desserts. The red wine sorbet was icy and refreshing, but at $5 for three spoonfuls (literally! It’s served in three spoons,) this dish was way too expensive. For only a dollar or so more, we got a martini glass full of rich, velvety homemade chocolate pudding.
I expect small plates to be small, but 750 mL’s feel microscopic for the prices they command.
Service
The service at 750 mL wasn’t bad by any measure, but it was annoyingly cool and aloof. It’s nice to have a waitress who can pronounce Gewurtztraminer and Mourvedre, but it’s even nicer to have one who refills water glasses occasionally.
Final Thoughts
We enjoyed the wines we tasted, although with all the wines that were out of stock, neither of us even remember what we ended up drinking. With overpriced, underwhelming food and lackluster service, 750 mL doesn’t have a whole lot going for it. On the flip side, the French fries alone are worth a visit… and an extra star.
750 mL
232 NW 12th Ave
Portland, OR 97209
503-224-1432
http://www.750-ml.com/
Recommended:
No
Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations 7/05 Update-- 750 mL is gone forever. Head over to Noble Rot instead.
Best Suited For: Trendy Crowd
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Epinions.com ID:
prfstars
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 - Top 200 |
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Location: The Burbs
Reviews written: 304
Trusted by: 237 members
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