Clarklewis

The food was absolutely boring and tasteless. I'm not sure what all the hype is about with this restaurant. Its in a warehouse with paper table covers. For the price, you pay it's not even close to being worth it, here is why. With a group of four of us, the most ap...pealing thing about this rest. was the company and the atmosphere is nice and inviting there. The lamb is tasteless and was a lot like prime rib. No seasoning and boring. The chicken dish was a thigh on ...wait for it..mash potato's. Oh wait, sorry for $20 it was puree, excuse me, how could I mistake the two. I'm sorry but I've had this dish at Shari's and it's unimaginative and again very boring (note repetitive theme here). For my dish, I swear I was served hamburger helper. It was lamb (um doubtful) on noodles with a bland red sauce. Yucko. Please get a chef who can cook with two hands or at least has more than 2 taste buds. For the price we paid, I could of used that money to get my stomach pumped. Sorry but this restaurant is not good unless you're on a doctor prescribed bland diet. Read More

My friends and I decided on a whim to meet after work and enjoy a great meal, we are total food snobs and knew that clarklewis would not disappoint. We attacked the drink menu first and my choice the French Leave. Sparkling and fresh, a simple and classic mix of lillet ...and soda and syrup. Delish! It was indicative of what this place does best- they keep things simple yet inspired and let the ingredients sing. We decided right away to each order the chef's special this way we could get down to gabbing and not labor over the menu. I would highly recommend doing this with a few friends - it is easy to share everything and in the end you basically have sampled half of the menu in one shot. By far the standouts were the Roasted Beets with almonds and salsa cruda, the Ravioli - with fresh ricotta and wild mushrooms- with plenty of meaty hedgehog and trumpet mushrooms and the olive oil poached sturgeon. We were surprised and delighted with the honey glazed pork and flagelot beans with insane caramelized onions that might as well be candy. This dish had all the flavors of down home ham and baked beans but was much more sophisticated. Last but not least - we ended the meal with three deserts- we left the lemon semifreddo untouched - but it had tough competition - the chocolate tipsy cake was taken to another level with the addition of butterscotch prunes (who would have guessed! ) and tiny pillows of meringue - but it was the apple fritters with brown butter ice cream that we are still talking about. We met there at six and lingered until nine, the staff was that great blend of casual and competent, the place was lit up with tons of candles and we really had a great time. Read More

We went here with our 2 yr old daughter for an early dinner. The waitstaff was attentive, the food was divine. Portions were small, not your typical humongous generic meal. Food was presented artfully and tasted unique and exquisite. With the smaller sized portions we could enjoy more variety. I can't wait to go back.

\t\n I'm tired of bad service. Where the hell is that guy? I'll let others talk up the food. But I'm writting this to strike back at Clarklewis for ignoring us for two hours. \t\n\t\nI ate at Le Pigion the other day and it was so nice to find a person who was prese...nt with us, understood our needs and then deleivered all night long. Dining out is supposed to be an experience not just a meal.\t\n\t\nAt ClarkLewis the guy took our order and then we never saw him again. Oh we saw him--but he appeared to have tunnel vision. Do they not train servers to scan the the dining room as they walk by? (Isn't that common sense?) We specifically asked him to help us with pairings of small plates to share --this seemed to stun him into saying something like "it's all good."\t\n\t\nCome on Clarklewis, get it together. There are plenty of great places to eat. In this town the food is at a level where people like me are going to find the resturants that have good food, as you do, and then set themselves apart by raising the the level of their service. Give us an evening that is memorable--there is nothing worse then a night out that concludes with everybody agreeing how bad the service was. Read More

I went there about two weeks ago with 5 other friends and everything was fabulous! My husband and I had yummy roasted manila clams and bruscetta with figs/proscuito as appatizers, along with a beet salad. I tried my friend Kara's grilled salmon with heirloom tomatoes ...and avo, Wow. I had the pork loin with roasted peaches. The pork was good but those peaches were to die for! The atmosphere was hip/modern with a touch of elegance. Our server did a great job of answering our questions(crostone?) and, for the most part,making sure our needs were met. \t\n\t\nThe desserts were my favorite part. I honestly had to restrain myself from licking the plates. I strongly recommend the almond crepe with pears and pear sorbet or the nectarine blackberry cobbler. My fork wandered to almost everyone's plate at some point and I was hard pressed to find one thing that I wouldn't recommend. Read More

Came to clarklewis late on a Friday night. Found the food to be stellar. The quality of ingredients, the ambience and the helpful and friendly wait-staff, led me to say that it was the best meal I have had in Portland. Though i do not live in town, I have eaten my w...ay around the restaurants of Portland on various work trips. The meal at clarklewis was certainly on the top for dinners. The risotto with salame, cranberry beans and parmesan was the best risotto I've ever had. More like an italian fried rice, it was the first risotto at a restaurant or at home that I've wanted to eat every bite on my plate and wouldn't have turned away another plate. \t\n Read More