Last Friday night Julian and I checked out a new restaurant, Roost, which is on SE 14th & Belmont. Their website is http://www.roostpdx.com/. It's in the corner spot that used to be the bar Squeeze. I'd been to that bar once, it was kind of lame, I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did.
I heard about Roost a few weeks back, I believe it was the restaurant review in the Mercury (or was it WW?). The review said the food was great, but that on the few occasions they'd been there it wasn't very full. The reviewer was concerned that the restaurant wouldn't last for that reason. So we decided to check it out.
The night we went it was very busy, which is always a good sign. We got one of the last remaining tables. The bar was also available (no one at it when we came in), but there wasn't much to see there - the kitchen is near the bar, but the bar doesn't offer a really great view of the goings on (which can be a nice form of entertainment in some restaurants). The decor was spare, to say the least. I think the only thing on the white walls was coat hooks on the two opposing walls. It could use a bit more decor to make it feel a little less like a 3 month old restaurant. The service was attentive. We got 2 appetizers to share - deep fried brussels sprouts & creamed mushrooms over toast -both very good. The portions were generous, especially the brussels sprouts. For entrees, Julian got the open-faced "burger". It was beer wrapped in caul (stomach lining). Julian said it was really good. His burger came with a ton of fries (we wouldn't have ordered 2 apps if we'd known that!). I got the potato crusted dover sole over wilted escarole. This was basically a few (I think 3) breaded pieces of sole that were pan fried, over the escarole. The dill pickle mayo that it came with was basically just tarter sauce. Overall my main dish was pretty basic, but good. I don't recall them having any specials - I would be more interested in a special next time since the other non-meat selections are really limited. They did say their menu will evolve with the seasons. I'm sure we'll check it out again at some point, but it will be once the menu changes and there are (hopefully) a few other things to choose from.
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