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| - Growing up in Madison, I have heard about this place for years. It is with that and Restaurant Week that my girlfriend and I ventured out there last night.
The environment was great, nice and cozy with a higher class feel. Great lighting and seating arrangement.
The service was good, nothing bad, but nothing spectacular.
However, the point of this was for the food. Sadly, that did not live up to the hype, not even marginally.
The bread and oil served as a precursor was incredible. The oil was infused with a nice spice that went great with the warm sourdough.
For appetizers, we had the Italian Stuffed Mushrooms and the Spinach and Artichoke Dip. The dip was incredible, hot, gooey, with a crusty yet easily broken up bread. The mushrooms left much more to be desired. Initially, they tasted like a pizza without a crust, but as I chewed, the pepper became overwhelming. That was the first one. After that, I could scarcely taste anything but pepper.
Our entrees were a stuffed steak, what I would refer to as a Steak Parmigiana and Stuffed Shrimp with Spinach Fettuccine. The marinara with the steak was ok, most likely homemade, but the steak was overcooked to the point of being tough. And overall the dish was rather bland, even with the sauce and cheese. The shrimp dish was no better. The shrimp itself was good, but the stuffing and the white sauce both had little to no flavor. What little flavor that they did have was from the pasta and the shrimp. The pasta itself was very good, as long as it was sauce free. It had a great texture, was cooked perfectly, and made me think it was made in-house. I did not eat most of this dish, which is nearly unheard for me.
Then we had our desserts, a hazelnut gelato with a cream center and a chocolate cannoli. Both were good, but nothing to rave about. The cannoli's filling was very rich and it almost made itself less appealing the more I ate. I'm a chocolate fiend and have had varieties from many countries, so this was new to me. The cream center of the gelato was a great addition, but was offset a bit by the overabundance of cocoa on the outside. Again, neither was bad, but they fell short of memorable.
This meal was mostly bland really. Short of a couple highlights, it was simply a below average meal. The one thing that I'd never think of Italian cuisine is bland. Even if you're not a fan of the flavors, they are always there and always intense. That's part of the draw. For Porta Bella, it's character-lacking food has persuaded me to look elsewhere.
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