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| - While in Charlotte earlier this week (Monday through Wednesday), we wanted to eat at Portofinos since last year we had a delicious white pizza from one location. Not being familiar with Charlotte, we kind of sort of knew where we had been; however, we relied on GPS and ended up here. Either the owners have read the reviews about service OR the folks complaining went on a bad night, but service was excellent. Our waiter, Stafford, was there when he was needed but not hovering. Another young man stopped by to refill water and remove dishes as needed. A table with some young women and children was to our left, and they also appeared to be getting good service.
It is VERY casual.
The bread.......it's worth a visit for the bread!
The food: okay, this is where we get on the roller coaster! Although the bread was great, ours was a little burnt on the bottom. Not sure if it was on Yelp, but I had read reviews saying the house dressing was great; we found it to be bland and would not get it again. The side salad has no cheese or croutons. I just didn't eat the burnt bottoms, because the bread is so darn good.
The main event: again, based on reviews, and NOT my normal preferences, I ordered the Chicken Portofino. I'd personally never get this. Again, this is NOT what I'd normally get, so keep that in mind! The mushrooms in this dish should have been sauteed in butter, the ham should have been something other than what appeared to be the ham you buy in the prepackaged deli meat section of your grocery store. The "cream" sauce tasted like a white sauce with milk without allowing the roux to cook long enough to kill the raw flour taste.
My honey ordered the salad with that same dressing; he agrees it's not great. Although he complained to some degree about the lack of croutons and cheese, the main thing was that blah dressing.
His main event: Zuppa de Pesce. THIS dish and the bread (we'll get to dessert later!) are why this place gets 4 stars! Since his favorite seafood is anything but shrimp, I got those. The sauce was so good. Very flavorful with just a hint of heat. I've been with honey now for almost 10 years and this is the FIRST time I thought he'd actually have held the plate up and licked it clean. You could tell the sauce was made with fish and/or shellfish stock, not water or chicken broth. I believe he'd pick this as his last meal.
Dessert: normally, I'm the sweet eater, but between the bread, the 4 HUGE shrimp, and what I did eat of my chicken, I was full. Upon hearing that they have "real" spumoni, my honey took a chance on getting both that, a cannoli, AND an espresso. Of course, I forced myself to try both! According to honey (a real, true to life Italian!), the spumoni was "real", the cannoli was wonderful. He thought the espresso should have been warmer, but oh, well, he managed to drink it and finish off the cannoli and spumoni.
So.......if you get burned bottom bread, just eat the rest! Unless you really LOVE "cream" sauces, personally, I'd avoid the Chicken Portofino, and try their Caesar dressing......now that's a good a dressing!
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