THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Fin
Cuisine:
Seafood
Refined seafood in a polished atmosphere.
THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Fin Restaurant Review:
Maybe the prominence of Jake’s Famous Crawfish scares off competitors, but Portland doesn’t have an abundance of modern restaurants focusing on oceanic bounty. Fin fills some of that void. It’s a narrow storefront space in the Hawthorne neighborhood with understated, sophisticated colors of smoke and cork. A pale wooden bar flanked with black leather stools bisects the room and offers seating for walk-in guests. The carefully culled menu features raw and hot small-ish plates, designed for sharing. Meals begin with a bread plate accompanied by whipped butter and four house-infused salts (anise, orange, beet and cocoa). Move on to a couple of cold dishes such as the creamy textural marvel of butterfish tartare with nuggets of avocado and popping fish eggs or a ceviche made fiery with Thai chilies and fresh ginger. Among the hot plates the “cheek” is a winner: three savory small mounds---sautéed halibut, tangy tender pork, and puréed edamame---topped with smoky grilled radicchio. The wine list is similarly restrained, focusing on bottles from coastal areas. In a city where so many restaurants seem like copies of one another, Fin swims in a wholly new current.
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