Portland, named "America's Foodiest Small Town", has no shortage of great restaurants to choose from. Still, I rarely stray from the small list of my favorites and find myself recommending the same restaurants. My efforts to branch out landed me at Figa, whose chefs draws inspiration from a number of cuisines—Greek, Brazilian and Indian, especially. Figa's menu manages to be eclectic and harmonious at once.
Located in Portland's hip East End, Figa is a real neighborhood restaurant. The space is beautifully decorated though very small—a trip to the restroom requires some maneuvering through the open kitchen. The tables are quite close together but overall, the effect is charming.
Figa's menu is arranged into three sections: "Spoons," "Forks" and "Knives." Spoons are bite-size portions, while Forks and Knives are more traditional appetizer and entrée portions. This allows you not only to try a variety of items from the menu but also to have a very economical meal. While the small plate concept isn't for everyone, it works here.
My dinner at Figa started with their housemade sourdough bread served with honey butter. If there is a complaint to be had about this bread it is that there is not enough! The bread is creamy and fluffy with a perfect flavorful sourdough crust. It is probably best if I don't start in on the honey butter, which could easily consume my allotted 800 words. I will limit myself and say that the butter was almost too good, in that it overshadowed the virtually perfect sourdough. The bread and butter were easily the highlight of my meal.
Figa's dishes focus heavily on spice and the chef's background in Indian cuisine (at Danny Meyer's restaurant Tabla in New York) shines through. My first "spoon" was salmon tandoori. The tiny filet was well-cooked but the tandoori sauce was the star of the plate. The sauce is much lighter and more refined than a typical tandoori. It had just the right amount of tandoori spice to complement the fish and, while the dish is Indian in character, the chef brings a new perspective. The result is a delicious and innovative take on an Indian classic.
Anther feature of the "spoon" section is the Greek dolmades, grape leaves stuffed with meat, vegetables and quinoa. The dolmades themselves were forgettable but the accompanying tzatziki and hummus were phenomenal. I abandoned the dolmades and used the house bread to mop up the remains. Another solid dish was a mixed green salad with bleu cheese, pecans and pancetta from the "fork" section. The dish is far from groundbreaking, but still quite good.
The kitchen may still be working out some kinks—the service was very pleasant but inconsistent and the kitchen lost our lamb chop order, which resulted in a long and staggered meal. The lamb, however, was worth the wait. It was perfectly seared and very flavorful. The spices were minimal, allowing the quality of the meat to stand out. This entrée is definitely worth revisiting.
The wild boar rendang is one of Figa's most popular dishes, and for a good reason. The tender boar makes this sauce—it is rich, spicy and sweet. Boar is a unique ingredient in Portland (which obviously tends towards seafood) but Figa does this delicious meat justice. I spotted three other diners rhapsodizing over the dish during my visit.
There were some less-successful dishes too. My black bean quinoa cake (knife portion) was dry and tasteless. The cake crumbled apart at my first forkful and what taste the dish has can best be described as "cardboard." It was a disappointing (and barely edible) culmination to an otherwise enjoyable meal. That said, the accompaniments, which included a wonderful spinach sauté, were very good.
Figa's desserts are creative and delicious. The pound cake may have been my favorite dish of the night. Served as a small bundt cake, it is dressed with red wine soaked figs and a generous dollop of lemon mascarpone. The cloyingly sweet figs are tempered by the citrusy mascarpone and the pound cake, which is quite mild. Figa's chocolate cake is similarly tasty. You can opt for either a "sliver" or "slice" portion and I would recommend the former. The cake is very good but extremely rich and I struggled to finish my sliver (to be fair, though, it was my second dessert).
Figa, overall, is a promising addition to the Portland dining scene. The kitchen has some refining to do but its unique menu and high-quality ingredients make it worth a visit.
Food: Three and a half out of five stars
Atmosphere: Four out of five stars
49 Congress St., Portland.
518-9400