Arden Restaurant Portland — Restaurant in Portland

We celebrated Anh's birthday with a trip to Portland and booked a table at Arden based on a recommendation from Eater that it captured Portland's local flavor.

Our night started with sitting around for 20 minutes with the menu. It wasn't due to indecision - we had quickly decided to open with the oysters and follow with the prix fixe since, at $70, the prix was quite reasonable. It just seemed like our server had lost track of our table. Luckily we weren't starving, but the wait was surprising since the dining room didn't seem particularly busy.

The pf menu ended up including three snacks to open, plus the burrata and squash, the tagliatelle, the quail yakitori, and a finishing of cheesecake. Our meal was accompanied by a pair of decent cocktails, a wine pairing, and a lengthy wait between dishes. Our meal stretched to almost three hours for only 5 courses + oysters. We care more for food than service, though, so it wasn't a big deal.

In general, we felt Arden's kitchen flourished with original ideas but missed a bit on the execution. Interesting pairings like burrata + squash + nutty salsa and quail + pears + lentils piqued our interest. However, not every dish hit its mark. We didn't even finish some of the snacks (which is rare for us). Anh in particular found everything too salty -- most especially the tagliatelle, which included bacon and briney clams in a salty ramen butter sauce.

Some standouts from the pf menu included the quail yakitori, whose strong pear flavor balanced the richness of the sausage and quail, the smoked trout, and the cheesecake. We enjoyed the wine pairing as well - each wine felt thoughtfully selected. The oysters were also delicious, but raw oysters speak for themselves.

Ultimately, our experience leaned positive, having ended with the two best dishes. But based on the heavy-handed salting, the chef's discretion with the prix fixe, and, to some extent, our time waiting, we likely won't be returning. This is a shame, since other menu items sound very enticing, like the cappelletti, pierogies, and scallops. We've learned though, that Arden's ideas sometimes shine brighter on paper than...

Boy we really wanted to love this place. If you could grade a place solely on how the food looked and the drinks tasted it would have been a 5.

We came to Arden for our anniversary and showed up right on time for our reservation. The person at the front was incredibly helpful and kept apologizing for the wait even though we were seated within 10 minutes. We were brought a glass of absolutely delicious sparkling rose while we waited. We enjoyed it so much we bought a couple bottles online while we waited to be seated. Excellent start - we were hyped for the meal.

When we sat down service was prompt but not overly friendly. We're sticklers for service and while everything was timely, it wasn't welcoming. We felt like a burden. Maybe this was just typical Portland energy?

Again, drinks were fantastic. We got the pitcher of watermelon sangria to start and later we each got a strawberry shrub cocktail.

We started with the albacore crudo which was the best part of the meal. If you're sensitive to spice beware - the serrano peppers are the real deal but we enjoyed it. From there things started to turn.

We ordered the carrots, the gnocchi, the spaghetti, and the quail yakitori (all to share) before decided to skip dessert. The common theme amongst everything was SALT. Holy moly - as a former smoker I'm usually a chronic over-salter. This was beyond too much for me. The carrots were bordering inedible. Both pastas were overcooked and the portion size of the gnocchi was so small. We were thankful we didn't do pasta for our mains. I will say the quail was cooked well and when you got a bite of everything at once it was well-balanced.

Again, we wanted to love it here. Everything was plated beautifully and we did eat with our eyes first. Unfortunately we tasted with our tongues and there was a constant problem with balance between the over salting, the load of acid on each plate, and...

This meal was good, although sadly not overly remarkable, and service was disappointing.

I arrived a couple minutes early for my reservation and was told they didn’t have a seat ready for me and that I had to wait outside, despite it being a 90 degree day, with no estimate of when I would be seated or initial apology. I got an update a few minutes after my reservation time had passed that they were waiting on someone to finish dessert. I waited more than 10 minutes after my reservation and was initially offered a table outside despite my reservation being for inside. At a restaurant at this level, I would have expected them to be better at turning tables on time and managing reservations.

Upon being seated, I waited another 5-10 minutes before anyone spoke to me. I was not walked through the menu, asked if I had dined with them before, or asked how I was doing, the first thing that was said to me was “what are you seeing on the menu?”. I had to ask about the menu and what to expect.

This theme continued throughout the night. While I saw staff engaging and lingering with specific parties that seemed to be regulars, other parties, such as myself, would get more minimal / short engagement.

I came here to celebrate a personal achievement and wasn’t really treated like a customer they valued, let alone one that had chosen to celebrate a special occasion with them.

Food wise, most dishes were good. Execution had some slight flaws with the pierogi a bit too well done causing you to get some of the burnt flavor and the gnocchi being overpowered by the mound of cheese on top of it, but everything still tasted good. While some dishes offered a bit of creativity, I would have loved to have seen a bit more of that and some more robust flavors like there were in some of the dishes...