Al Porto: don't go with high expectations

Area:  Meitetsu department store at Nagoya station, 9F 名鉄百貨店
Restaurant:  Al Porto  アルポルト
Website and map:  http://r.gnavi.co.jp/n643400/

Hours:  Lunch 11am-3:30pm, Dinner 5:30pm-11pm (LO 10:30)



It was a weekend, after 3pm, I had planned to go to a cafe inside the Meitetsu department store but the wait seemed really long.  So I went further up to the 9th floor where I had found this Italian ristorante.

It was a bit on the pricier side but there was no lineup and lunch was still being served.  I went for the pasta of the day lunch (¥1500, includes salad, dessert and drink).

The salad was a button mushroom and watercress salad with a mild vinaigrette.  I actually welcomed the mild acidity of the dressing but I would have liked perhaps more olive oil especially since thinly sliced white mushrooms are light on taste.  The watercress added a nice peppery punch to the salad.  

The pasta was a mushroom and tuna boscaiola tomato based sauce.  There was very little tuna, and the the shimeji and shiitake, which are normally kind of woodsy in taste were kind of lost in the tomato sauce.  The sauce was just that, tomato, with no apparent depth such as olive oil or even garlic or spices.  There was a sprinkling of parsley for garnish, but flavour-wise, this dish was lost.  

Dessert was a chiffon cake, salmon pink in color, it was a blood orange chiffon, but the flavor was so light it was difficult to tell.  The accompanying cream had more sweetness, flavour and weight that that's what I enjoyed more.  The blood orange was deliciously juicy and sweet and added a vibrant color to the dish. 

The coffee was a nice brew, with a slight acidity that went well with dessert.  

The jazz music, lightly upscale decor with white table cloths and black leather seating makes it look worthwhile to come, but the food is a little disappointing.  Perhaps the fresh pasta lunch (¥1800, including a baked risotto, and strawberry dessert, and drink) would have been a better choice, but I have a feeling only the texture of the pasta would be a step up, the sauce still bland.