What's Cooking America - Restaurant Reviews
Portland, Oregon Metro Restaurant Reviews

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Overall Ratings:  ***1/2

Tableside Presentation - ****  Since the art of the tableside presentation of the classical food seems to be lost by most restaurant, I give the London Grill an excellent grade for this.

Overall Review:  The food ranges for poor to excellent. Our waiter was very attentive and excellent. For a elegant and sophisticated dinning experience try the London Grill.

Review Date:  May 17, 2007

Cuisine: Fine dining classical American fare and continental cuisine.

Alcohol:  Full-service bar and a large wine menu with European and U.S. wines by the bottle and glass. They are said to have 10,000 bottles of wine in their cellar.

Corkage:  ?

Attire:  Dressy to business casual

Location:  Downtown Portland in Portland's luxurious Benson Hotel

Open Hours:
Breakfast: 6:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m., Monday - Saturday

Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m., Monday - Saturday

Dinner: 5:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m., Sunday - Thursday 5:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m., Friday & Saturday

Brunch: 9:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Sunday only. Last seating is 1:00 p.m.

Parking:  Hotel valet service and parking lot across the street. At dinner, valet parking is free and the restaurant validates at the Bank of California parking lot on Broadway Street.

Wheelchair Accessible:  Yes - have elevators

Price Range:  Expensive
Appetizers - $9.00 to $25.00
Soups & Salads - $6.00 to $21.00
Entrees - $29.00 to $105.00

Reservations: Recommended


Rating Key Explanations:
* Bad (will never go back)

** Fair (below average - will not go back)

*** Good (would consider dining there again)

**** Very Good (will definitely go back)

***** Extraordinary (will be back as soon as possible)

I make every attempt to remain anonymous while reviewing each restaurant.  All meals are paid for by myself.  This way, I can report the most honest and trustworthy restaurant reviews possible. Other recognizable critics frequently get special food and service. I forgo any perks so that my restaurant experience will be similar to yours.

If you would like to add a review of this restaurant, email Linda Stradley. Also feel free to send me suggestions of restaurants for review.

Disclaimer:  None of the restaurants reviewed on this site have given any sort of financial incentive to Linda Stradley or her website, What's Cooking America. The restaurants had no foreknowledge that a review was going to be written.
 

 


London Grill - Dinner
(located in the Benson Hotel)

 

309 S.W. Broadway
Portland, OR 97205

Map & Directions

Phone: 503-295-4110

Web page: http://www.bensonhotel.com/dining.html


 

For nearly 50 years, this award-winning restaurant has been a well-known fixture in the Northwest's restaurant scene. It was the first restaurant on the West Coast to serve Sunday champagne brunch in 1972. The restaurant is located in the lower level of the Benson Hotel. The restaurant was awarded an AAA 4-Diamond award for service and style. The Executive Chef, Xavier Bauer, has been in the restaurant for 28 years.

Great place to dine with friends on a special night out or great place to have a romantic dinner. A pianist plays classical music during your dining experience and adds an elegant touch to the surroundings.

This restaurant is one of the few left that serve the wonderful 20th century classical flambéed foods of Caesar Salad, Chateaubriand, Steak Diane, Banana Foster, and Cherries Jubilee. They are served with the classical tableside presentation. They are all a "must have" on the menu.

We dined with a couple of long-time friends. Dishes we ordered with diner's comments:

Appetizers: 
(We like to share appetizers)

 


Dungeness Crab Cakes, Seared with Red Pepper Aioli. $13.00 - These were very good.

 

 

 

Seared Foie Gras Flambéed Tableside, Flambéed with Apples and Calvados. $19.00 - The waiter provides a wonderful tableside presentation putting this dish together.  It was also very good.

When the bus staff person was taking my appetizer plate away, he committed a mistake that shocked me. He removed my dirty knife, sitting on my plate, and sat it down on the tablecloth.  I couldn't believe what I had just seen, as this is a no, no! This should never happen in a AAA 4-Diamond award restaurant that was awarded it for service and style. I immediately alerted the waiter and he removed the offending knife and replaced it with a clean one. The rest of the dinner, all silverware was served properly.


Salads:

 

Spinach Salad. $9.00 - A beautiful presentation. Our dining companions said that she enjoyed this salad very much.

 

 

 

 

 

Classic Caesar Salad, Tossed Tableside. $19.00 - Another great tableside presentation.  We ordered the Caesar Salad for three of us. When we requested extra anchovies in the salad, they accommodate us immediately. Caesar salad is always a favorite of mine, and this one was excellent..

 

     


Main Entrees:

Every entree, served to our table, was served with the same side dishes - mashed potatoes, baby carrots, and green beans.  I would have liked to have seen a little more originality in their plating and presentation.

 

Rack of Lamb, With a Mustard Herb Crust and Demi Glac. $56.00 - The rack of lamb was cooked perfectly and our dining companion seemed to really enjoy it.

Filet Mignon, 7 ounce. $48.00 - Our dining companion said the steak was very good and that she enjoyed it.

Traditional Steak Diane. $46.00 - This was also a tableside presentation which was a very impressive show, but the dish was just so-so.  The taste was not that great.  I would not order this again!


Black Angus Rib Eye, 14 ounce. $49.00 - (photo didn't turn out well) My husband, a steak lover, was disappointed in this steak.  He said the steak was too fatty! When he was done eating, he had a large pile of fat on his plate.  This steak was definitely not worth the $49.00 they charged for it.  Very disappointing
 

Desserts:

Banana Foster - $10.00 - Served with the traditional tableside presentation. This was good, but they let it site too long before serving it.

Baked Alaska - $22.00 - Also served with the traditional tableside presentation. The Baked Alaska was beautiful looking and had a great presentation, but that was where it ended. The ice cream in the meringue was "rock hard."  I really do mean hard, as you couldn't cut a piece off to eat very easy. This was very disappointing!