Patanegra

11/21/09

Some Pointers for Pata Negra to make Better Paella

by 1Andrea1 at Citysearch

Last week was my third time coming to Pata Negra, and although I did enjoy some of the tapas, I felt that they were too expensive for what they were serving. In that case, I would recommend a person to go to Andinas, which is also in Down Town Portland. The portions at Andinas are a little bigger and the presentation is excellent. However if you are looking for Spanish tapas, then Pata Negra offers them. I would also recommend to the chefs at Pata Negra add more rice and saffron onto their paellas. After living in Spain for some time, I know that Paella will taste better with more saffron and rice added to it. The rice will absorb more flavors and juices from the seafood, meat spices, and saffron, and therefore not leaving water on the paellera. Now I do not consider myself an expert on Paella tasting. However I have surveyed 100 people during a gathering where I took some of Pata Negras paella, as well as I made my own, without telling them which one was which all 100 people agreed that the one I made was better, and the main reason was because Pata Negra lacked on saffron and Rice. So I hope this helps.

• Pros: Some good Tapas
• Cons: Really poorly made paella for Spanish Standards

11/14/09

Fair food, poor service, unusual menu restriction

by laduran at Citysearch

My wife and I decided to have a late dinner (starting around 9PM) on a Friday night and I suggested we try Patanegra since we've never been there. We really liked Trebol and loved Toro Negro and thought this would be similar.

From the moment we got there, we started to feel rushed. I guess we were there late but seriously is 9PM on a Friday night that late especially considering it is Spanish food?

I ordered the Paella Patanegra which sounded great with lots of seafood and meats. It arrived in quite a large skillet just like at other places I've tried Paella. It was pretty tasty but my wife didn't like one of her orders of cheesy fritters. Apparently they were overcooked for her taste. I thought they reminded me of the cheese sticks from Wild Buffalo Wings

Then the bill comes... We were charged for two Paella dishes when we thought we had only ordered one. We mentioned that we thought we had only ordered one and the waitress said, that when you order Paella you must order a minimum of two orders. I don't know why because no other restaurant I've ordered Paella at has a similar requirement Fenouil, Toro Bravo and others will sell you a single plate of Paella.

While my wife was ordering she was very clearly asking questions about vegetarian options and when I ordered I said "I'll have the Paella". So there were enough hints there, that the waitress might have said "Do you know that the Paella is for two?" or something that would have alerted us to this unusual restriction. That would have been a good time for the waitress to point out the requirement in the menu not when the check arrived with two $20 orders of Paella.

Anyway, fair enough, the menu did mention that we must order two and we just missed it with no help from the waitress. So lets talk about the Paella itself.... There was no hint of saffron in this Paella, the ham and sausage were overcooked and tough and quite salty. The rice was burned to the bottom but somehow mushy on top. The clams were undercooked and several hadn't opened and were thus quite raw. Even though we ordered two orders (unknown at the time) I would say the quantity was probably only a bit more than one might get at Toro Bravo or Fenouil. It certainly didn't look like twice as much Paella as on might get elsewhere. So even in the value for dollar department, the Paella at Patanegra is poor.

Needless to say, my wife and I won't be returning to Patanegra.

• Pros: OK Spanish food, but third in Portland at best
• Cons: unusual menu restrictions, unhelpful wait staff

07/27/09

Running a restaurant means mastering kitchen and house

by ACEOR at Citysearch

90+ degrees outside, 89.5 inside. Can't blame the server, but it sure left him struggling. Plus only one server on duty. A party of 14 had them swamped, and they must have known, becuase their table was set a half hour before they arrived. 1 server could not keep up.

Creative kitchen, maybe not inspired, but certianly enjoyable. Server did not have a chance to succeed. Too bad.

Sign of the times, or sign of management? Who knows. Hope they do better next time, but there are too many other reviews with silmilar comments.

Can't agree at all with those who griped about price. Good ingredients and careful prep. costs money. Not cheap, but not gouged either. Maybe server should better describe size of serving, which did not correlate to cost.

• Pros: Good Food
• Cons: struggling service