Touche Restaurant & Bar

Steve L.

Joined 4 months ago

Cheflev here with another great dining find in Portland.

Touche 1425 Glison Street

An absolute must.

After an afternoon at the theater, my wife and I found Touche for a wonderful dining experience.

We were only seated by Tom (bartender, waiter, and genuine professional), for a few moments when we noticed a cold draft. Calling this to the attention of one of the busboys resulted in immediate attention to the heating and the owner (Frank) came by our table to introduce himself, and apologize for the temporary inconvenience. I told Frank who I was and what my background was and we struck up a friendship right away.

The décor of the converted firehouse is amazing. It is beautifully appointed with great lighting, a fantastic spiral staircase leading to the second floor, comfortable seating, and an open kitchen (which I love).

We ordered light fare including a very reasonably priced, substantial pour of Reisling for my wife, and an also very reasonably price pint of one of several tap brews for me. We shared an appetizer of calamari which was accompanied by a garlic aioli that was mouth watering. This was followed by a wood burning oven pizza that was as good as, in not better than any we have had in Portland so far.

I can't recommend this place highly enough. My only concern is, it might be too busy for us to get in the next time if the word gets out.

I give it five out of five stars is you want a comfortable place, with great service, from professional folks, and remarkable food at extremely reasonable prices.

Cheflev.....retired State Certified Executive Chef / Culinary Arts Instructor and Food Production and Management Services Consultant.

Doesn't Recommend

dessertfiirst

Joined 4 years ago

The first thing that hit us was the smell. It was like moldy wet carpets. It was terrible. The restaurant downstairs was very cold. The servers were nice but very slow. We started with calamari which was very good. It was pan-fried with capers, crushed chili flakes, garlic, parsley and fresh lemon. I ordered the Risotto of the day which was spinach and onion. It was pretty good. My partner ordered prawns sautéed with Cognac, paprika, basil and cranberries and a touch of cream, served with arugula, feta cheese, red onions and Basmati rice. It was kind of bland I thought but she thought it was pretty good. The servings were large and she had a lot of prawns in her dish. There was nothing special and will not go back.

Recommends

onlyonelife79

Joined 2 years ago

Very Impressed !. From the wait staff to the architecture of the building. The place as amazing. The food was great. Our waiter had come over to say that our dinner was a hair behind and had brought us an appetizer for the inconvenience. We didn't think There was much of a wait, but even after we had eaten our dinners, the waiter and i believe the owner brought us desert on the house and many apologies. We were surprised at how much they genuinely cared about our experience that night. All in all, We didn't wait for our dinner long at all in the first place and would absolutely come back in the future.

Recommends

Rosebud3333

Joined 2 years ago

Very good place to eat!. First time eating here, very good, quality was great, quanity as well. Wait staff was wonderful and answered all questions. Will definately be coming back..even had good free parking

Doesn't Recommend

randalledmond

Joined 3 years ago

this place is going down hill. I have been coming to Touche for years, apparently, as I hear, one of the owners has fired a bunch of people and my last experience three nights ago was absolutely awful. I used to love the owner walking around talking to people and making such a relaxing environment. I dont know if someone new owns it now. But I think this place will closing soon, too bad. It used to be great.

Doesn't Recommend

VCLocal

Joined 4 years ago

Really Bad Service. It was awful. Our waiter, Jesse, seemed to be too busy on his cell phone to refill our water glasses or serve us our food promptly.

It was overpriced for the low quality of service.

Recommends

katrinaday

Joined 5 years ago

Cozy and Friendly. I love this place. The servers are friendly and attentive. The open kitchen arrangement is inviting, the Chef is very hands on, the food is fresh and nicely balanced with unique flavors. I would recommend the food and dinning experience to anyone. If you are only in the mood for a steak cooked to your liking, I would suggest a steak house. Touche is the place to go to enjoy well-prepared unique and flavorful dishes as well as a friendly, warm and comfortable ambiance. My personal favorite is the calamari, seriously the best I have ever had.

Recommends

pdxwinefood

Joined 8 years ago

Is this a hotel restaurant?. Average, average, average. Wine list mediocre and service was kind, but clueless. The server tried to suggest a "new" PNW wine to try (we wanted Italian) and I told him that I had several bottles of the NEW wine in my cellar, but he kept suggesting away. Anyway, we stood our ground and went for a nice Italian Barolo had this with calamari, insalata mista (menu said small, it was huge), the hubby had the lamb, I had the steak special. Dessert, can't recall: nothing rocked our socks off. Both entrees were good, but typical meat dishes, prepared to our specifications. Food is good overall. There were few people in the restaurant (Saturday night 7pm), which is always a concern. Prices were reasonable for downtown, but the whole experience felt like we were in a hotel restaurant. You know the kind, stale, pre-planned menus-few specials, cold and cookie cutter. Would we go back? If we are in the area, possibly -if nothing else jumped out at us.

Doesn't Recommend

sugarray

Joined 5 years ago

'Meh'...actually, I won't even give it that.. I can't speak to the pool, but I can speak to the dining room and bar area.

I went there the other night after a cocktail party, so it was about 10pm; I was hungry, we were walking, and my S.O. didn't want to eat at Paragon for, like, the gazillionth time. He suggested Touche - fine, I'm in a good mood, let's see how it is...

...and OMG, I will NEVER go back.

Specifically:

1. The server spilled an entire bottle of wine on the table, didn't apologize, didn't check to make sure we were alright (my S.O. got wine on his slacks and cashmere (!) sweater), and didn't offer to comp us anything, even though we were trying to be nice to him about it and allow him to redeem himself. He simply cleaned up and left for awhile.

2. The food was ridiculously awful. We ordered the Ravioli Del Rei, and not only was it undercooked, it was COLD. We also ordered the Warm Feta appetizer, which came with literally one piece of pita bread cut into 4 pieces. The server didn't ever offer us more pita; we had to ask.

3. The atmosphere was less than comfortable. It looks like a badly-designed Hollywood set, and everything looks cheap (including the hostess). We were seated next to the kitchen even though there were plenty of other tables. The servers were hanging near the kitchen and gabbing to the hostess in her tight, short dress, waiting around like they were waiting for something to happen, instead of being, well, servers.

To sum, the service, food, and atmosphere are below par. To quote my S.O., 'Touche s*cks!'.

'Touche', Touche.

Recommends

Boscotaco

Joined 5 years ago

Great place. Great food, friendly place, and there is pool tables upstairs. It has a pretty atmosphere too. Loved it