Bluehour

Name: Bluehour
Location: 250 NW 13th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
Contact information: 503.226.3394
Web address: www.bluehouronline.com
Hours: Every day from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m.-10 p.m. Sunday brunch starts at 10 a.m.; hours are extended to 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night.
Cost: A pretty penny – approximately $10 for appetizers, $25 for entrees
Reservation recommended: Yup, especially on weekends (although half of the tables are always reserved for walk-ins)
Good for: Looking, feeling, oozing cool
Insider tip: Not old enough to be a ‘Grand Dame’ but too young to be ‘the hottest new thing’, Blue Hour still drives crowds every day of the week

Review:
You know those meals that are good, nice, but not memorable? This was one of them.

The restaurant was appropriately busy for a Thursday night, as was our waitress. Still, she and her back up team provided efficient service.

Our shared lightly fried appetizer of manila clams was tasty and appropriately chewy. My entree of pan grilled red snapper on green beans was exactly that – an excellent cut of fish, although pretty bland. I snagged a bite of the risotto with saffron and fish and also found it unexciting. The lamb was given high marks by my dining companion.

My accompanying cosmo was delicious, with Bluehour’s bar living up to its reputation.

Bluehour is an ok place for a pricey evening – a safe budget is around $50 per person – but it was lacking in vegetarian options and originality compared to other meals you an get around town. I’d probably try my luck at a place I haven’t been to before coming back.

Note – the menu online is out of date.