Three Degrees

Name: Three Degrees
Location: 1510 SW Harbor Way Portland, OR 97201
Contact information: 503.295.6166
Web address: www.threedegreesrestaurant.com
Hours: Monday-Saturday 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m., 5 p.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Cost: Around $20 for entrees
Reservation recommended: If requesting a waterfront table
Good for: Hotel dining and waterfront views
Insider tip: Save at happy hour – 3 p.m.-6 p.m.

Review: I have an aversion to hotel restaurants – for some reason they make me think of ‘forcing dining’ which translates into overpriced, crappy food. However, I had an excellent Pacific Northwest meal at Three Degrees, inside of the RiverPlace hotel.

So named for the separation between the customers that dine there, Three Degrees has expanded its chain to include restaurants in California as well as Portland.

I started off with the wilted spinach salad – traditionally Oregon with blue cheese, hazelnuts, apples and warm pear vinegarette ($6.50). The serving was surprisingly large and fulfilled all my hopes for the dish.

I anxiously awaited my follow up entree of grilled wild line-caught salmon with bean and corn succotash. The salmon was prepared with just the right about the flakiness and to my medium specifications. The corn was perfectly crisp.

Dessert was a peanut butter and Godiva chocolate offering. I was surprisingly and disappointingly light in flavor. The pistachio ice cream was exactly as expected.

Take advantage of the complimentary valet parking, as it can be quite a walk if anything is going on at the hotel.