Vindalho

Great food, mixed atmosphere. The reggae music and odd drink offerings left me wondering what they were going for. Friendly service. Menu needs some explicitly labeled vegan offerings.

I’ve been to very few Indian places that don’t have family style service — Vindalho might be the only one I’ve ever experienced. That said, the service and food were decent, and we had a great time visiting with friends. The décor and vibe are also very nice.

I think this is my LEAST liked Indian Cuisine spot in all of Portland. Had better off of food carts honestly.
The service was just AWFUL. We were seated immediately, however, the waitress prioritized us last to clearing empty tables, and making all sorts of runs to the back, passing us so many times with out acknowledgement. I think we waited about 15 mins after being seated for someone to even take a drink order. It wasnt even busy…
They only had pork vindaloo (i prefer chicken). And I like my indian food to be spicy. Normally vindaloo is more enjoyable with spice. This was the blandest vindaloo on the face of the earth. And the pork was dry and stringy and gross. I pushed it around my plate and washed it down with ginger lemonade i had. that tasted like regular lemonade to me… I did NOT take a to go box.
Stayed for dessert. Chai crème brule. It was alright. Wasnt very custardy as much as it was like a melted whipped chai topping… but Ok.
Also their naan sucks. It wasnt even cooked thoroughly. They over cook the meat, under cook the naan, under spice everything, potato to meat ratio per plate is so ridiculous. For the price you think they’d give you the meat you payed for.
And really the ambiance wasnt that great. Sure, modern and sleek with a couple of shots of India here n there, but it wasnt special. I didnt even have a measly candle at my table.
I dont get that place at all. I dont know why my roommate raved about it. They either had the most off night this place couldve ever had, or my friend is delusional. That or im the delusional one… But my date would also be considered delusional if I were since we both left so disappointed. Never again. Nope.
This is the blandest place in existance. The only possible way any one could’ve ever given this place a high review is if it was their first experience consuming «indian cuisine». Thats all I can think of. This place was awful.

A modern twist or something… Food was meh, spiced but not good, just heat and no flavor. Naan was tough and chewy. Worth a try for something different but lacked anything to make it worth more than others around.

Came here for an impromptu Sunday night dinner and didn’t have to wait for a table. The restaurant has a nice ambiance and the staff is attentive. However, the prices were staggering to me. Farm fresh food is a nice idea, but $ 14 is steep for some winter vegetable curry (karnataka). Doesn’t include naan and entrees come in small portions? Yikes.
The dish was fine, but nothing really that special and lacked the Indian spice you would expect. Some bites of the winter melon were very bitter. I don’t think it’s worth the price, even with its sustainability aims. Sorry Vindalho.

Sue loves this place. This has been the place she has spent her birthday a few times while she has lived in Portland. I finally got to go there with her and a few friends of hers last Friday night. I will have to say I quite liked it too.
Our meal started with the meatballs on the starters menu. Apparently their website hasn’t been update recently and this dish isn’t on there. There were only 3 meatballs to split between 4 people. That was a bit disappointing. They were really good and we wanted more. Alas, we stuck with the 3 and moved on to our mains.
I had the Pork Vindalho (what the place is named for) ($ 17). Carlton pork shoulder braised with chiles, garlic and vinegar. Simple, but very good. This is slow cooked so it comes out nice and fork tender. I was hoping for a bit more spice, but that never happened. The portion was large. Entrée’s here are served with rice. This dish filled me up nicely without making me feel sick.
Along with our mains we also had an order of the Naan ($ 3) and the Garlic Stuffed Naan ($ 4). Both were very tasty. I really liked the garlic and will be happy to order it again when I come back.

I’m a huge fan of authentic Indian food, and there is no lack of Indian restaurants in Portland. However, few bubble to the top as most are pretty lack-​luster or hit-​and-​miss. Vindalho is neither. In fact, it’s excellent.
As a word of warning, a lot of truly authentic Indian dishes are spicy (this means hot). At Vindalho, they don’t shy away from the heat, and this is a VERY good thing. I’ve been to too many Indian restaurants that claim to be authentic, but then tone down dishes that are supposed to increase your internal temperature because they’re trying to appease the gringo crowd.
This is not to say that all of the dishes at Vindalho are spicy, just the ones that are supposed to be. They have lots to choose from if heat isn’t your thing.
Below are some of what I believe to be the stand out dishes.
Starters:
Honey Cumin Chicken Wings — light-​spicy, messy, delicious, perfect.
Lamb Kofta — as a rule, Vindalho gets all of their lamb dishes right.
Entrees:
Saag Paneer — if you’ve never had Paneer cheese, then order this. Generally speaking the stuff is amazing, and they do an amazing job at Vindalho. It’s not spicy, so if you aren’t into the heat, this is a safe, vegetarian style dish that is sure to please.
Pork Vindalho — Vindalho is a spicy sauce, and this is one of my all time favorite dishes here. As a word of warning, if you take this home for leftovers, it will get even spicier as it marinates in your fridge. You’ve been warned…
Sides:
Garlic Stuffed Naan — oh good God, this stuff is insanely good!
Garlic Stuffed Naan — it needed to be repeated… just order it.
Naan — if you’re not into the garlic, their standard Naan is also amazing.
The Three Chutney Sampler — get this! I recommend the following three:
1) Cucumber and Mint Raita,
2) Fresh Coriander Chutney
3) Red Chili Chutney
As for the the bar, it is excellent. Try the Safron Robe and/​or the Lemongrass Martini (my personal favorite). Also, the happy hour specials are a great bargain.

Pros: Friendly service and nice atmosphere.
Cons: Way overpriced and way underspiced.

I’ve eaten from the adult menu at the tables and it’s great, but mostly I sit at the bar for happy hour. Good selection for both meat and veg eaters. Always a great IPA on tap. We have a favorite bartender who is there 90% of the times we visit — she talks to the people who want to talk and gives some space to people who just want to hang out and eat.
It’s not «authentic» Indian food, but it is still delicious and anyone who eats Indian food regularly will recognize all the items and ingredients. I always leave super full — the portions are large. The happy hour menu is a little heavy on the breaded and fried options, so I don’t always go 100% happy hour. Although there is a significant savings in the Happy Hour menu.
One thing that keeps me coming back is the staff. Our bartender, of course, but because we sit at the bar we can see watch the kitchen and for years I have been watching the same people working the kitchen. That is always a good sign for a restaurant.

This is the best when it comes to Indian food. Garlic stuffed Naan. OMGZ the BEST!.. they had a coconut-​asparagus soup. IT WAS THE BEST! I love this place and will be a regular customer for as long as I live here.
Thank you Vindalho –for the awesome service, awesome food, and amazing drinks!
I LOVE the tapas-​style also! Keep up the good job guys!

Vindalho was great. We went there for Dining Month on a suggestion from another and it was worth it. The food was delicious and the service was exceptional. And by exceptional I mean that they were both attentive and kind, something all too rare at many establishments in this neck of the woods. You should go there and reward them for this and then receive a great meal in return, sounds like a good deal to me.
I should also note that I was in a shitty mood when I went here and would have exploited any flaw to indulge my guile. I found nothing to hang my hat on in that regard and wound up leaving in a much better place when I left than when I arrived. If that doesn’t convince you of the merits of this wonderful restaurant I got nothing else for you.

Vindalho is not your traditional Indian restaurant. In fact you will NOT find any of the spicy goodness here that you may be accustomed to. The food is definitely different in a bland sort of way. Not for me.
Although the atmosphere and service was very good.

My husband and I and two close friends recently went for an early Saturday dinner after somehow getting a last-​minute reservation. Fell in love with the openness and floor-​to-​ceiling windows as we approached the front door. After scanning the packed dining room upon entry, the host guided us up a staircase to our left where we were seated at a lone table that I can only describe as perched on a loft. It turned out to be awesome. We were positioned with a complete view of the restaurant, the pass shelf, and the kitchen — and I had a great view of the tandoor and how the cook hand-​rolled the naan and placed it inside the oven. Service was friendly and informative, though I do suspect that we may have been forgotten about a time or two — which was fine except for my water glass often needed refilled (per usual).
Our appetizers included some of that day’s specials (a potato croquette or something similar to a samosa), garlic naan, the chutneys, beet salad. All were excellent. The chutneys and raita were the perfect accompaniment to everything we had going on at the table. All four of us ordered a different entrée, which we all sampled: the pork vindalho was delicious but damn spicy (almost too spicy); the chicken tikka was exceptional — tender, juicy, and the table’s favorite; the chicken curry was good and well-​prepared; and the kashmiri paneer was acceptable, though that was the one dish that left something to be desired (maybe more sauce?).
I don’t know how, but we came close to finishing nearly everything on that table. On a service note, my husband’s tikka was not served with the rest of the entrees and we were told it was somehow forgotten. Our server brought him soup to tide him over, a ****ton of papadum for the table, and also comped one of our appetizers because of the delay.
We can’t wait to return!

I ordered the chicken tikka and it was soooo bland. There was no sauce on it but some white/​green sauce on the side which had a weird flavor. It came with four tiny pieces of chicken, one scoop of basmati rice that was all lumpy, and some greens with a vinaigrette. For $ 16 you get no naan, chutney, or leftovers.
Why two stars and not one? Well, my husband did like his pork vindalho. It is nice inside, it’s a large building with high ceilings and the staff/​service was good. But, never again, Dwaraka may not have the atmosphere but their food is way more flavorful and way less money.

1) Don’t go expecting Indian food. The name Vindaloo is derived from the Portuguese dish «Carne de Vinha d’ Alhos», which is a dish of meat, usually pork, with wine and garlic. This is a popular dish in India but not «Indian Food».
2) Go for happy hour — it is only one hour but worth it. Try several dishes.
3) If you liked happy hour, go back and order the Pork Vindalho. This is the signature dish and well worth it.
4) Best for people who like a little spice in the food. If you don’t like wine and garlic you might need to see a doctor because something is wrong.
I am not sure why I wrote this review as a list of instructions but it just felt like the right thing to do.

We ordered the chicken Tikka (like tandoori, sort of), and the Saag Paneer. The chicken was good: moist, tender, with a good sauce. The Saag Paneer, however, was different in that it was fresh spinach with a ton of lemon, which tasted like it had Lemon Pledge in it. It was clearly a deconstructed version of Saag Paneer, which I usually love, and I hated it. The rice was also undercooked, though it had a nice flavor. They do have wonderful Mango Lassis with a smidge of rose water, (nice!), and a wonderful dipping sauce for the crisp cracker appetizer.
Though we didn’t try it, they also have 5 appetizers for $ 5 from 5 – 6. It sounds like a great deal, though you have to sit at the bar, which does not look comfortable.
It’s a beautiful restaurant, and I think it’s a darned shame that their food isn’t better.

This restaurant looks modern and nice. I didn’t really have a full dinner here, just a garlic stuffed naan (which was good, but I didn’t particularly like the salt crumbled on it), and bits and pieces of other people’s meals. They had run out of quite a few of the cocktails, so I can’t comment on those, although the Mango Lassi sounds reaaaally good.
Relatively expensive for what you get… though I’m feeling that about a lot of Portland restaurants so far. This is a pretty busy restaurant, so making a reservation would be advisable.

We were wine tasting at Penner-​Ash a couple of weeks ago and met a couple, visiting from NY, who had dined at Vindalho the night before. They waxed poetic about their experience. We said we had a similar experience at Vindalho a few months back and noted, in a «different strokes for different folks» kind of way, that there were some poor reviews on Unilocal.Which made us feel we needed to post our review of Vindalho; belated as it is.
It seems some of the poor reviews are a function of expectations and reality being out of sync «at the gate» if one is expecting Vindalho to be a traditional Indian food restaurant. It is not that and does not pretend to be that. Marketing materials have always referenced a «Spice Route» food orientation. On that it delivers. In fact, we’d say owner David Machado has just the right blend of food, ambiance, service and value.
Here’s what we liked about Vindalho and why we look forward to going back.
FOOD: Complimentary chickpea flat bread arrived not long after we placed our cocktail order. A great nibble to enjoy with the luscious libations while we perused the dinner menu.
We started with a nightly special appetizer of chickpea and chicken fritters. I was skeptical as I’m not a fried food fan, but the fritters were yummy… crisp outside, tender in, not the least greasy and lightly seasoned.
Entrees were pork Vindalho and Madras lamb curry with curry leaves. Both are mainstays of the menu, we were told, and we can see why as each was pungent and delicious. (Nice too that they use Carlton pork for a local, humane source… important factors for us.) We selected the three chutney sampler (only $ 5) to enjoy creative options to accompany our entrees. Like others, we also wish Vindalho didn’t charge for chutneys, but if that’s what allows them to create top quality condiments, well we’d rather pay for them than have something mediocre be free. Chutneys here are great.
The entrees were too large for us to finish them, but we were still tempted to share a (large) bowl of house made ice cream and tea to linger in this inviting place on a drizzly Portland evening.
AMBIANCE: Contemporary design with nicely subdued light levels that feels welcoming. Although we’ll admit the «Pearl District Industrial» look that seems to appear everywhere in Portland does get too predictable in new spaces. Hopefully designers would leverage unique qualities of existing older neighborhoods rather than trying to bring the Pearl (as great as it is where it is) everywhere else.
Something we enjoyed was that the diners present seemed to suggest this was a neighborhood place, not an elite restaurant catering only to those «cool» enough to enter. We loved the «all are welcome here» vibe from on this evening with diners including parents with children, mid age singles eating alone, younger couples and older couples. And added to ambiance is the wonderful aroma that greets you at the door along with the warm welcome by the staff.
SERVICE: Our server was friendly without being familiar and knew the menu well to answer questions and make recommendations. We arrived soon after opening on what seemed a slow evening at first but during the meal there was a «wave» of several diners arriving all at once which made it tougher for him to juggle food orders and delivery. Still, he did a great job of balancing that challenge. He worked like he owned the place, which we mean as high praise for his efforts to ensure everyone had a good experience. When he said, as he delivered the dinner check, that he appreciated that we had come to Vindalho, we think he meant it… more of the «ownership» focus.
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VALUE: About $ 70 total for the two of us and there was plenty of food to have served three. We wished we’d had a friend along for the meal as we couldn’t take the leftovers with us that night.
ACCESSIBILITY: Accessible space for people with mobility limits from entry through seating, although we didn’t «check out» the bathrooms. Great to note that a person using a wheelchair was sitting at a window table as it is too often true that people with disabilities are routinely seated in the worst tables, like those right near the door. Often that is because restaurants’ layout prevents people using mobility aids from getting to all of the tables equally. Good for Vindalho for the truly equal access.
DRAWBACKS: Parking in the Clinton neighborhood area can be bear, but that’s true in all Portland neighborhoods.

Of the Michado empire — Lauro, Vindalho and Nel Centro, I enjoy the flavors of Vindalho best. The quality is consistent and they get mildly adventuresome with their dishes. Don’t go expecting Indian, you will be disappointed. Go expecting a yummy meal.
The highlight — ROLL ME IN THEIR COCONUT CURRY MUSSELS AND CALL ME MARY!!! My God, the crack they use in this dish is should be outlawed. Wait. I think it is! It is stupid delicious.

I would definitely not call this Indian food. It doesn’t have all the separate dishes dripping in sauce. The Naan is kinda Naan-​ish, and the flavors come close… but I definitely wouldn’t call this Indian Indian food. Now, the flavors… similar. And I love the flavors… and I loved my experience here at Vindalho.
On a Saturday night at 8pm, we were seated right away (only 2 tables left, which worked out perfectly for the 3 of us). We were attended to immediately — which was wonderful. We got a bottle of wine (perfect wine list) and we ordered a bunch of smaller things off the menu, with one entrée… the special written on the chalkboard that you can’t see b/​c of the lighting, the Arctic Char — which was great. It was cooked perfectly, the flavors were perfect with our wine… we all couldn’t have been happier. The tea we had after dinner was a nice relaxing way to go out…
Honestly I felt that the big room was warm and inviting and the vibe was slightly posh without the snob. Definitely worth checking out…