July 2020

Dining Review: Port’s Cafe – Finger Lakes, NY

After a long and full day, we made it to dinner at Port’s Cafe. The place was packed which of course made me a litter nervous. We were seated inside and the tables were adequately spaced apart. It was freezing inside so we asked if we could sit outside but we were told it is for people that complain about COVID (??? what does that even mean?). Dining inside ended up being fine. They used disposable menus and brought all glass and silverware out fresh. The only thing I found at the very end of our meal that was a big no-no was a different server took a group photo using a guest’s phone and did not sanitizer or hand washing after. There should be a PSA about cell phone cells – they are SO dirty (10 times dirtier than cell phones and 1 in 3 have been shown to have fecal matter) so we need a strict no cell phone policy in place.

Anyway, back to the food! For appetizers, I ordered the soup of the day – New England clam chowder with sweet corn and Kevin ordered the ceaser salad (crisp romaine lettuce, shaved parmesan, garlic herb croutons and house made caesar dressing).

Kevin’s salad was a solid ceaser, nothing to great, nothing bad, just solid. My soup however was a bit off. I struggled to find anything but huge chunks of potato but additional it was so peppery I could barely eat it. It is just not something I expect eating this type of soup to ask the black pepper content. So unfortunately, the soup was a disappointment.

Next up were our entrees. I ordered two appetizers – the bella greens salad (mixed greens, roasted portabellas, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese and toasted pine nuts tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette) and the special lobster ravioli. Kevin ordered the special brisket meal with mac and cheese.

The salad was really tasty. The only problem I had was that the portabella mushrooms were covered in black pepper. Since I had the soup as a heads up that the chefs are heavy on pepper, I noticed it before mixing everything up and was able to remove most of it with my napkin. The server must have thought I was crazy. Other than that, great salad!

I should have known better than to get lobster ravioli from the Finger Lakes after having the most succulent lobster in Maine but these were pretty pathetic. The sauces was delicious, the pasta itself was delicious, but there was almost nothing inside! These three ravioli were some of the flattest ravioli I have ever seen.

In contrast, Kevin’s dish was the most magical brisket we have ever tasted. I can’t even explain it! The meat was absolute perfection with just the right amount of char and melt in your mouth portions. It was heavenly. And this mac and cheese?! I am not sure what it was about it but it was not a thick, heavy mac and cheese but more delicate and it absorbed the juice of the brisket for the perfect combo.

We decided to skip dessert, not seeing anything that sparked the calorie consumption. I think I picked the wrong dishes tonight because a place that is serving brisket like that clearly knows what it is doing!