andina restaurant

exceptional vegan friendlyrestaurantever.. please do check out my photos at andina restaurant. for vegans/vegetarians, feel free to check them out because i'm telling you, they are amazing stuff.

http://rikaphotography.com/2010/05/18/andina-restaurant/

having dined there three times since march 2010, it was already a favoriterestaurantin the pearl district, especially for a vegan and a vegetarian. service was spectacular and very responsive. the cocktails were very unique with their names and the ingredients were freshly blended into a delicious one. always start with the cocktail containing haberno pepper because it is among the most unique cocktails you will ever drink once you leave this restaurant. as a vegan, it is never disappointing to request to have these dishes made for vegans because their individual menus was designated for a vegan and vegetarian, separating from the meat menus. appetizers were to die for, especially when they were pressed into colorful cakes of potatoes infused with lime juice and a touch of beautifully sliced avocados. colourful potatoes/beets and medley of tropical-coloured vegetables were used alot in many of the veg-friendly appetizers especially the main courses. there were only three main courses that can be made for vegans/vegetarians. the curry-like squash sauce with basil rice tasted ah-mazing especially the risotto cake with fresh wild mushrooms/golden beets.

really enjoyed both the food and the atmosphere here. ordered multiple small plates to share and all were well prepared and delicious.restaurantitself is very warm and comfortable and staff was gracious and attentive. will definitely return.

love the bar.... they probably have the best cocktails in town. i enjoy therestaurantbut i really like the bar and they have great cocktails... did i mention that already? the best thing to do is call ahead to make a reservation or see how busy the bar is though, it fills up quickly because it is a smaller room and the seating is cozy.

we had a super good experience here!!! the food was amazing, our server doreen was amazing, and therestaurantgave us tons of free food because they were a bit slow a couple times. i was surprised at how much i was able to eat!

andina. i have been reading all about thisrestaurantmonths before my trip to portland.

i know i want to come here: lunch, happy hour or dinner or whatever but my request fell into deaf ears... until the last day of my weekend in portland and my friend casually said oh andina is just down the street and we should go there!

made my reservation via opentable and 30 minute later, we were studying the menu and try to decide what to eat.....

everything?

i have to say andina's food are just so photogenic! the plating, the use of contrasting ingredients with different texture, the interesting combination of different colours! the taste is as interesting as the food looks!!

we shared:

anticucho de pulpo - grilled octopus kebobs w/chimichurri and caper majado de papa ($10.50)

anticucho de corazon - marinated beef heart kebobs w/spicy salsa de rocoto ($10.50)

solterito - yukon gold potato with green beans, fresh corn, cotija cheese, tomatoes ($10.50)

de pescado "5 elementos" ($17)

portion though small but they were really tapas dishes and i just love to have a bit of taste of everything!

service here was wonderful from the cheerful hostess that greeted us to the patience/helpful/charming server!

i will be back again! maybe for happy hour next time with or without my friend!

horrible service experience ruined evening. our hotel recommended andinarestaurantand we were excited to go from reading the reviews. we arrived on sunday, october 19th, at the time of our reservation and were promptly seated. after we ordered, we received our first courses and they were delicious. but then something happened. it was as if the service abruptly stopped. tables all around us who were seated after us were receiving their first courses, and finishing up their main (second) courses while we were sitting there waiting for our main courses to arrive. we couldn't even catch our server's eye to see what was happening. some tables were being cleared off for their dessert selections. after approximately 25 minutes i finally had to go up to the front desk and see what was happening with our meal. no explanation was given, but i was assured that our meals were on their way. our server finally brought out our main courses without any explanation whatsoever. by that time we were turned off by the whole experience. it was my husband's birthday and i had arranged a dessert with a candle to be delivered, but we didn't even feel like sticking around. we asked our server for the bill. he never came back. we had to go up to the front desk again to ask for and pay our bill. one of the managers gave us an adjusted bill. she took off the first round of drinks: one glass of wine and one iced tea. too little way too late as far as we were concerned. this was our last evening in portland and it was ruined by andina.

sacsayhuamán. passion fruit and habanero pepper infused vodka...an amazing drink


-----08 jan, 2012-----

exquisite .... i love the lamb shank, empandas and quinoa salad! this is my favoriterestaurantin portland! the owner is very engaging and she tells wonderful stories about her family while making you feel so welcome!

andina is a standbyrestaurantthat i recommend to any visitor, and especially if you haven't had peruvian food

liked it. i was looking forward to trying this place, my father in law took the family for dinner. it was crowded but expected for a weekend evening. one down side was that therestaurantwas very hot, making it very uncomfortable. we waited a while for drinks, i have to agree with one other review that said that the sangria was very sweet. the white sangria was better. i ordered the chicken which was really good, cooked perfect, awesome sweet potatoes too. dessert was awesome too. service was great too.

unbelieveable!. first, allow me to say that i am shocked by the number of negative reviews andina has received, because my experience there last night was nothing short of amazing.

we had a reservation for 9pm, but decided to show up early for drinks. we checked in at around 8:20 and were told that we could be seated immediately!

we sat down, ordered wine and sangria, and took a fair amount of time to mull over the menu. our server was patient with us, but checked back frequently enough that we didn't feel abandoned. i asked for her recommendation on which was better - the seco a la norte or the lomo saltado. she recommended the seco, which i ordered. she was also very helpful in recommending dishes for my vegan sister, and warning her what had cheese in it and what didn't, etc.

the bread came, with the fabulous sauces...my favorite was the passion fruit. we are a bread-loving family, so that basket of bread didn't last more than a few minutes. it, along with our sauce plate, was refilled, and before i had even taken the first bite of the fresh batch of bread, our food arrived. that's right, no more than 10 minutes after we ordered, we had our food.

of course, the presentation was impeccable, and everything looked fresh and delicious...not to mention, it was exactly what we had ordered.

i have eaten a fair amount of peruvian food, enough to know the common traditional dishes and how they should be prepared. i have an uncle who makes the best seco i've ever had, and cousins who make alfajores to die for. so i kind of know what i'm talking about.

well, i'm sorry, uncle lucho...your seco is good, but andina's is better. the lamb was...buttery melt-in-my-mouth goodness, perfectly pink in all the right places and falling off the bone tender. the cilantro sauce was plentiful enough to mop up with the rice (which, along with the beans was perfectly cooked and seasoned). i am used to seco being much spicier, which i may ask for next time, however the flavor was utterly delicious, and i definitely can't complain.

my brother-in-law got the escabeche de pollito con duo de camote, and practically licked the plate clean (although i did get a taste of the smokey, succulent sauce that it came smothered in). my sister got the de betarraga (beets), and my mom got the empanadas caseras de carne, the quesos artesanes con membrillo, and some delicious potato stuffed with crab, shrimp, and other assorted sea goodies.

we ate, drank and made merry. and then we ordered a few alfajores just for kicks. they were just ok -- my family makes them differently. i would love to go back for tapas and get a real dessert -- they all looked amazing!

in summary, this is one of, if not the bestrestauranti have been to not just in portland, but in america. the service was impeccable, the food divine, and the atmosphere perfect. it's a great place for friends, family, a business meeting or a romantic dinner. hands down, five stars.

bestrestaurantin portland!. strong words i know, but this place is amazing! i have been going since they opened and even when it has been 3-6 months in between visits, i am always reminded of how great their food is.
i can't think of a singlerestauranti have ever been to that has a menu with so many different flavors. the preparation of their food must be terribly time consuming, but in the end it is worth it! i can't stop thinking about the meal i had last week! the tuna, the breads, the asparagus, etc... amazing!

bestrestaurantin portland. i have been to andina around 8 times with just 2 people too upwards of 20 people. every time has been a delight. the service has always been prompt and friendly. yes it does get a little loud in the bar at times, but what do you expect from a bar! the sexy women cocktail is fantastic, as is the cured tuna loin with avocado salsa. every dish i have had at andina i have loved, and every person i have taken there has fallen in love with the restaurant.

"it was the best of times, it was the worst of times". we took our son and daughter-in-law out for dinner tonight to celebrate michael's birthday. michael chose a peruvianrestaurantin the pearl--happily, something different for us seattlites.
the worst of times: we ordered drinks and many were in martini glasses. as they were served we could see that this was a disaster in the making. when my wife's was delivered it landed in her lap!!! my wife fumed in silence through the first half of her meal.
the best of times: we asked our waiter to bring us a half dozen small plates of his choosing. some were ok and a couple (i.e. the avacado crab salad) were excellent. eventually the manager stopped by to talk to my wife and offer to take care of her dry cleaning bill. in addition she comped my wife's drink (duh!) and we got a 'taste from the chef' of four pieces of who knows what that was truly delicious.
in summation: the waiter's choice of dishes was pretty ho-hum with a couple of exceptions. if the entire meal was as good as the 'taste from the chef' we would have been walking on air. thanks to the great company i had a wonderful time--and the ambiance was great. the service was ok at best and since you are served by a team it took a few people to even make it to ok--the manager bailed them all out. i think this is arestaurantwith potential and overall was ok--but as you can see, nothing to really get too excited about. that said, they could easily move to the next level.

bestrestaurantin pdx. i am so glad to see 3 of my all time favorite restaurants in the top ten list at urbanspoon. andina, papa haydn and chutneys. they all offer distinct world class flavors with excellent ambiance and great service. andian is a great show-off spot with unique and exciting menu. papa hayden satisfies my sweet tooth. chutneys fulfills my craving for ethnic cuisine.

i don't usually drink hard liquor but the sexy woman cocktail is the most mouth watering drink i have ever tasted. whenever we go to portland, andina is the first place we go to have a sexy woman or 3 before we start out ourrestaurantcrawl. we tried to duplicate it at our bar and we didn't even come close.