{"id":193,"date":"2003-10-01T13:15:31","date_gmt":"2003-10-01T20:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=193"},"modified":"2010-02-19T12:19:01","modified_gmt":"2010-02-19T19:19:01","slug":"the-dogfish-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/the-dogfish-cafe\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dogfish Cafe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>reviewed by Diane Hudson October 2003<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-150\" style=\"margin: 6px;\" title=\"diningguide\" src=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/diningguide.jpg\" alt=\"diningguide\" width=\"200\" height=\"124\" \/>The Dogfish Cafe has transformed long-neglected Merdeck&#8217;s on the corner of Congress and St. John into the surprise of the season. Boasting an eclectic, affordable menu, Dogfish \u2260 shark, for the less sentimental among us &#8211; is sure to delight Portland\u03c0s discriminating diners. Zesty blackboard specials surface after 5 p.m., accompanying the well-crafted ongoing entrees fit for any palate or pocketbook. When we sailed in, we were enticed by specials like Onion Crusted Salmon with Mandarin Cream Sauce ($11.95) and Grilled Boneless Pork Loin with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes ($10.95). But first we tore into the Half Rack Pork Ribs ($7.95), a tasty starter trimmed with good creamy cole slaw.<\/p>\n<p>The Tuscan Salad ($7.95), generously laden with fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, roasted peppers, red onions, and greens tossed in a savory balsamic vinaigrette with toasted pine nuts and calamata olives, was also deeply satisfying. We next devoured the Grilled Chicken Sandwich ($6.95), a nicely marinated breast, perfectly served with vine-ripe tomato slices, arugula, smoked mozzarella, and basil aioli on top of tender, flavorful focaccia. While slightly cool, the fried chips were nonetheless a fine accompaniment. The wine list is innovative and reasonably priced, ranging from South African &#8216;Goats do Roam&#8217; ($17) to Kendall Jackson Chardonnay ($24).<\/p>\n<p>A return visit to try the Open Faced Chicken Quesadilla ($6.95) &#8211; grilled chicken, apple-smoked bacon, fresh tomatoes, scallions, and black beans, the lot topped with jack cheese and seasoned sour cream &#8211; affirmed our first take on Dogfish: it&#8217;s a great catch for Portland. Bravo!<\/p>\n<p>Dogfish Caf\u00c8, 953 Congress Street. 253-5400.<\/p>\n<p><a onclick=\"return addthis_sendto()\" onmouseover=\"return addthis_open(this, '', '[URL]', '[TITLE]')\" onmouseout=\"addthis_close()\" href=\"http:\/\/www.addthis.com\/bookmark.php?v=250&amp;pub=portmag\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:0\" src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/lg-share-en.gif\" alt=\"Bookmark and Share\" width=\"125\" height=\"16\" \/><\/a><script src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/250\/addthis_widget.js?pub=portmag\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/about\/contact-us\">send us your comments<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>reviewed by Diane Hudson October 2003 The Dogfish Cafe has transformed long-neglected Merdeck&#8217;s on the corner of Congress and St. John into the surprise of the season. Boasting an eclectic, affordable menu, Dogfish \u2260 shark, for the less sentimental among us &#8211; is sure to delight Portland\u03c0s discriminating diners. Zesty blackboard specials surface after 5 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1927,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions\/1927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}