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\nBy Diane Hudson
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![\"nosh2\"](\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/nosh2.jpg\" "\\"nosh2\\"")
Walking into Nosh, on the corner of Congress and Oak streets in Portland, my partner whispered \u201cbeer and skittles\u201d upon seeing the dozen or so copper tables on the left and 20-seat bar opposite. No fewer than three flat-screen sports television screens above the bar did nothing to alleviate our initial apprehension about what we\u2019d looked forward to as a gastronomically adventurous evening.<\/p>\n
Consider our joy, then, to discover (beyond some exotic, inventive varieties of burgers) charcuterie<\/em> among the delicacies: artisan cheeses, raw oysters, white anchovies, cured arctic char, an engaging assortment of vegetables, and hand-rolled African cous cous? The tantalizing plate also whetted our appetites with Piedmont-style salami, rich roast Porchetta, and a most robust pork lardo garnished with just the right herbs, extra virgin olive oil, pickled beets and onions, delicious apricot mustarda, and moderately hot red and green peppers. Superb, and only $10.<\/p>\n Enjoying the rich flavors, we treated ourselves to the fois gras next and found it a tender and succulent treat, prepared to perfection ($12).<\/p>\n There was no room for the duck leg confit ($5) we desired, nor for the herbed gnocci baked in tomato sauce with ricotta cheese ($7) we desperately wanted to try. My partner had to have something sweet and small to complete his evening and ordered the coconut-chocolate caramel bar, topped with a huge dollop of good whipped cream.<\/p>\n My countdown to ecstasy involved an amazing mound of duck prosciutto, its briny flavors complemented with a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar and juniper berries. I am so happy I didn\u2019t quit while I was ahead!<\/p>\n \u201cBeer and skittles?\u201d Well, perusing the bill might still conjure up that thought, if you didn\u2019t look closely at the ingredients. This extraordinary experience was also very affordable: $80 including tip and a $26 bottle of Sonoma Junction Cabernet Sauvignon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" May 2010 Raising\u00a0the Bar On 551 Congress Street, Nosh becomes posh at the new \u201cKitchen Bar.\u201d By Diane Hudson Walking into Nosh, on the corner of Congress and Oak streets in Portland, my partner whispered \u201cbeer and skittles\u201d upon seeing the dozen or so copper tables on the left and 20-seat bar opposite. No fewer […]<\/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-2173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2173","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=2173"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2346,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2173\/revisions\/2346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"nosh1\"](\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/nosh1-300x197.jpg\" "\\"nosh1\\"")
Next up, we tacked into the tuna carpaccio ($7), zesty with a brilliant accompaniment of fennel citrus salad. The tuna was sliced so it emboldened us into adding an order of Nosh\u2019s famous fries ($5). The tuna and fennel were palate great. But the fries\u2013the kind of food we\u2019d so studiously avoided since arriving, did us in, especially dipped into the accompanying rich and delectable blue cheese sauce.<\/p>\n