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Robin Garr

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Fine dining with a view at Portage House

by Robin Garr » Wed Aug 15, 2018 9:46 am

Fine dining with a view at Portage House

LEO's Eats with Robin Garr

Portage House’s seared duck breast entrée.
Image

When Portage House Chef Paul Skulas jumped across the river to open Couvillion in Germantown, Chef Dallas McGarity of Fat Lamb added Portage House to his portfolio so quickly that the ovens didn’t even have time to cool down.

I’ve already been over to Couvillion and gave it a unqualified rave (HotBytes and LEO Weekly, May 30, 2018). Now I finally got back to Portage House to see how it’s going with McGarity overseeing the operation. Friends Don and Anne joined Mary and me for an excellent dinner on a pretty summer evening that lured most of the clientele out to its attractive front patio that affords great views of the Ohio River and the nearby Big Four Bridge.

We thought long and hard about joining the crowd outside, but decided to head for the air-conditioned interior to check out any decor changes under the new regime. As it turned out, it appears that the new team stepped right in and started cooking; there wasn’t much need to change the simple, comfortable old-house look of the 150-year-old house with its off-white walls, dark-green woodwork, hardwood floors and undraped wood tables.

We grabbed a window table with a great riverside view in a small room just off the bar, and settled in with a cocktail and a beer while we studied the menu. I was happy with a Cubre libre ($9). A Mexican spin on the Cuba Libre, it improves the old-school rum-and-Coke cocktail by swapping in Flor de Caña anejo tequila, a Mexican Coke reduction, and whiffs of lime and orange bitters, served ice cold in a short glass. Don rated his Louisville-brewed Mile Wide Gothic Castle IPA ($11) “okay but not phenomenal,” but added, unhappily, that he’s never before paid $11 for a pint of draft beer. (Regional craft pints, in fact, were $9 to $11; the Pennsylvania-brewed Yuengling lager is $7.) Wine, liquor and cocktail menus are more competitively priced.

The Portage House menu is billed as modern American cuisine. You can see the Fat Lamb connection in some similar dishes, but Fat Lamb’s Mediterranean accent turns all-American Heartland here on the Southern Indiana shore. ...

Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/fine- ... tage-house

You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly’s Food & Drink section today.
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/

Portage House
117 E. Riverside Drive 
Jeffersonville, Ind.
(812) 913-4250
http://eatportagehouse.com
https://facebook.com/eatportagehouse
https://instagram.com/eatportagehouse

Robin Garr's rating: 86 points

Noise level: We were alone in a small dining room, so all the noise came from our own table, making conversation easy despite undraped tables and hard surfaces. Add more parties at adjoining tables, and the level would rise. (Average sound level 65-73 dB.)

Accessibility: Stairs bar wheelchair access to the front door of this 1870-built dwelling, but there’s an accessible entrance from the rear.
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DMcGarity

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Re: Fine dining with a view at Portage House

by DMcGarity » Wed Aug 15, 2018 11:03 am

Hi Robin! Thanks for the review. Don will be happy to know that we have changed our menu on the draft and on the food side of things. I just changed them yesterday! :) Check them out at eatportagehouse.com and we hope to see some hotbytes forumites over the river soon!
Dallas
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Robin Garr

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Re: Fine dining with a view at Portage House

by Robin Garr » Wed Aug 15, 2018 11:41 am

Rotten timing on my part, Dallas! I guess we'll just have to come back again. :)

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