Southpark Seafood Grill, Portland, OR

After a morning exploring Portland’s excellent Art Museum, we walked a few blocks north to Southpark Seafood Grill and Wine Bar, where we enjoyed a good lunch but perhaps not as inspired as the menu. Started by sharing a half dozen delicious oysters (4 kumomotos and 2 others), served on a large plate of chopped ice with a tart mignonette. Next came bouillabaisse and an heirloom tomato and burrata salad. I was expecting a Marseilles-style  bouillabaisse and what I got was really a cioppino – thick tomato stock, but generally good, except for the mussels, which were past their prime. For fans of burrata, there was enough (a whole ball, halved) to put you in a food stupor if you ate it all by yourself. The heirloom tomatoes were unfortunately old and mushy. I have a pet peeve about the label “heirloom” tomatoes: there are hundreds of different tomatoes that qualify so if you’re going to bother distinguishing from a plain old tomato salad, why not tell us which varieties are being served? Finally we split a fried oyster sandwich – plump oysters, with a light batter and perfectly deep fried, but served on a too-bready bun. We loved the oysters but left the bun. The list of wines by the glass offered enough choices to satisfy all but the most judgmental enthusiast. Waiter was friendly and efficient.