Toro Bravo, the brave bull
My local friend in Portland raves that this is his favourite restaurant and we are here to understand why he says that.
Spanish cuisine boils down to two things, tapas and tempranillo wine and of course El Bulli & Ferran Adrià, the world’s top restaurant and chef.
Toro bravo has chef John Gorham’s take on spanish tapas with Pacific northwest ingredients. Chef and his team travels around Spain to eat and get inspired for dishes back home in Portland. The travel blog also highlights many good places to eat each Spanish city.
The word tapas in spanish means 'lid'. It was originally small enough to be placed on a lid of a glass, but it has evolved ever since. Spanish food can be served as a
Plato (dish)
Racion (portion)
Tapa (snack)
Pintxo (food on a stick)
Montadito (food on bread)
Usually you order a tapa with a drink and if you like the tapas, you can stay and order a few racion( portions)
We waited from 5:30 and got seated at 8:30. The kitchen is still bustling with activity at night
Toro Bravo kitchen
Pasta and prep section
Toro Bravo kitchen look at the size of the pasta roller
Extensive selection of drinks at the bar
Toro Bravo bar area
Each table has a small wooden bowl with either kosher salt or fleur de sel ( extremely fine flaked salt). From the selection of the salt you know the amount of details that goes into the restaurant.
Toro Bravo salt bowl
Radicchio salad with green olive toast & manchego vinaigrette, shaved mozarella
The radicchio is not a common vegetable as it is a little bitter but the buttery vinaigrette and creamy shaved mozzarella balances it well
Toro Bravo radicchio salad
Octopus is grilled to perfection and still tender inside. Delicious
Toro Bravo grilled octopus
Bone marrow with a chimichurri like sauce with acidity to cut the richness of the marrow
Toro Bravo bone marrow
Quail thighs served buffalo style with ranch sauce. You can pick it up via the bone
Toro Bravo quail thighs with buffalo ranch sauce
Cedar plank smoked salmon with spanish style sauce on top of parsley, olives, onion and olive oil. The cedar plank gives the salmon a beautiful smoked smell. The texture is also perfect, flaking right off.
Toro Bravo cedar plank smoked salmon
Crispy taters with duck egg. Duck egg has a stronger taste than chicken egg.
Toro Bravo crispy tater tots with duck egg
Grilled brocoli
Toro Bravo grilled brocoli
The coppa steak is chef's creation. A "chuck-eye roast" is used and is dry-aged, wet-aged to intensify the flavor and tenderize the meat. It is then smoked to provide texture and smell. The finished product is tender, smoky, flavorful and crispy.
Toro Bravo coppa steak
120 NE RUSSELL STREET PORTLAND, OR, 97212
(503)281-4464
Open daily for dinner: 5pm to 10pm, Fri & Sat till 11pm.