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

Pasta and prep section

Toro Bravo kitchen look at the size of the pasta roller

Extensive selection of drinks at the bar

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.

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

Octopus is grilled to perfection and still tender inside. Delicious

Bone marrow with a chimichurri like sauce with acidity to cut the richness of the 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.

Crispy taters with duck egg. Duck egg has a stronger taste than chicken egg.

Toro Bravo crispy tater tots with duck egg

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.

120 NE RUSSELL STREET PORTLAND, OR, 97212

(503)281-4464

Open daily for dinner: 5pm to 10pm, Fri & Sat till 11pm.