Portobello Trattoria is located at Downtown Disney Market Place in Orlando at the Walt Disney World Resort. It is not a Disney owned restaurant. It is owned and operated by Levy Restaurants. Most of the eateries in the Downtown area are the usual chain variety so sometimes I am hesitant to dine there. Portobello’s advertises as cuisine of the Italian countryside and they do deliver just that.
The atmosphere is warm and inviting. Beautiful décor of wrought iron, pearly plates and a wine cellar encased wall. I particularly loved the simplicity of the table settings adorned with tablecloths. The big open windows give a view of the outdoor seating area and a great place to people watch while you enjoy your meal.
Our server was well briefed on the menu and made some great suggestions as to what we would enjoy from our selections. She brought out wonderfully warm rolls with a bulb of roasted garlic. Swoon! I could have made a meal out of that alone since I love roasted garlic and warm bread!
We started off with the House Salad with selected greens with balsamic vinaigrette. It was your typical house salad and tasted good. We also ordered the Chicken with Sage Meatball Slider. SO delish. You can taste how the sage perfectly flavors the chicken without overpowering it. The bread it was on was so fresh and absorbed the sauce nicely.
Onto the main event, the pasta. I had the Linguine with Clams in a lemon, garlic, and white wine sauce. I really enjoyed this dish. The sauce was well balanced of the intense flavors and the clams were cooked to the right consistency without being chewy. I would definitely order this dish again.
My husband had the Black Linguine with Florida Rock Shrimp with garlic, tomatoes and asparagus. Just so you know that black linguine is dyed with squid’s ink. Most people are freaked out by this but it doesn’t change the flavor of the pasta at all. He found the dish to be refreshing and really liked the broth/sauce.
Our son had the Spaghetti Pomodoro which is a tomato basil sauce. He added a traditional meatball as well. He was happy with his choice and thought it had good seasoning. (He loves watching the Food Network so I am sure that is where the description came from 😉 )
Overall it was a lovely dining experience at Portobello Trattoria. All the ingredients were fresh and delicious and the portions were plentiful. If you are visiting the Downtown Disney area either on vacation or as a local you should give a try.
Portobello’s is open from 11:30 am til 11:00 pm daily and they do accept the Table in Wonderland discount. For more information you can go to http://www.portobellorestaurant.com
Have you tried Portobello? How was your experience?
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