bistro corlise

2008/08/13

 

bistro corlise

bistro corlise has a happy hour menu with $5 appetizers and $5 glasses of wine. We’ve visited bistro corlise before and had a great dinner. Since our last visit they have made some nice changes to the atmosphere. If you haven’t been to bistro corlise yet, go for some happy hour items to get a feel for the place and you’ll probably end up staying for dinner.

We sat at the bar and asked about the happy hour items and our waitress/bartender explained that they had a red and white wine. I totally forgot what the actual types or names of either were but I selected the red and the wife took the white. Both were very good and heavily poured. We were happy for only $10.

On our visit, they had three appetizers that were only $5 each.

sanglier – boar rillettes, crustini, dijon mustard. The photo for the boar rillettes was a little blury but that’s ok since it’s not much to look at. Two scoops of boar patte with some little crustinis and a dollop of mustard. It was my second favorite of the three appetizers. I spread a good portion on the crustini and then added the mustard. Creamy boar goodness.

terrine du style de la campagne – country style pork terrine, vegetable accompaniment, whole grain mustard. I’m not a fan of terrrines. It was good for what it is but I wouldn’t get it again. But, for only $5, it was a great experiment. The wife liked the green beans.


porc – chilled pork, smoked air dried ham, oil cured olives, red peppers, zucchini mousse. YES! This was my favorite. The wife really liked the chutney of peppers and it went great with the pork. I’d gladly get this and the Boar dish anytime.

I’m pleased to see that bistro corlise is still around in this time of restaurant closings and still sitting over there next to Merenda’s and I’d recommend that you get in there. If not for a full meal, go try one of the appetizers and let me know what you think.

bistro corlise
916 NW Wall St.
Bend OR 97701
http://www.bistrocorlise.com/

After bistro corlise we continued our World Tour of Bend. Stay tuned…

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Ciao Mambo – Bend Oregon

2008/08/11

 

Ciao Mambo

Ciao Mambo is a great place for fast, family friendly, and affordable dinner in downtown Bend. The Americanized version of Italian cuisine can be found in the old Han’s location. Ciao Mambo is not the best Italian food I’ve ever had (of course that has been well documented) but it was a nice meal with good service at a fair price.

We got a table outside on the back side where we could people watch. The back side outdoor seating is much better than the front sidewalk in my opinion. We ordered drinks while looking over the menu and settled on some safe dishes. I was a little bit scared to try the seafood unlike LJR’s review at The Source. Normally I don’t read any other reviews before writing my own but I was looking for some information on Ciao and her review was ranking in the top results (was in the top, until this gets published). Laurie’s review of Ciao Mambo is great, you should read it.

Finding a dinner downtown without breaking your wallet is a difficult task. The following items that we sampled came to a total of $40 not counting drinks.

The wife selected the Pasta Ravenna – Bowtie pasta, grilled chicken, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and mushrooms in a roasted garlic cream sauce. This was our favorite of all the dishes. It was prepared nicely, seasoned well, pasta cooked perfectly, and a huge portion. The photo doesn’t do it justice, that bowl is quite deep. She ended up taking enough home that served as her lunch the next day.


Our guests decided to split a large pizza. Abby’s Favorite – Fresh mozzarella, pepperoni and roasted garlic marinara. Nice thin and crispy crust (baked in their brick oven) with a tasty sauce. I felt it was too salty but not to the point that I wouldn’t eat it.


I selected the Manicotti Ripieni – Pasta stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. For only $10 I felt it was a great deal although it was pretty bland. A couple pinches of salt and some pepper and it was just fine.

Now, there are some haters out there that are talking about how it sucks that we have a “chain” restaurant downtown. I think that’s just silly. No one said anything about that when Typhoon! came to town. In fact, everyone seemed really excited about it. Plus this chain is only 4 restaurants big so far. Ease up off Ciao Mambo. Shoot, El Caporal’s family has like 183 restaurants in Bend. No big deal.

I’ve also heard that Ciao Mambo is the Hooter’s of Italian restaurants. Meaning that the waitresses could be part time models and are well endowed. I didn’t witness anything to give me that impression. Although when our waitress poured my beer while standing on a bar stool, hula hooping, and singing, I thought it was rather familiar. I wish Hooter’s comes to Bend.

Ciao Mambo
915 NW Wall Street
Bend, OR 97701
Phone: 541-382-3000
Hours:
Every day 5pm-close

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