The space firstopened as Yaffa, and the interior remains much the same. A screen separatingthe front dining area from the main dining room has been removed, as have thearabesque lighting fixtures. The new theme, not surprisingly, has nauticaltouches, including a burnished copper diver’s helmet. The tables and verycomfortable chairs remain.
Among chef JennyJohansen’s daily specials will be entrees like Roma tomato and blue marlin stewor sandwiches such as a merlot goat cheese melt with blackberry mayonnaiseatruly interesting, wide variety.
The regular menuoffers sandwiches, salads, entrees and a Sunday brunch. Note that entreesnormally are served after 4 p.m. Consider starting with corn chowder ($3-$5).It has a touch of cream with celery, peas, potatoes, artichoke hearts and wholecrawfish tailsa good introduction to this menu. Among the salads are hearts ofromaine ($7), quartered romaine hearts doused in simple vinaigrette withcrumbled Gorgonzola cheese. The only problem with romaine in large pieces isthat the dressing tends to be applied unevenly.
Starters include aSouthern touch in fried green tomatoes ($6). Here you get a big plate of themin a tempura-like batter, along with a side of bacon caper tartar sauce. In theSouth, fried green tomatoes tend to be coated in cornmealand for a reason, asthe breading will not get mushy as quickly. The bacon caper tartar sauce seemsintended for something else. It simply smothers the tart flavor of the greentomatoes, which is the reason for ordering them in the first place. But this isa rare misstep in a menu where creativity usually works.
Be sure to try theshrimp BLT ($8). Two pieces of toasted bread hold thin slices of tomato, pestomayonnaise, four whole jumbo grilled shrimp and strips of lean, smoky bacon.The lettuce is an interesting Japanese green that tastes like a delicate form ofarugula. Try eating this open-faced so the shrimp and mayonnaise can exhibittheir fine flavors.
Vegetarians willonly find a Gorgonzola grilled cheese sandwich and an entrée of pasta withvodka sauce. The entrees do include a crab and sweet pea risotto ($12),properly prepared with short-grained arborio rice. The crab meat neatly blendsin, and the color comes from slices of wild mushrooms, fresh green peas andmore of those Japanese greens.
Other entrees($12-$17) include duck breast, short ribs, hanger steak and roasted chickenbreast. One special entrée was a rib-eye steak ($13). This proved to be anexceptional bargain. The steak was minus the bone but properly cooked to order(medium rare). The modest price included a delightful citrus salad with redgrapefruit, grapes and greens, plus sweet potato fries with a great horseradishcream.
The bar offers anadequate beer list, the usual martinis and a smallish selection of wines ($6-$8per glass, $28-$45 per bottle). The item to order here is a Bloody Mary. Thevodka is bacon-infused and the mix is made in-house. There are tomatoes,roasted red peppers and horseradish, along with other vegetables and herbsatrue labor of love.
As summer arrives,Port of Call opens up an extensive outdoor dining deck located directly on theRiverWalk. Sit back, sip a drink and watch the riverboats gently float by. n
Port of Call
106 W. Wells St.
(414) 273-7678
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Credit Cards: AllMajor
Handicap Access: Yes
