Portofino restaurant brings a style of Italy to Modi’in

Portofino is a big Italian trattoria within the Ishpro Center of Modi’in that gives all kinds of pastas, pizzas and salads at cheap costs. The vibe is informal and enjoyable. On a latest night, we noticed 4 household teams with balloons tied to one of many chairs celebrating birthdays. Other tables held teams of girlfriends, or {couples} having a date night time.

Our server Assaf was pleasant and knew the menu nicely. Although we heard fairly a little bit of English round us, the menu is just in Hebrew. We began with cocktails which have been good, though I wouldn’t have minded slightly extra alcohol. I had the lychee home (NIS 49) which had rum and lychee syrup and my favourite husband had the Portofino (NIS 49) which had tequila and orange flavors. I most popular his cocktail.

For appetizers, we ordered focaccia with mushrooms, and arancini. I’ve by no means met an arancini I didn’t like, and this was no exception. It was 4 balls of fried risotto on a rose sauce. Unlike some eating places the place the arancini are big, these have been concerning the measurement of golf balls which I truly want as I feel it’s a greater ratio of rice to sauce.

The focaccia had quite a lot of contemporary mushrooms and parmesan cheese and was glorious. Assaf introduced over a second focaccia with dips in what was to change into a theme of the night time. We ordered one thing and Assaf brough over additional.

“We just really want you to taste this,” he saved saying.

For the primary course, we ordered one fish dish and one pasta. The fish dish, (NIS 135) was a filet of sea bream (denis) seared on the plancha and served on a mattress of gnocchi was very well-prepared. The gnocchi are made in-house, whereas the remainder of the pasta is delivered contemporary. We additionally ordered the pappardelle don Mario (NIS 76) with tomato sauce, pesto and cream and dollops of mascarpone cheese.

All of the parts are fairly massive and it was enjoyable to share the dishes.

It is mainly a criminal offense towards humanity to not order dessert at a dairy restaurant. We selected to share one – the tiramisu and it was good. But the star of the present was a pannacotta that Assaf added saying, “We really want you to taste this.”

Overall, the meals at Portofino was superb and the general vibe and expertise made it even higher.

Portofino
Ishpro Center Modiin
Hours: Sunday-Wednesday 12:00 – 22:30, Thursday 12:00 – 23:30, Friday 8:45 – 14:00, Saturday opens an hour after Shabbat ends
Kashrut: Rabbanut Modi’in

The author was a visitor of the restaurant.