Nicholas Restaurant - Portland, OR

CLOSED this location and RELOCATED to 1109 SE Madison St.

318 SE Grand Ave
Buckman

Nicholas Restaurant falls into the category of enviable restaurants packed by the hip, young, pretty, and moneyed but where the food is mediocre. I don't get it. I wish I had a business like that but I can't get that either.

Puffy pita bread big enough to rest your weary head on.

Meat Mezza: Humus, falafel balls, tahziki, tabouli, triangle lamb pies, and beef kafta skewer.

Hummus - very smooth, understated, mellow but perfect. The second favorite item of the evening. Tahziki - tart as expected. Why was so much dished out? Tabouli salad - one of the better ones I've had. Mellow, less intense parsley taste, citrusy. Falafel - This one was atypical lacking the crunchy exterior and soft center. This was a homogeneous greasy preparation. If this were my first time for falafel, I would forego future orders.

Triangle lamb pie - I think. Bland and soggy. It was like a spaghetti meat sauce only not as sweet or tomato-ey. The biggest disappointment of the evening.

Beef kafta skewer - the last item to come out but my favorite. Well seasoned, slightly spicy, and packed with flavor. This should have come out with the carbs. Then I would have had a better overall opinion. As it stands, I was stuffed by the time this arrived.

Service: Nice young man - teenager or early 20's at most. Very helpful, wanting to help, nice but not the most efficient. Maybe it was the kitchen.

If the mezza was typical of the output, Nicholas should be absent the queue. It must be word of mouth or smart social media. The popularity is inexplicable.