Portofino is a large Italian trattoria in the Ishpro Center of Modi’in that offers a wide variety of pastas, pizzas and salads at reasonable prices. The vibe is casual and fun. On a recent evening, we saw four family groups with balloons tied to one of the chairs celebrating birthdays. Other tables held groups of girlfriends, or couples having a date night.
Our server Assaf was friendly and knew the menu well. Although we heard quite a bit of English around us, the menu is only in Hebrew. We started with cocktails which were good, although I wouldn’t have minded a little more alcohol. I had the lychee house (NIS 49) which had rum and lychee syrup and my favorite husband had the Portofino (NIS 49) which had tequila and orange flavors. I preferred his cocktail.
For appetizers, we ordered focaccia with mushrooms, and arancini. I’ve never met an arancini I didn’t like, and this was no exception. It was four balls of fried risotto on a rose sauce. Unlike some restaurants where the arancini are huge, these were about the size of golf balls which I actually prefer as I think it’s a better ratio of rice to sauce.
The focaccia had a lot of fresh mushrooms and parmesan cheese and was excellent. Assaf brought over a second focaccia with dips in what was to become a theme of the night. We ordered something and Assaf brough over extra.
“We just really want you to taste this,” he kept saying.
So it’s his fault that I will now need to spend hours at the gym to make a dent in the calories I ate.
Fun-to-share dishes in Modi'in
For the main 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 bed of gnocchi was very well-prepared. The gnocchi are made in-house, while the rest of the pasta is delivered fresh. We also ordered the pappardelle don Mario (NIS 76) with tomato sauce, pesto and cream and dollops of mascarpone cheese.
All of the portions are quite large and it was fun to share the dishes.
It is basically a crime against humanity not to order dessert at a dairy restaurant. We chose to share one – the tiramisu and it was good. But the star of the show was a pannacotta that Assaf added saying, “We really want you to taste this.”
Overall, the food at Portofino was very good and the overall vibe and experience made it even better.
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 writer was a guest of the restaurant.