I loved coming here but now that they have a new chef the food isn’t good. Weird pairings that look good on paper but don’t follow through in actuality.I have an allergy and was told everything would be handled but the second dish to come out had my allergy in every element of the dish. The manager did his best to help me and that was appreciated. However, even the steak dinner they gave me in place was weird. All spice potatoes drenched in olive oil, mint shredded carrots and steak? Individually the items were nice but so weird as a combination.
Devon Raghubir
Went here for wife’s 32nd bday with our 6.5 month old baby. The staff there were amazing. The 3 course menu with drink pairing was wonderful. Jason and Petra made the experience wonderful. When Petra introduced herself to our daughter she was upset that her new friend had to leave and go back to work. Petra was awesome and asked if she was able to give our daughter a dessert treat and our daughter loved the treat.Dietary restrictions: I have to be gluten free and they made sure all my items were gluten free.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Paul
Food, atmosphere, service, all were 5 stars.Highlights: carrots, wings, Szechuan noodles, matcha tiramisu.Highly recommend checking out departure!
It was good! I’ve been here a few times. Unfortunately the city view rooftop areas do get closed out for private events so we can’t get our pictures out there. Friendly staff, great food, elegant place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Brian Phillips
We went for my birthday, and it was fantastic. The food was amazing, and the cocktails were tasty. Jessica, our server, was wonderful, she did such a great job of taking care of us without being up in our business, she had great suggestions, and was one of the best servers ever. Did I mention the food? The pork belly was sooo good, the fat just melts in your mouth, and the meat was crunchy and tender, an delicious.
Been more than twice, food isn't bad, just over rated. The decor feels like Disney's Space Mountain. Had to remind server to refill water.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Darcy Joan Gabriele
Views, service, food, all luxurious. We also got a bottle of wine that was lovely as well.What to order: the tuna sashimi and the pork belly! The best things on the menu.Skip the octopus - the only dish that wasn’t a solid 5/5 for us. But everything else was truly that good.Service was also wonderful. We had such a lovely date night!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Crunchy Crab Roll, Sushi
Tania Juarez
The potatoes were gross, so was the milk and cookies dessert. Not my far dine dinning experience by a long shot. The view was lovely and so were the server. Overall Portland has much better restaurants in downtown.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Brendan Rickert
This was a great find. Absolutely wonderful staff and food. Great value for quality and quantity of food.
I really want to like this place. The location is great. Awesome views of the city, and the decor in the restaurant is cool. A fun place to be.But… the food was awful overall. I just assume they don’t have a chef right now. Cause the food tasted like it was from someone just learning to cook.They made the dishes look nice in presentation, but the food themselves were either undercooked or overcooked.I’ll go back here once I get word that they actually hired a chef.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Wings
harold murray
amazing food, service and atmosphere was great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Katie Theo
Departure was okay. I’m pregnant so we didn’t order alcohol, and we didn’t opt for the Departure Experience- it might’ve been a fluke but it definitely felt like there was a discrepancy in service once we established we wouldn’t be drinking and we were ordering a la carte.We ordered the crunchy crab roll and Departure wings, which were great. We also ordered the roasted squash dan dan noodles and the karaage- the dan dan noodles were pretty good, but it was more of a squash yakisoba with a ton of greens to me. The karaage was okay.The dessert was what led me to 3/5 stars- we got the chocolate ganache w/ raspberry coulis. After looking at other reviews, it was clear that ours was extremely lazily plated- I wish I would’ve taken a picture, because another reviewer had a stunning presentation of this dish. Ours had the chocolate ganache with just a sloppy pool of marshmallow next to it.Overall, cool location but we were a little bummed by our experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
ColleenW
Literally and figuratively, an elevated dining experience! Everything about Departure as a finale dinner in Portland was wonderful for our party of 4 visiting from out of town: elegant ambiance, delicious cuisine, positive interactions with our server, and amazing city views from the roof deck. An enjoyable evening enhanced with a stroll through the atrium lounge, billiards in the library, and discovering the inspiring art installations in the Nines Hotel. Highly recommend for a special, celebratory occasion!
FMcMan
Used to love this place. The food though has gone downhill, at least for the vegan dishes. The only decent dish was a braised(?) carrot salad. The tempeh steamed buns were dry and flavorless aside from the few strands of ginger, and the only vegan sushi roll was underwhelming. We through in the towel after those selections. Very disappointing.
I loved coming here but now that they have a new chef the food isn’t good. Weird pairings that look good on paper but don’t follow through in actuality.I have an allergy and was told everything would be handled but the second dish to come out had my allergy in every element of the dish. The manager did his best to help me and that was appreciated. However, even the steak dinner they gave me in place was weird. All spice potatoes drenched in olive oil, mint shredded carrots and steak? Individually the items were nice but so weird as a combination.
Went here for wife’s 32nd bday with our 6.5 month old baby. The staff there were amazing. The 3 course menu with drink pairing was wonderful. Jason and Petra made the experience wonderful. When Petra introduced herself to our daughter she was upset that her new friend had to leave and go back to work. Petra was awesome and asked if she was able to give our daughter a dessert treat and our daughter loved the treat.Dietary restrictions: I have to be gluten free and they made sure all my items were gluten free.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food, atmosphere, service, all were 5 stars.Highlights: carrots, wings, Szechuan noodles, matcha tiramisu.Highly recommend checking out departure!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steam Buns, Wings, Noodles, Citrus Kombu Cured Salmon Roll
It was good! I’ve been here a few times. Unfortunately the city view rooftop areas do get closed out for private events so we can’t get our pictures out there. Friendly staff, great food, elegant place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We went for my birthday, and it was fantastic. The food was amazing, and the cocktails were tasty. Jessica, our server, was wonderful, she did such a great job of taking care of us without being up in our business, she had great suggestions, and was one of the best servers ever. Did I mention the food? The pork belly was sooo good, the fat just melts in your mouth, and the meat was crunchy and tender, an delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steam Buns, Kushiyaki Grilled Steak
Been more than twice, food isn't bad, just over rated. The decor feels like Disney's Space Mountain. Had to remind server to refill water.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Views, service, food, all luxurious. We also got a bottle of wine that was lovely as well.What to order: the tuna sashimi and the pork belly! The best things on the menu.Skip the octopus - the only dish that wasn’t a solid 5/5 for us. But everything else was truly that good.Service was also wonderful. We had such a lovely date night!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Crunchy Crab Roll, Sushi
The potatoes were gross, so was the milk and cookies dessert. Not my far dine dinning experience by a long shot. The view was lovely and so were the server. Overall Portland has much better restaurants in downtown.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
This was a great find. Absolutely wonderful staff and food. Great value for quality and quantity of food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
View is beautiful and the service is perfect!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
I really want to like this place. The location is great. Awesome views of the city, and the decor in the restaurant is cool. A fun place to be.But… the food was awful overall. I just assume they don’t have a chef right now. Cause the food tasted like it was from someone just learning to cook.They made the dishes look nice in presentation, but the food themselves were either undercooked or overcooked.I’ll go back here once I get word that they actually hired a chef.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Wings
amazing food, service and atmosphere was great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Departure was okay. I’m pregnant so we didn’t order alcohol, and we didn’t opt for the Departure Experience- it might’ve been a fluke but it definitely felt like there was a discrepancy in service once we established we wouldn’t be drinking and we were ordering a la carte.We ordered the crunchy crab roll and Departure wings, which were great. We also ordered the roasted squash dan dan noodles and the karaage- the dan dan noodles were pretty good, but it was more of a squash yakisoba with a ton of greens to me. The karaage was okay.The dessert was what led me to 3/5 stars- we got the chocolate ganache w/ raspberry coulis. After looking at other reviews, it was clear that ours was extremely lazily plated- I wish I would’ve taken a picture, because another reviewer had a stunning presentation of this dish. Ours had the chocolate ganache with just a sloppy pool of marshmallow next to it.Overall, cool location but we were a little bummed by our experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Literally and figuratively, an elevated dining experience! Everything about Departure as a finale dinner in Portland was wonderful for our party of 4 visiting from out of town: elegant ambiance, delicious cuisine, positive interactions with our server, and amazing city views from the roof deck. An enjoyable evening enhanced with a stroll through the atrium lounge, billiards in the library, and discovering the inspiring art installations in the Nines Hotel. Highly recommend for a special, celebratory occasion!
Used to love this place. The food though has gone downhill, at least for the vegan dishes. The only decent dish was a braised(?) carrot salad. The tempeh steamed buns were dry and flavorless aside from the few strands of ginger, and the only vegan sushi roll was underwhelming. We through in the towel after those selections. Very disappointing.