20 High Street
Portsmouth, NH
603.430.7834
www.rudisportsmouth.com/
Some of the best restaurants in any city can be the hidden treasures tucked down side streets and passed around by word of mouth. Rudi's Portsmouth is and is not one of these restaurants.
Situated on High Street right outside of downtown, Rudi's is no task to find thanks to a nice storefront and proper signage. It is located off of the main drag though and the entrance is behind everything giving it the feel of not being downtown at all. It is certainly still downtown and even though foot traffic and atmosphere might make it not as bustling as say, the Brewery, there were still a decent number of folks at the bar area an in the restaurant by 7 PM.
The waiter, Thom, was polite if not particularly personable and was quick to prepare fresh bread for pre-meal snacking. It's fresh-out-of-the-ovenness made it special yet the flavor did little to enhance it. The same would go for the butter which was hardly flavored at all as well. The glass of RK Riesling I had with it was deliciously sweet and the Dark and Stormy my guest had was 'good' according to them.
For the entrees they ordered the Rudy's Burger (8 oz. prime beef, lettuce, tomato, onion & choice of cheese) and I ordered the Beef Two Ways (Braised short rib with sweet orange barbecue sauce & Pan Seared 4 oz. tenderloin with roasted garlic red wine glaze, mashed potatoes & spinach). The fries and garlic aioli sauce that came with the burger were the highlight of that entree and mine was an entirely different story.
The tenderloin was properly cooked rare, was soft (tender if you will), flavorful (enough) and the roasted garlic red wine glaze was excellent (although more would have made the otherwise average mashed potatoes taste much better). The short rib on the other hand was much softer than necessary, almost to the point of mushiness. The sweet orange barbecue sauce was more of a sour, barely orange, Asian flavored sauce than barbecue. Only one half of each meal was exceptional, and even then it would be pushing it to say it was truly exceptional in comparison to other steaks or short ribs I have tasted.
For dessert we ordered the banana cream pie (which I'll have to take my companions word on as being "the best" ever - I'm not a banana sort of fellow). The Chocolate Bundt cake though was average at best. Fluffy and filled with liquid chocolate it was clearly very fresh but lacked any discernible kick to it. The chocolate was average and only the whipped cream added any real flavor. A black coffee was freshly made for me and it was strong and flavorful.
As a restaurant, Rudi's is adorable. Great atmosphere (minus the completely out of place sports bar), romantic but not overdone, comfortable but not too much so. Unfortunately the food landed more in the average category which is a shame since the atmosphere is set for a truly spectacular dining experience.
