I thought Orso was either a Killer Whale or a Japanese expletive. Fine dining options in Anchorage are limited so I hoped this would be a nice find once I found it.
The restaurant is huge. There is huge bar and a huge dining room downstairs and huge space upstairs all populated with woodsy decorative elements and woodsy diners.
Think of the Main Dining Salon feeding a small Army on a Princess Cruise ship done in Craftsman style or Charles Lummis goes to sea.
A loop of crooners, yes, as in Al Martino singing Spanish Thighs, gently wafts it's way through the room while you make room for the trencherman's sized portions you've ordered.
The Staff: Accommodating and relaxed. So relaxed they forget half the things you've asked for or they promised. The offered Welcome Basket of house baked Flatbread welcomed someone else and no-showed at our table. Service is full, flat out Alaskan top speed. Slo-mo.
Caveat: If you sit upstairs, the service will be even slower as the kitchen is downstairs and even though it's cheaper than going to the gym, they are a herd of Turtles.
The Vibe: Like, who's who there? Cruise Shippers and Booze Sippers. The Anchorage elite and the visiting effete.
The Bar Program: It's decent, with all the usual suspects made decently. My Whiskey Sour was strong like Moose. A stir or two settled it down as down it went. There was a nicer wine list of reasonably priced wines. I know because I had four of them. I am compelled at this point to share that the 2013 Alanera was a perfect slurp.
The Chow Line: It is a large menu to plow through. Seafood forward and some of it is actually locally caught.
Our Server thought "Seafood would probably be a good thing". He suggested a "Tower" to start. Choose wisely is the best advice here.
As an appetizer for eight, a caddy of three plates eventually worked it's way to the table. This would have been right at home at a Baby Shower Brunch which is where it should've gone.
There was a dish of crunchy breading coated Calamari-ettes scattered over a spread of Tartar Sauce underneath. Eat them quick lest they get soggy by the time you get to them.
The Polenta with Steak Tips comes already soggy so there is no rush to get to this. It will remain gluey and sludgy when you work your way around to that plate.
Finally, there was an Italian Flag of Fried Ravioli stuffed with Ricotta Cheese and covered by alternating stripes of Marinara and Pesto Sauces. I ate it because I could reach it.
The Tower is nothing more than Frat Party finger food and in the end this Tower lacked much power.
Next some Cauliflower arrived all steamed, then grilled and dusted with Paprika. It was serviceable as Vegetables are good. In the end this Cauliflower lacked much power.
After the Apps had been downloaded, it was on to the Chopped Salad. We had asked for two orders to go with the Flatbread which had fled and never showed up. We got one Salad but one was enough as the kitchen sink pile of ingredients was insipid and in a word...boring.
The Black Cod wrapped in Prosciutto and settled on Fingerling Potatoes which needed more time in the simmering pot as they were barely cooked had it's moments once you ate the fish.
The Cod somehow managed to remain moist, sweet, and flaky and the salty Prosciutto provided a nice balance. I could go on ragging on the Spuds because complaining is fun, but they were overshadowed by the Cod which was dinner's highlight. So, if you order this, just quietly sit there and eat your Codpiece and leave the rest.
The Seafood Mac 'n Cheese was a large baker's pan filled with Shrimp mini-bites, Dungeness Crab morsels, Red Crab flecks (were they red because they were embarrassed to be in this dish?), Bacon bits which were MIA, topped with Toasted Bread Crumbs and drizzled with Truffle Oil (which is always a waste of taste, and mostly never necessary). The whole Fusilli pasta pile was buried in Lobster Cream Sauce (Lobster hauled kicking and screaming through a vat of Cream) along with a hefty lode of White Cheddar and Fontina Cheese. I am sad to say that the entire chewy, gooey, cheesy mess was actually good. Okay, not so good if you're having your annual physical that same month. Who doesn't like a chewy, gooey, cheesy mess which also adequately describes being single and dating.
The end game was a clump of Bread Pudding with Caramelized Pineapple (locally caught too?), Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Custard all drenched in Banana's Foster Rum Sauce. It was a chewy, gluey, Roux-y mess.
All in all Orso was so, so. read more