The Portman

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 - The menu reads well and there's plenty of seasonal and delicious-sounding dishes. However, the reality is less pleasing. The shortcrust pastry of a woefully under-seasoned crab and saffron tart, which tastes mostly of egg and cream, is so short it turns to dust in my mouth. The pommes Anna potato cake accompanying a nicely cooked partridge is flabby and greasy, instead of crisp and buttery. And a tiny raspberry creme brulee with an undercooked, spongy topping and a rectangle of blueberry crumble contains enough sugar to send someone into a diabetic coma.