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A good neighborhood restaurant engenders mixed feelings. Residents are happy to have a nice place to eat nearby, pleased that they can drop in for a meal without making a reservation, hopeful that the place stays open. But they're also fearful that it might draw crowds, worried that too much popularity will end their casual visits, nervous about their own little patch of Portland becoming the next trendy destination.
Folks living in the Hollywood neighborhood are having these internal debates about the Chameleon Restaurant. While the area has plenty of eateries, this is the first that offers mussels on the half-shell, a spinach salad with hazelnuts, blue cheese, and pears, or cilantro-marinated grilled salmon. Only time will tell if rampant gentrification is on its way, but for now, you might as well eat.
Housed in a former fast food fish and chips emporium, Chameleon fights hard to overcome its unmistakable architectural parentage. From the street, the corporate cookie cutter layout is clear, but step inside and the flowing drapes, white linens, and plush banquettes help cover up. You won't see this interior in Architectural Digest, but it's a pleasant, comfortable place for dinner.
The service is earnest and friendly, which can usually make up for an occasional lapse or delay. I've never seen Chameleon really crowded, which might strain the laid-back staff. If you feel neglected, mosey over to the bar for a cocktail. Or check out the wine list, which covers a range of domestic and imported vintages and includes some nice selections available by the glass.
The menu, like the shade-shifting lizard namesake, morphs back and forth between culinary colors. What we've come to call northwest cuisine-regional, seasonal products in creative but mostly continental preparations-shares the bill with dishes usually found in SE Asian restaurants. This isn't fusion, but authentic ethnic food. The salad rolls, satay, spring rolls, and the coconut milk-curry-chicken-lemongrass soup called tum yum result from Chef Pat Jeung's Thai background.
More traditional appetizers include the mussels, served with a lime dressing flavored with cilantro, and the toasted bread called bruschetta topped with goat cheese and cured salmon. I especially liked the perfectly cooked seared scallops in a peppercorn-rosemary butter, a bit spendy but with a melting sweetness that banished any thoughts about the bill.
Grilled skewered shrimp with a classic Indonesian peanut sauce and Vietnamese salad rolls of rice noodle, cilantro, and shrimp provide a more cross-cultural beginning. Spring rolls are ubiquitous, and Chameleon's hold their own with any. The rice paper wrappers are crisp and hot, with an ample filling of pork, mushroom, and cellophane noodles.
The sweetness of finely diced pears and a balsamic vinaigrette balance the strong flavors of blue cheese and hazelnuts in that spinach salad. Mixed greens tossed with cherry tomatoes, avocado, marinated red onion, chilled crawfish tails, and warm hard-boiled egg make for one of the more unusual salads I've encountered lately, but the addition of the freshwater shellfish didn't seem worth the nearly $12 price tag.
The tum yum soup, though, would've been a bargain at twice the price (a modest $3.95). Served in every Thai restaurant, this chicken soup can be overly sweet and cloyingly thick if too much coconut milk is used. Chameleon's version is refreshingly thin, still with the trademark flavors of coconut and lemongrass, but enlivened with fresh tomato and mushrooms.
Those looking for a traditional entree can stop with the rack of the lamb. Fragrant with fresh rosemary and thyme, the meaty chops are drizzled with a merlot sauce. The center of each chop is perfectly pink, and the long rib bones are crusty with herbs (if you don't pick these up and gnaw, you're missing one of the best parts). The accompanying garlicky red potatoes also appear with a pan-seared beef tenderloin. While either of these carnivore's delights might be found at other restaurants, what makes them special here is that they're priced more like a pasta special.
Chameleon has it's share of those. Vermicelli comes with a spicy red curry peanut sauce, a particularly nice version that's sprinkled with chopped nuts, while smoked salmon in a light cream sauce topped with bright red salmon roe is paired with fettucine. Santa Fe chicken brings southwestern flavors to penne by combining grilled breast meat with tomato, green pepper, and cilantro.
The nightly specials can be intriguing. On one visit, cold rice noodles-a staple in SE Asian cooking-were tossed with fresh green papaya, chopped cabbage, and cooked, chilled, and diced long beans, a very thin green bean. This salad-like mix was topped with a hot, spicy coconut milk curry sauce and chunks of salmon, catfish, and crabmeat. The result was a catalog of contrasts: cold and hot, crisp and soft, sweet and spicy.
Desserts change frequently, but you can look at the evening's selections in the case by the door. A torte-like tiramisu was an interesting variation on the unavoidable, and a strawberry tart had an nice hazelnut crust. Or skip the sweets and finish with a glass of Port.
Whether or not Chameleon signals a change in the commercial makeup of the traditionally populist Hollywood neighborhood remains to be seen. For now the residents seem happy to have an alternative to chicken in a bucket, and those living beyond the borders have a reason for visiting: a restaurant serving an unusual menu of well-prepared food at below-average prices.