Portland 2012: Le Pigeon (Review)
I am extremely fortunate to have a husband who enjoys great food and will make the effort to suss out excellent restaurants. He often reads multiple reviews before deciding on one. That's how he came to choose Le Pigeon and the primary reasons are because Chef Gabriel Rucker, the owner had been awarded with 2011 James Beard Rising Chef Award and Yelp rated it four and a half stars out of 354 reviews. Impressive stuff.
Le Pigeon is situated along a row of shophouses and the bus stopped right in front of it. It's casual but stylish with cute decoration. We were seated on the communal table and if we ever returned, I would definitely opt for bar seating where we can watch the chefs in action. Service was wonderful and prompt. As per our style we went with the five-course tasting menu.
We were blown away right from the first course - from the gorgeous presentation, stunning flavour and taste as well as the creativity and originality displayed in each dish. Even though Le Pigeon has not been awarded with Michelin Star, we feel that it is certainly deserving of at least one star. Some of the 1-Michelin star restaurants that we have been to did not impress us as much as Le Pigeon. We made sure that this was communicated to them and to my surprise I received an email from them thanking me for the feedback and business. I like that they bothered to respond to my feedback :)
Thanks to him, I get to eat amazingly good food. I love being married to a foodie!
Isn't this pretty? Geoduck with yuzu, portabello, shiso and white soy and edible flower. Oh this was amazing and the geoduck was so fresh. A great start to the meal.
Smoked rabbit pie with cheddar, hot mustard ice-cream and apricot. Winning dish for sure. It's so original and surprisingly good. I have never had a hot ice-cream much less a mustard ice-cream. But it tasted sublime with the smoked rabbit pie.
Foie Gras Monte Cristo with duck ham, rhubarb and emmental cheese. What a treat! The duck ham and foie gras combined beautifully and the cheese added a great dimension to the overall taste.
Lobster stuffed chicken, panzanella, lobster and morel cream. Oh man, this was so so good! It didn't look much but the taste was so robust and it leaves you wanting more. Who would have guessed lobster goes well with chicken?
Beef Cheek Bourguignon with potatoes and onions is a popular dish. The beef cheek was super tender and flavourful and I have to say it was excellent. It didn't impress me as much as the others only because personally I am not really a fan of bourguignon.
Steve's cheese from Neal's Yard, stilton, Chicharrón (fried pork rinds), rhubarb and maple syrup. This screams high cholesterol but oh so good. The cheese and chicharron are fabulous together too.
Left: Absolutely divine foie Gras Profiteroles with caramel and sea salt. Right: Angel food cake with strawberry ice-cream. Both were great but the foie gras profiterole was such a heavenly bite.
Close up. Amazing stuff.
We left totally satisfied and happy. Fortunately our hotel was within walking distance and we decided to take a slow stroll, hopefully to burn a small percentage of what we had ingested. Definitely a stellar and memorable meal. Thank you again Le Pigeon.
Le Pigeon is situated along a row of shophouses and the bus stopped right in front of it. It's casual but stylish with cute decoration. We were seated on the communal table and if we ever returned, I would definitely opt for bar seating where we can watch the chefs in action. Service was wonderful and prompt. As per our style we went with the five-course tasting menu.
We were blown away right from the first course - from the gorgeous presentation, stunning flavour and taste as well as the creativity and originality displayed in each dish. Even though Le Pigeon has not been awarded with Michelin Star, we feel that it is certainly deserving of at least one star. Some of the 1-Michelin star restaurants that we have been to did not impress us as much as Le Pigeon. We made sure that this was communicated to them and to my surprise I received an email from them thanking me for the feedback and business. I like that they bothered to respond to my feedback :)
Thanks to him, I get to eat amazingly good food. I love being married to a foodie!
Isn't this pretty? Geoduck with yuzu, portabello, shiso and white soy and edible flower. Oh this was amazing and the geoduck was so fresh. A great start to the meal.
Smoked rabbit pie with cheddar, hot mustard ice-cream and apricot. Winning dish for sure. It's so original and surprisingly good. I have never had a hot ice-cream much less a mustard ice-cream. But it tasted sublime with the smoked rabbit pie.
Foie Gras Monte Cristo with duck ham, rhubarb and emmental cheese. What a treat! The duck ham and foie gras combined beautifully and the cheese added a great dimension to the overall taste.
Lobster stuffed chicken, panzanella, lobster and morel cream. Oh man, this was so so good! It didn't look much but the taste was so robust and it leaves you wanting more. Who would have guessed lobster goes well with chicken?
Beef Cheek Bourguignon with potatoes and onions is a popular dish. The beef cheek was super tender and flavourful and I have to say it was excellent. It didn't impress me as much as the others only because personally I am not really a fan of bourguignon.
Steve's cheese from Neal's Yard, stilton, Chicharrón (fried pork rinds), rhubarb and maple syrup. This screams high cholesterol but oh so good. The cheese and chicharron are fabulous together too.
Left: Absolutely divine foie Gras Profiteroles with caramel and sea salt. Right: Angel food cake with strawberry ice-cream. Both were great but the foie gras profiterole was such a heavenly bite.
Close up. Amazing stuff.
We left totally satisfied and happy. Fortunately our hotel was within walking distance and we decided to take a slow stroll, hopefully to burn a small percentage of what we had ingested. Definitely a stellar and memorable meal. Thank you again Le Pigeon.