Le Pigeon

It's a great restaurant. No doubt. Great service as well. But I've now been to more than a dozen Michelin ** restaurants in the same price range and I think this restaurant doesn't meet that type of bar for the same price range. The best thing about our experience was the wine. The wine expert helped us pick out a really good one in our price range. With that said, if you're in Portland and looking for a special meal or celebrate something special this should be a great place.

We sat at the chefs table and had such a great experience. The wine pairing was $55, but made the experience a very memorable one. Every dish felt special and I don’t think I could even pick a favorite of them all. Some were light, some were heavy, just all great flavors. I hope to come back one day!

We went here for my birthday dinner. I was pretty excited for the tasting course: oysters, smoked trout, custard, beef cheek, lamb, scallops, and foie gras ice cream! The food did not disappoint at all. So many great flavors, deep and subtle. Really wonderfully prepared and cool presentation. The restaurant itself is more rustic instead of French fine dining, but mixes well with being off Burnside in Portland. Also some kind of club nearby or above venue that had deafing bass pumping. My water looked like a scene from a Jurassic Park movie! Also servers are a bit slow. If my drink is empty come ask if I want another. Not hard request here for a gratuity that’s automatically added.

We've done a lot of fine dining places and I've found that it's a gamble whether the quality of the food truly justifies the price. It's rare to find a bad place but dressing up middling food with exquisite plating, highfalutin ingredients, and beautiful atmosphere is more common than I'd like. I am very happy to report that Le Pigeon is one of the great ones. Quality of the food is fantastic with bold use of flavors and perfect ingredients. They serve a choice of omnivorous or vegetarian tasting menus whose items rotate out week-by-week. When we visited in August, I had a difficult choosing favorites between the Beef Cheek Bourguignon and the Lamb Neck Tart with Black Truffle. Beef Bourguignon is one of my absolutely favorite dishes and it's not easy to find a place near me that makes it right. If they sold this at their sister restaurant Canard as a full sized dish, I'd probably be visiting Portland semimonthly. The scallops and boudin noir were awesome too. They make their own blood sausage and I've never had such a flavorful one before. All in all, everything was wonderful and if I had a single critical feedback to offer, I would suggest some optional lighting (a small lamp) to help see the food a bit more clearly. The restaurant after sunset has a charming romantic glow, but it can be hard to see all the effort that went into cooking and plating your food. In terms of drinks, if you like cocktails, get them before or after as they don't have a bar in their small and intimate space. However, they do have a great wine selection and I want to give them a shout-out for including demi-bottles on their menu. My wife and I are not big drinkers, and a full bottle is a challenge between the two of us. Having this option on the menu helped give us a perfect night with just the right amount of wine. Service was very attentive and friendly, including the chefs themselves who have a bunch of chairs surrounding them and the kitchen so you can watch exactly what their doing, what ingredients they're using, and even ask a question or two. I love watching the behind-the-scenes making of a great meal and so this was a fantastic seat for me. For others looking for more face time with their dining companions, they do have some tables, and they're not the communal tables you may see in some pictures. I like that, others may prefer those communal tables, either way they don't appear to be there anymore. As for parking and reservations, I believe reservations are required and parking is not easy, so I'd recommend uber to get here. Thanks Le Pigeon team for the great meal, we hope to be back soon!

Fantastic French food! We've always wanted to try this place based on recommendations from friends. This restaurant did not disappoint as our anniversary, first date for years after having our first kid, and post pandemic. The plating presentation is great, the flavors of each dish worked well together, and the tasting menu was a great experience. The service was attentive and friendly. The place is quaint, romantic and cosy. We can't wait to visit again!

I wish I could rate this higher. I truly do. The food was absolutely worthy of the James Beard awards, however along with the wine pairings it was more hit than miss. I will say I only got the base level of the two tier wine pairing they offered, but some fell flat or were too sharp a contrast to be truly enjoyable. I dined alone, and at time it felt I was waiting too long between courses. What really broke the entire atmosphere was the adjoining businesses music. A loud cocophony of bass that could be heard and felt was not only noticed by me, but by others as well. This is sadly not a rarity either, as I heard back from Le Pigeon directly. The adjacent businesses music was so jarring that I couldn't even hear the explanations of dishes and pairings. This is my only true complaint of Le Pigeon, as the rest is an absolute treat that I recommend everyone try.

This place is deserving of any hype. It not only lived up to, but exceeded, my expectations. We sat at the chef's counter and had our choice of a meat/seafood tasting menu or a vegetarian one, and even as people who eat meat, we both chose vegetarian. It was amazing up and down! Every dish was complex, flavorful, and perfectly executed. The chef was very friendly with us throughout the meal. Also, I had multiple dietary restrictions, but they handled it like pros and were so gracious about it. Amazing experience all around - highly recommend!!!