L’Echelle — Restaurant in Portland

Hey! So this is one of the worst restaurants I've been to in Portland.

We ordered the French onion soup, steak au poivre, frites, and carrots: The French onion soup was serviceable but instantly forgettable and maybe even bordering on bland—it was also the only dish that came out warm, as everything else was room temp bordering on cold. The carrots were fine but also forgettable and bordering on bland. Maybe they'd be better if they came out slightly warmer but, at the end of the day, it did taste something like you'd get at a wedding (interpret that how you will). The frites were the highlight of the meal; maybe the best in town! I do wish they were warm though as they were solidly room temp. I also wish the other dishes were better so I could justify coming back and having more of these frites. The steak... oh my god, the steak! This was the worst steak I've ever had in the history of dining out in Portland. First of all, they don't ask you how you want your steak done—it seems that you get what they decide is best. And what they decided is best is gray and overdone. The meat is STUNNINGLY poor quality. Every bite was TOUGH as leather and chock full of gristle. I've never spit out bites of meat in that kind of restaurant but a good 50% of the cut was actually inedible and just pure gristle (see photos).

Other notes: Service was slow and not great, though to their credit, it seemed like they were training a lot of new servers. Coursing was terrible—we put in our order around 5 minutes after seating and did not get our soup until a good 35-40 minutes after ordering. We then waited another 25-30 minutes for the rest of the food after the soup, where it all came out all at once at the room-temp to cold temperatures I mentioned earlier. Since it was our first time at the restaurant, we asked the server for some guidance on how to order from the menu. The advice she gave us was pretty inaccurate. For instance, she mentioned only needing one entree between two—the entrees are definitely individually sized, and we left hungry based on her advice. She also brought out spoons to eat our steak, carrots, and frites with. Ambiance is pretty, but the tables are really small, the built-in benches are uncomfortable and could use some cushioning, and WOW it gets loud in there as the place fills up.

I don't know...I was excited to support this place in my neighborhood, but it was truly a disappointment. It also taught me not to listen to the Oregonian or any of those (usually paid) local Portland restaurant influencers on social media. It was actually shocking how bad it was given the reviews and the credentials of the owners. Hoping they really take to heart some of these reviews (I noticed the duck and steak being described as leathery in other reviews)...

The experience we had was really bad, unfortunately. First, the wait time we were told upon arrival was way off. We were told 30 to 45 minutes and waited 80 minutes. I understand that it’s not easy to provide an estimate, but aim for worst case scenario so our expectations are managed properly. After over one hour waiting, and having looked at the menu that was hanging on their door, we finally sat down, starving, just to be told they had run out of the beef tartare and the steak au poivre. Mind you this was barely 2 hours after they opened, it’s not like we sat down to dine at 11pm. How do you run out of the star of the menu, the most expensive entree, just two hours after you open the doors? We were all upset, but we still wanted to try the food, and decided to stay. We were all very hungry. We then ordered the french onion soup, that we had been craving for over an hour, only to find out the menu they had outside was outdated and they did not have french onion soup. This was when we decided to leave and go across the street for pizza. Very disappointing experience. If you’re thinking about trying the restaurant I would wait a few months until they are able to figure out their supply and demand. Or at at least until they start accepting reservations. I don’t think we’ll ever go back. I can’t think of a steak au poivre that is worth...

L'echelle is (no surprise) a keeper! Their cocktail and N/A drink options are great. I really enjoyed doing the Mademoiselle, N/A version. It was refreshing on a warm day and the combo of lemon, elderflower and cinnamon made it smell incredible too. I'm looking forward to trying the version with Aria Gin soon. The menu has a wonderful variety of food options. We tried the crudo, panisse, asparagus, salad verte, steak, fries and pork crepinette. Everything was prepared beautifully and absolutely delicious, but I always enjoy thinking about what was the best bite of the night. Our dinner group decided the top two were: The asparagus. The texture combination was so good - perfectly cooked asparagus with creamy (green allium remoulade) and crunchy (nuts). The shima mizu crudo. So fun and inventive! The sweet strawberry + spice serrano tempered by the fish was amazing and then the light crunch from the crispy basil. Definitely would eat this anytime but it was partially great on a hot day. Not only is the food to die for but the staff are amazing. One of our party is in a wheelchair which can sometimes be problematic. Not here! They were so wonderful about making sure we had an easily...