Le Pigeon — Restaurant in Portland

Feb 17, 2019, completed the Canard, Le Pigeon, Little Bird; Three Burger Challenge. I’m thinking of getting shirts made, but what’s the point, nobody even knows the Three Burger Challenge exists.

Since I got a reply from Le Pigeon, here is the rest of the story...

The restaurant group that owns maybe the three best restaurants, Canard, Le Pigeon, and Little Bird, in Portland, has three very distinct burgers, one on each menu.

Canard has the Steam Burger, think White Castle but so much better. Little Bird has the Double Brie Burger, the best burger in town. Le Pigeon has just the Burger, or what I like to call the $17 Burger.

Feb 17, 2019, the stars aligned, I entered Canard just past 4:30PM and informed the host just one and I just came for the steam burger. Being happy hour it took till 4:50PM for my Steam Burger to be up, but it was delivered and two bits later it was gone, I could have eaten half a dozen,. I paid my check, $3 + $2 tip and just short of 5PM I was next door at Le Pigeon. I asked for a single seat at the bar and was directed to the third seat on the left next to a couple already seated. Took up my position glanced over the menu, listened to the waiter tell the couple next to me the specials and then he arrived at my right shoulder. I informed him I didn’t need to hear the specials I just came for the burger and water. "All right we’ll get that started for you sir", adding sir was a bit much but Le Pigeon is fine dinning done right, including calling guys just eating burgers sir. At 5:02 my order went in and my burger was on the grill straight across from my seat seconds later. I enjoyed a little bread and butter as I watched the $17 Burger cook to a perfect medium rare. The $17 Burger arrived in front of me butter salad and all in less than 10 minutes. Most people hadn’t even decided on wine and I had a burger in front of me. Split the burger in two, ate half, then the butter salad, then the other half, great burger. Cleaned up with the hot moist napkin that arrived shortly after the burger. The burger is a little messy, but very good. Asked for the check made a brief pitstop in the restroom, really wanted to announce 'Corner" as I opened the bathroom door but I restrained myself. I returned to find my seat cleaned and a check sitting on the bar in front of my chair. I didn’t even sit back down, I tucked the receipt away put down $17 + $5 tip, thanked my waiter and said I’ll see you again some time.

By 5:27PM I was in the car and headed downtown to Little Bird to complete the Three Burger Challenge. Walked into Little Bird at 5:39PM and what do I find, not a single seat at the bar and no Miriam my Sunday night bartender since forever. As expected I was informed it would be a twenty-minute wait for a seat at the bar. Checked my watch, informed the host I would check back at 6PM. With a little time to kill most people would window shop or regular shop. I walked over to Ground Control and played a little pinball. Walked back into Little Bird at 6:15PM, still looked like the bar was full, but no I was told perfect timing there is exactly one seat at the bar. Took up residence on the long side of the bar three seats to my left, four seats to my right. I inquired about Miriam with the bartender on duty and was told she had worked the Feb 14th holiday and was a little under the weather. The bartender knew I was just there for the burger, she didn’t know it was the third in less than 2 hours, but she confirmed I just wanted the burger no fries, correct, the Double Brie Burger showed up in prompt and efficient Little Bird fashion. I split the burger in half, and finish the Three Burger Challenge without any fanfare or gastronomic distress. Got the bill added the receipt to the collection and put $7 + $3 tip in the glass, and officially completed the Three Burger Challenge. I did feel full, but I didn’t feel like I’d eaten way too much food, and I was happy with myself because a crazy idea I had months earlier and been completed and...

I almost can't get over my visit here. Such tasty food, super cute space, definitely worth a stop!

I came here on a Friday night around 8:30pm with a girlfriend. We had just arrived in town for the weekend and we were hoping to start the trip off with a bang. We had a reservation and after just a few minutes of waiting, we were seated.

Ambiance - 4 stars. The place is quite small and all tables are community tables. It creates an intimate feeling and a nice sense of shared community throughout the meal. That said, it's not so forced either - my friend and I were able to carry out our conversation without feeling intruded upon or like we had to whisper.

Service - 4 stars. Overall quite good. Our server gave us great food recommendations. Our experience ordering wine was just ok though... the first one we tried tasted quite off, it was funky and almost sour to a vinegar point. When we said something we were given a second taste from a fresh bottle but it felt like reluctant service. The second taste was better... the wine itself may have just been funky, but a little understanding would have been nice.

House made bread - 4 stars. French baguette that was perfectly crusty outside, soft inside, and served with salted butter. Step one, stop eating bread and save room for everything else.

Hamachi & geoduck crudo - 3 stars. Served with strawberry horseradish sorbet, piquillo crema, lime, and daikon. Really fresh, quite refreshing, super interesting. A little sweet but then horseradish hits you. A slightly spicy but tastes like summer. Not fishy at all. I even got a hint of anise-style flavors. I enjoyed it, though I don't know if I'd rush to order it again.

Pork ribeye Montreal - 5 stars. My favorite dish of the night, unexpectedly so. Served with nettle dumplings, bacon, morel, asparagus, and creme de Canada. The pork was incredibly tender. Melted in my mouth. It was slightly fatty, full of earthier flavors, with some kind of crumbly texture on top that was almost like bread crumbs but not quite. The dumplings were awesome. I don't have a great way to describe them, but soft, pillowy, a little doughy, full of flavor.

Wasabi fried chicken - 5 stars. Served with togarashi egg salad, Dungeness crab, cucumber, and chili mayo. An incredibly rich dish. The chicken was done well, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, not overly greasy. The wasabi added some pop in terms of texture as well as slight spice. The crab was light and refreshing under the heavier items, but wasn't overpowered. I could have used more egg, but all in all, this was a nicely balanced dish.

I was most pleasantly shocked by the price - I think this came out to something like $75 each (food & a bottle of wine), and there's no gratuity accepted, so that was it. The food was excellent, to the point of raving about it for the rest of our trip. I'll be sure to recommend it to everyone I know. Friends, get your...

This is a 4.5 star review from someone who almost never gives 5 stars--I highly recommend Le Pigeon, and look forward to returning. We very much enjoyed our experience at Le Pigeon; the wine pairing (we did the premium pairings), creative presentations, and service were the highlights. While it is an expensive meal, in the grand scheme of fine dining, it was a bargain. Our server was the perfect tour guide for both the wine and the food. We look forward to returning--but will wait for the season and menu to change, because the seasonality is half the fun. Very casual setting belies the high level of service and food preparation. We appreciated that, although we paid in advance, at the restaurant we were able to switch to a different credit card with no fuss no muss (thanks for the meal, Dad!). I had some issues with my meal, some niggling, some just personal preference, and some legit. I look forward to going back when the flavors and textures are more enjoyable for me; while my Dad and husband were blown away, I found the meal texturally monotonous (too soft), and the flavors repetitive (three seafood dishes with Asian flavors in a row). I appreciated the creativity and the new flavor combinations, but some were not up my alley. For example, while everything was perfectly seasoned, I found that the herbal notes overwhelmed the other flavors (i.e. the tarragon in the monkfish, the dill in the earlier dish, and hard herbs in the chicken...I could not taste the truffle mentioned on the menu). Also, while I am sure the chef achieved the most successful pairing of eel and foie gras possible, I am equally sure eel and foie gras should not be paired together (I can't "unsee" the realization that foie gras has a similar mouth feel as oily eel)...but again, I was the outlier; my family loved it. My wonky palate aside, I had an issue with the cook on each of my proteins, with the exception of the starter--a beef "tataki"...which was largely raw, and meltingly soft (my favorite dish of the night...but again, the softness of the beef was similar to softness of later dishes). Where my companions had a perfectly prepared smoked scallop, then foie gras, then monkfish, then chicken breast, I drew the short end of the stick and got an undersized rubbery scallop, my portions of foie and monkfish had a notable amount of inedible connective tissue, and my chicken breast was dry and stringy (sad, when I could see that everyone else's was tender and juicy). It is saying something that, despite this, I still loved the meal and the experience and appreciated the challenging flavors and textures. The meal was exactly what I was hoping for, and I can't...