Le Pichet — Restaurant in Seattle

i first tried this place for lunch. my friend got the œuf plats while i got les tartines with the warm gruyère. pretty simple plates we ordered but they were so fresh and well-prepared. we also got the beignets with goat cheese which was definitely our favorite part. i’m not even some fancy french food aficionado or anything, but i still think about that country bread that came with my tartines

more recently, i brought my partner ✨who has actually been to france 🇫🇷✨ for dinner, and they LOVED it. the entire experience was incredible. the inside is pretty small but it is wonderfully decorated with real tile floors & pictures and posters of france. we had a lovely waitress who guided us through the menu, too.

we started with a petit charcuterie: chicken liver, duck liver, and beef tongue. this was actually my first time trying liver; it was absolutely delicious.

for dinner, i ordered the confit de canard (duck). the outside is wonderfully charred but the meat itself falls off the bone so easily that i didn’t even have to use my knife. it is paired with cheesey grits that i loved (and i don’t even really like grits) plus some fresh apricots. my partner ordered the bavette grillée et frites, which may seem simpler but it was glazed with cognac and black garlic. it reminded them of the first meal they had in paris, it was just that good.

to finish our incredible meal, we got the chocolat chaud: basically, a warm, parisian-style chocolate mousse with their fresh whipped cream. the way it tasted was, to me, the definition of the word “decadent.”

this place should be a seattle staple if it...

I am really not wanting to leave a review for this place because I want it all to myself. Words truly cannot express the wonderful lunch and dinner we have had here during out visit. If you are looking for a true french restaurant experience that is not a tourist trap, this is the real experience. The setting is small and intimate, small tables close together, high ceilings, beautiful framed mirror, and the perfect french yellow color walls. Whoever owns and runs this establishment seems to really care a great deal about the guests that come to experience this wonderful place. While the space is welcoming, the staff are even more welcoming, accommodating, and caring. Everyone that works here is extremely attentive to your needs and care. Never once did someone tell us that they would get someone else to take care of us. It was as if every need was met and they knew what that need was before we even knew. Notice we have not even gotten to the food yet or the cocktails. Again words cannot express the amazing flavors, simplicity mixed with complexity, and careful sourcing of their materials. We have truly never experienced French cuisine of this caliber in the US. The last experiences were in France itself. Never did we feel rushed and every question we had was answered with great care and detail. While their menu is small it certainly impresses. If you were ever going to let yourself experience different things this is the place to do it. Don’t miss the hot chocolate and...

First and foremost a restaurants priority is to serve good food, and this place made up for a multitude of sins by having really amazing, tasty, well prepared/seasoned food that is being done by a seriously competent back of house staff. I had the steak frites, and it was one of the best steaks I’ve had, and was perfectly cooked rare to my preference. The chicken tartine was beautiful, my companion had the fish of the day and it was incredibly seasoned and sauced. Beautiful food.

The service though was awful, we weren’t greeted for about 10 minutes in a tiny restaurant, all the staff looked at us but didn’t say anything. We were forgotten about a bit, the staff seemed more interested hanging out with the lush at the bar who seemed to be taking all the air out of the room.

We asked for our bill, the server dropped it off, changed her clothes and left. We then waited half an hour to pay, and finally were acknowledged and told we had to give our cards to them, as if we should've known.

The 20% automatic gratuity is a flaw, theres no motivation for the server to love the table and go the extra mile, they just phone it in. The way it’s put on the menu is that the customer is paying for their benefits and commission, and if we feel the service isn’t up to 20% it’s up to the customer to ask to have it removed. That’s just bad business and an unnecessary duty to put onto the customer.

But the food was amazing, and that’s what’s important, and what saved the...