A VERY deliquent Restaurant Week review — Pigalle


I know… I know… too little, too late. Well… better late than never!

We went to Pigalle the first Friday of Restaurant Week, Summer 2008. We went with another couple and we had a pretty good meal. The service sort of sucked, but seeing that it was RW, I feel compelled to give them another chance. Aside from that, I HATE when restaurants add an additional charge on to the RW menu. That’s the whole idea of RW… a 3-course dinner for $33.08. Not $33.08 plus $5, $6 or $10 dollars! Needless to say, Pigalle had “extra charges” for multiple items on their RW menu. Not cool…

In any case, we arrived for our 8:30 reservation right on time. Our table was not ready. In fact, we had to wait a good 20 or 30 minutes… which I found a little annoying, considering we took very late ressies. This was our first visit ever — for all of us — to Pigalle, so not a great first impression. But as I said earlier, I like to give restaurants a little slack during RW — b/c we all know things are not 100% during this time.

We had a few drinks at the bar and the bartender seemed very well versed (and knowledgeable) in both the wine and cocktail menu. Her recommendations were right on and the cocktails were a generous pour and quite tasty.

Once we were seated, we ordered one more round of drinks. After, we placed our orders (all three courses must be ordered at once) and waited patiently for our food to arrive.

For starters, two of us (including me) got the Tuna Martini — with seaweed salad, spicy creme fraiche and tobiko roe (normally $21)… and an additional $5 each (on top of the RW menu price). It was VERY good; however, I’m not sure it is worth the usual $21 price tag. It was fresh and delcious, but no more than any other standard sushi restaurant — where you could get the same amount for half the cost. The Husband got the Roasted Beet Salad — with confit potato, granny smith apple, candied walnuts and horseradish vinaigrette (normally $13). Again, it was very good, but honestly — nothing special and quite a skimpy portion — given the usual price tag. Lastly, one of our friends got the Pate de Porc — with grain mustard aoili, cornichons and Armagnac soaked prunes (normally $15). They loved it and were very happy with the portion and taste.

For dinner, I got the Pave of Salmon — with wild rice, ginger confit, baby bok choy and a miso broth. It was fabulous. I really enjoyed it. The Husband got the Grilled Tuna — with a potato cake, succotash of green vegetables and a basil sauce. He thought it was very good… but he didn’t LOVE it. One of our friends got the Crisply Half Duck — with blistered cornbread, steamed bok choy and a dried cherry sauce. He seemed to really enjoy it. His girlfriend got the Pigalle’s Steak Frites — with creamed spinach… an additional $6. She loved it.

Lastly, for dessert, I got the Vanilla Creme Brulee with biscotti. It was very good — but it’s hard to screw up brulee. The Husband got the Stone Fruit and Rhubarb Cobbler with vanilla ice cream… he really enjoyed it. Our friends both got the Chocolate Marquis with cherries. It was VERY rich and VERY chocolaty.

All-in-all, the food was very good… but not phenomenal, as I expected and anticipated. My biggest comment of the night was how BAD the service was. I’ve heard the service is very good at Pigalle, so I hope this was just a RW issue. After we were seated and got our first round of drinks (at the table), not ONE TIME did the server ask us if we would like another round. We would have all had another drink. That would have added $50 on to our bill… his loss. I also had to ask several times to have my water glass filled and our server was downright scarce during our entire visit. It was quite annoying.

We might try Pigalle again, only b/c of the amazing recommendations we’ve received. If I had to go on just this one visit alone, I would probably give it a big thumbs down. Bummer….

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