Restaurant Week: Pigalle
Aug. 23rd, 2006 12:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lillibetTonight we went to Pigalle with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dpolicar and earthling177. The space is quite crowded--we had to wait for our table to be ready and there was really nowhere to stand except hovering over the hostess stand--and throughout the meal it seemed that the waitstaff were getting in each other's way as they tried to move around our table. But the service was very good and we enjoyed our meal. D&P both started with the salad of arugula with bacon, parmesan and fingerling potato chips, which they described as pedestrian, but perfectly tasty. I had an amazingly intense starter of pan-fried duck liver over parmesan risotto with a red wine reduction, while J tried the beet terrine with toasted brioche and micro herb salad, which was dressed with a particularly sharp vinaigrette that complimented the beet flavor very nicely. As mains, P and J both had the steak frites, which I thought would have been better at medium rare than rare, but was delicious and the frites were especially good. Dave and I took the crispy half duck with kung pao vegetables, sticky rice, Chinese broccoli and sweet & sour kumquats. The skin was perfect and the meat very tasty, although I prefer my duck more rare. The accompaniments were too much of a mixed bag, so that it was hard to get a sense of the flavors together, although it did make each bite a little different. For dessert, P and J had the hot fudge sundae with mint chocolate chip ice cream, which J thought was fine, but not notably special. Dave and I took the lemon meringue tart with berries. He thought it could have been more lemony, but since lemon is not one of my favorite flavors, I was happy with the mild approach. On the way home, P commented that it seemed like one of those restaurants he usually thinks are pretentious and silly, but somehow managed not to be, and we all agreed that it was a very nice dinner. Given the prices on the regular menu (the duck alone is $38) I don't know if we'd choose to go back, but we were very happy to give it a try.
dpolicar and earthling177. The space is quite crowded--we had to wait for our table to be ready and there was really nowhere to stand except hovering over the hostess stand--and throughout the meal it seemed that the waitstaff were getting in each other's way as they tried to move around our table. But the service was very good and we enjoyed our meal. D&P both started with the salad of arugula with bacon, parmesan and fingerling potato chips, which they described as pedestrian, but perfectly tasty. I had an amazingly intense starter of pan-fried duck liver over parmesan risotto with a red wine reduction, while J tried the beet terrine with toasted brioche and micro herb salad, which was dressed with a particularly sharp vinaigrette that complimented the beet flavor very nicely. As mains, P and J both had the steak frites, which I thought would have been better at medium rare than rare, but was delicious and the frites were especially good. Dave and I took the crispy half duck with kung pao vegetables, sticky rice, Chinese broccoli and sweet & sour kumquats. The skin was perfect and the meat very tasty, although I prefer my duck more rare. The accompaniments were too much of a mixed bag, so that it was hard to get a sense of the flavors together, although it did make each bite a little different. For dessert, P and J had the hot fudge sundae with mint chocolate chip ice cream, which J thought was fine, but not notably special. Dave and I took the lemon meringue tart with berries. He thought it could have been more lemony, but since lemon is not one of my favorite flavors, I was happy with the mild approach. On the way home, P commented that it seemed like one of those restaurants he usually thinks are pretentious and silly, but somehow managed not to be, and we all agreed that it was a very nice dinner. Given the prices on the regular menu (the duck alone is $38) I don't know if we'd choose to go back, but we were very happy to give it a try.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-23 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-23 02:17 pm (UTC)Pigalle is another one of those places that was on my list but that I would
never have guessed had $38 entrees.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-23 03:37 pm (UTC)Sounds like you enjoyed it at the right price.