Where is the Best French Food in Portland, Oregon?
On a repeat visit to McMinnville and surrounding wine country, we decided to check out Bistro Maison, based on reviews we’d read on this site. On a mid-week night in September we arrived for our early evening dinner reservation. With the weather still pleasant, we chose the lush patio/garden seating where tables were covered in warm yellow and blue cloths and candles. Overhead, were strings of lights with reflectors that cast a romantic glow. The wait staff was attentive, friendly and knowledgeable, and the owner personally attended to our wine selection. We started our meal with a cheese and pate board, followed by an entree of crusted pork chop with huckleberry sauce, mash potato, and roasted green beans. The starter was varied, and piqued our anticipation of the main course. The chops (at least 1-inch thick) were perfectly done, and the sauce was rich and piquant. We finished our meal with molten chocolate cake with homemade vanilla bean ice cream, and coffee of locally roasted bean
My male friend treated his three girl friends for dinner. We ordered four appetizers, four entr?es, three desserts, and half-dozen drinks. Everything was delicious. Our waitress was excellent! She was very nice and attentive. The only down side was the old man who refilled our water was rude, and does not know the etiquette of taking plates away from the table. His arm was in front of my face to take something away, and didn’t say “pardon me, miss.” or whatever. One time when he refilled our water, the bottom of the canter was inside of my drink! I alerted my waitress, and she was pounced on the situation and got us a new drink. Regardless, the food was delicious, our waitress was great. I would recommend Fenouil, but I would inform them of the grumpy old server man. However, I must say a younger server was really great and polite. Just say away from that grumpy old man. Pros + Food, service, atmosphereCons – The staff who refilled our water was not nice
We were jonesing for some great French food and I thought of Le Bouchon. We’d never eaten there but a friend had once raved about their meals and we thought it was high time we checked it out. It was a dark and stormy Tuesday night (heh) in Portland, but we were still surprised to be the only customers for Le Bouchon. We started to worry that we might have made a mistake… fear not! It was a lovely dining experience and we thoroughly enjoyed every element – I had the Lobster Bisque, which was lovely and he enjoyed the Broccoli Cream soup. We were celebrating, so a nice glass of champers was ideal.The main course – I had the special Quail and my guy had the Pork loin. Both were classic examples of the French style and very tasty. Our server was super friendly and nice, and very considerate in leaving us to our own devices as well as sharing in stories, etc. The *only* gripe we have is that the prices seem a bit inflated. It’s a highly competitive eating area – surrounded
My husband and I went for dinner on Christmas Eve. We had booked the reservation a week or so in advance and actually picked the table where we wanted to sit. When we arrived, that table near the live jazz band was taken but we were steered to one close by. The hostess noted that the music was very loud and perhaps we’d rather sit farther away. We agreed. She seated us in a banquette near the front door. It was still very loud but we could just barely hold a conversation. The problem with being close to the front door, however, was that it was so cold we both had to keep our coats on during the entire meal. It was a very cold night, however, and probably not a circumstance that will happen very often. The beautiful curtains that shield the door are only effective if someone keeps them closed, which didn’t happen.Our waiter was a young man who had obviously memorized the specials by rote. He didn’t ask us if we wanted a drink. Ten minutes later he came back to take our orde
