The Pigalle Experience

Uncategorized March 13, 2011

Man, I ate and drank well this weekend. As I mentioned yesterday, it’s restaurant week in Boston and we joined our friends Lauren and Evan for dinner at Pigalle last night. Restaurant week can be hit or miss, and since the menus can be very limited, my technique for choosing a restaurant is to pick based on the menu offering first, and reputation second. Pigalle had more options than most of the other restaurants, and since I had heard good things, I went with it.

We couldn’t get a reservation until 9, so we killed time with at drink at neighboring Rustic Kitchen. Given that beer was still oozing out of my pores from Friday night, I went with a gentle glass of sangria. It was tasty.

Pigalle had wine specials in honor of restaurant week, so we went ahead and got a bottle of full-bodied french red for the table.

My first course was a field greens salad with grapefruit, goat cheese, and pecans. It was drenched in dressing, but that was a good thing in this case.

I went back and forth on which entree to order, but ultimately ordered the beef bourguignon because I wanted to sample one of the traditional french dishes for which Pigalle is famous.

Just look at that meat! It was perfectly cooked and practically melted in my mouth. The flavor was simplistic and similar to other beef stews I’ve tried, but I guess that’s what you get with a traditional dish. Though it wasn’t out of this world, I still think this is one of the best restaurant week entrees I’ve had.

Dessert was a pear and apple pop-over, although I didn’t taste any pear:( This was good and I loved that it arrived piping hot, but it didn’t seem to be on the same level as the rest of the meal. The puff pasty tasted store bought and I would have liked more crust and a bigger portion! I’ve been disappointed in quite a few desserts lately. It seems that dessert is just an after thought these days because I guess people don’t order it that often?

The overall Pigalle experience was fabulous and the service was fantastic. I’d probably go back if I could afford a non-restaurant week meal there…

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I’m headed to bed early because of the time change and because I’m extra tired – today involved some unexpected beer drinking and lots of fun with friends. I’ll fill you in tomorrow! Sleep tight.