pigeonhole

came here tonight for girls dinner club tonight.  i decided on this place since it was rated the top new restaurant of 2015.  it is located right beside model milk, the one complaint i had about this place was the entrance is a pain in the butt.  there is no visible sign and everyone had trouble looking for the door.  the door is actually on the side by the cross fit gym.  they should have arrows on the front windows directing people, this is really inconvenient.  we had a smaller group of 5 tonight and we got sat right by the kitchen.  since it was all our first time there it was exciting watching the chefs prepare the food and seeing what looks good to try.  restaurant is family style based and they are smaller plates.  the waitress recommended 10-15 dishes to share.  one of my friends and i got 2 dishes each and we were satisfied while the other 3 girls ordered a bunch and shared.  i got the charred cabbage with mimolette cheese and yummy jalapeno cream dressing.  it sounds so simple but it was delicious and i would recommend this to anybody.  the chicken liver mousse was rich and smooth but could less salty.  i asked for more bread to finish the rest of it the other girls raved about the osoyoss asparagus and the mayo sauce that came with it and the crunchy croutons. another dish that stood out was the 23 oz bone in short rib san choy bao for $58 big enough to share with 3 ppl- it came with lettuce wraps, roti, peanuts, cilantro.   the short rib was nicely marinaded and braised and was fall apart tender.   our waitress advised that the chef was not satisfied with the size of portion that we were given and made us an second portion to go with it.  so awesome! so much food already, the other dishes we ordered was: beef tartare, ricotta dumplings, deviled eggs, rabbit &bacon pate, salted cod, nori crumpets, pot de creme and earl grey madeleine.  too many to review each dish but wanted to highlight our favourites.  they have seasonal menus which change constantly to ensure they are serving the freshest ingredient with what is in season.  we all left full and content. i can see why there were top new restaurant last year.

i went here on new years with a group of six and all the dishes we got were amazing! the kitchen is open so you can see the chefs cooking right in front of you

half good half bad. very small portions, delivered much too far apart for how not busy the restaurant was. some were good some were very mediocre and some hilariously overpriced.. like $4 per piece of mushroom... get outta here. we walked down the road and grabbed more food from one of our more favourite restos after because we were still hungry. shouldn't have to spend over $100 for 2 with 1 drink each and leave hungry. not really impressed - typical "calgary" bs where you charge exorbitant amounts for run of the mill ingredients and people pay it. this resto wouldn't last anywhere else.

good atmosphere, good staff, good food but plates are too small!. we had bites and drinks at this place last night. everything was wonderful. although the food was very tasty, the plates were just too small for what they cost. they're meant to be sharing plates and not meant for a full meal but even then, i left feeling hungry. still, the service was great, restaurant was beautiful and the food that we did get was delicious! i would go back, but only after a large supper beforehand!

drinks and small plates: excellent. the cocktails are great and the wine selection is quirky and high quality. plates are smallish but tasty - you will need 3-4 per person but you will want to order more. charred cabbage. wow. trout. morels and dumplings. halibut and pickled ramps. wow wow wow. great room. great service. holds to the same high standards as model milk next door and a bit more fun.

excellent. perfect atmosphere for a few hours of conversation over interesting glasses of wine and exquisite small plates.

i have to agree with most of the previous reviews that it is overpriced and i found the quality inconsistent. half of our dishes were exceptional and the other half were disappointing. i would go again just to get the cauliflower and a cocktail but wouldn't go for a whole meal.

wow. went for dinner with two friends. great place for sharing. started with the caviar. had the beet salad and roasted cabbage salad. then the 24oz steak. best steak i’ve had in a very very long time. make a reservation.  apparernly the regulars have favourite spots at the bar.  we were told that we had two hours before the reservation arrive, they were great about just moving us down a few seats.  we were forwarned so was definately not an issue for us

loved everything we tried (& the eclectic dinnerware!). service was excellent - server knew food & wine menus well. only complaint was that the music was too loud & the room was too dark! (4.5/5)

this place is similar to so many other newer restaurants in the city. there are a litany of choices on the menu, but virtually none of them are appealing - we almost walked out after perusing the choices, but we foolishly decided to give a few dishes a try. the first three dishes we attempted to order, we were told they were all out of. so to start, we had the artisan sourdough bread which came out cold and was salty, it was nothing special. the keg serves way better bread and it's complimentary. next, chicken skewers which was the best dish we tried, yet bland. then came the charred cabbage with what looked like grated cheddar atop, nasty. finally, pork slices which were very fatty, but not very tasty. perhaps the worst part were the extremely uncomfortable chairs on the patio digging into our backs. therefore, i can't even recommend this place for just drinks. these chefs designing weird menus need to go back to basics.

i wish i didn’t have such a bad experience and could give this place another try based off everyone else’s reviews. the beef tartare tasted like ground beef straight from the grocery store and portions were tiny! we waited half an hour for our bill before flagging the hostess down. “i’m not your server” was the response we got. half an hour later i had to wave my credit card at our server, who had three other tables as far as i can tell. she finally brought over the bill without the machine. had to wait another half an hour before we got the machine. wasn’t it a given when she saw my credit card? total time it took for dinner on a tuesday night took 4 hours. definitely not worth coming back

my friend and i decided to try pigeonhole for big taste this year. i'm so glad we did. the ambiance was nice and romantic. our server was awesome and helped us with excellent choices of food and wine for our meal. the grilled cabbage was the best! i will be back the next time i'm in calgary.

the decor is very nice, we went there after reading about it a lot in the media. we found the menu to be kind of limited and too specific, the portions are very small too, we only had starters and chose to have a meal somewhere else. but no doubt the quality and taste were great! but the portions are a bit girly... i was there with my boyfriend.

really cool place. love the vibe and the look! the food is delicious. the perfect spot to share a couple plates with friends. good selection of wines and beers. gotta check it out.

i recently checked out pigeonhole's shared plate menu for summer feast and tried some of their most popular dishes, including the crowd-pleasing charred cabbage with grated mimolette cheese and jalapeno cream. i highly recommend coming here for a large group, double dates, dinner with parents or really with anyone so you can try more dishes!