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 thefoodand 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 muchfoodalready, 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.

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 morefoodfrom 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, goodfoodbut plates are too small!. we had bites and drinks at this place last night. everything was wonderful. although thefoodwas 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 thefoodthat we did get was delicious! i would go back, but only after a large supper beforehand!

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

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 offoodand wine for our meal. the grilled cabbage was the best! i will be back the next time i'm in calgary.

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

i tried pigeonhole for the first time during the 2017 big taste. they served items off their regular menu at the same portion size. it was a fantastic deal. thefoodwas fresh with lots of layers of flavours. we shared the lamb tartar and ricotta dumplings to start and both were amazing! for our mains, we shared the octopus and pork chops, and we enjoyed them as much as our starters. for dessert, we had their aerated cheesecake. it too was tasty. although i prefer a denser version, i still enjoyed it. pigeonhole is on the pricier side when it is not the big taste, but thefoodmerits the price tag. i highly recommend it.

most of the dishes were over salted. (like so salty it burned your mouth). the eggplant is a must if you have to come here. very expensive when comparing tofoodquality. our first time. won't be coming back anytime soon. great decor in the interior. they need to fix air circulation it smelled like an old dirty mouldy bathroom....

this is an amazing place to eat! thefoodis incredible, the servers are so enthusiastic and the atmosphere is perfect! i am excited for next time!

ultimately, this is a good restaurant, but it just doesn't live up to the hype around it or the awards that it has won. we were expecting spectacular, and only got mediocre food. the only outwardly negative part of our experience was that even though we'd reserved a spot, we were seated near the window, despite there being a few open tables. they could've at least offered us those tables with a time limit. aside from that, our server was great. the ambience of the restaurant is ok, but it's very dark (as you can see in our photos). for the price you pay, you can get betterfoodelsewhere. they serve tapas stylefood(think duck confit, charred cabbage, etc). even though we ordered the recommended number of plates for two people, we were still a little bit hungry. we probably won't be back.

greatfoodbut a little pricey for tiny portions.

we have been here twice during our holiday in canada. stumbled on it by chance the first time, made a reservation the second time to be sure we could taste even more of the delicious shared plates! thefoodhere is wonderful and the chefs really showcase their versatility in flavors and textures....

thefoodhere is simply amazing!
the service however was not that great. our server was disengaged and didn't seem to be interested in assisting us. we had an issue with some dirty dishes, while he rectified the problem no apology was given.
i felt as if we had inconvenienced him greatly.

located next to its sister restaurant, model milk, pigeonhole invites diners in for an intimate experience with an emphasis on share dishes and choice cocktails. one thing to note is that model milk seems to have more of a focus on a small plate dining model, and most of the portion sizes are reflective of that. with that in mind, i decided to try the rabbit bacon pate and the trout dish. i thought that the pate had a really smooth consistency, and that the flavour was really well balanced, a great mix between the rabbit meat and the bacon layer surrounding it. i also found the trout to be taste quite fresh, and paired nicely with the side sauce that it came with. i decided to try an earl grey martini, which was amazing! with an egg white mixture and a slightly sweet base, this cocktail is a definite must-try! finally for dessert, i was able to try out the pot de creme, which was reminiscent of a chocolate truffle pudding, and quite tasty, as well as the earl grey madeleines, which were oven fresh, fluffy, and flavourful. i thought our server was quite helpful, and definitely made our dining experience a great one! one small piece of feedback i found for my experience was that the wait time for thefoodseemed a bit longer compared to other restaurants, so i'm not sure if it was just different for that night, but i'm definitely willing to check this place out again!

eating at a hyped-up restaurant can be dangerous. when an eatery comes highly recommended by trusted friends or has been given prestigious awards, it’s easy to come in with sky-high expectations and be disappointed when thefooddoesn’t quite measure up. i’d eaten at pigeonhole prior to its air canada best new restaurant win, but our visit a couple of weeks ago was zevi’s first time at the restaurant, and we were counting on a meal worthy of a big winner. spoiler alert: it lived up to our expectations and then some!