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Mon-Fri. 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Mon-Fri. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
"I finally got to try out the new menu at Gilt, and I am impressed. I had the pleasure of sitting down to try samples and full plates from…" read more »
Many restaurants in Portland are closed on Sunday. I was looking for a joint with good food and atmosphere and open on a Sunday to celebrate a friend's birthday, where we could dress up a little. I settled on Bluehour.
At 7:00 on a Sunday night you could have fired off six rounds of buckshot and hit no one. It only got worse, not better, as the evening progressed. By the end of dinner we were the only ones at a table.
We sat at a table near the window that was on a slope, so anything you placed to the left of your dinner plate slowly listed to the right. An interesting choice in a table given the entire restaurant was available.
The food was ... fine. The cocktails were ... fine. The waiter was superb.
We decided to continue the festivities by hitting the Portland City Grill for dessert. Aha! That's where everyone is on a Sunday night in Portland! Now I know.
It's funny how people's opinions diverge so greatly based on expectations. When I see Bluehour, I think swanky. By association, swanky means a bit spendy. I figure that these two words pretty much sum up most of the businesses in the Pearl District, and if I go, then I know what to expect. Bluehour came in right within those expectations for me.
I hosted a strategic planning session recently in Bluehour's back room (aka L'Heure Bleu) for my Board of Directors. These people know their swanky, and they aren't easily fooled. We did lunch, drinks and dinner, and we were in the room for almost 7 hours. The staff made the experience really pleasant, and the food was excellent.
Was it expensive? Yep. We paid north of $2,500 for the experience. Was it worth it? Another yep. I'd recommend them to anyone who is looking for a high-end dining venue. Remember, people... cheap happy hours are a "loss leader". There's no such thing as a free lunch... especially when it's this swanky.
Great ambiance and amazing brunches, but a bit overrated. The brunch staff is very accommodating and they nmake you feel very at home.
I went there with seven other girl friends. We have a blast laughing it up and having a good time. We did have to check ourselves at times, to ensure our volume wasn't vibrating. Wish we could have been ourselves without all the formality and propriety. I think if that was possible, it would have given the place more life.
It's definitely a place to be seen, you can see by the way the customers act. I find it funny that the servers are more real then the people who go here.
I love the cocktails and the decor!! Absolutely love it. The wait staff and bartenders are very nice and helpful. I would be there all the time but unfortunately the price is a little high. I'm okay with this when I go out here because I know i'll get some awesome drinks and food. Simply beautiful place.
Happy Hour review:
It's cheap and it's good. Go for the fondue which is 1/2 price..for less than $10 bucks you can have a fondue meal for two w/ bread, asparagus, steak bites, you can't beat the pricing on this. All appetizers are 50% off, totally worth it, totally good. One special cocktail is priced low and one beer. Overall two people can get out of there spending about $20-$25 bucks w/ drinks. I love the happy hour here and the full size appetizers and fondue well worth it.
+: Love their HH ordering process and the menu, portions, price and outdoor seating all total a good deal.
-: Too snooty.
!: LOVE the foie gras protesting during prime dinner time! YES!!!
?: Can I have your HH menu pad?
I only stopped here for a cocktail...i'm a fan.
I was alone, ordered a martini. Some business men shared their tapas with me (fun mushroom something) and i had a glass of cab.
Lovely evening. Not my crowd, but a fun hang.
When husband and I are lazy and we dont feel like cooking....off to blue hour.
Now, I know the menu is pricy, but Happy Hour (4:30-6:30 M-F) is the best. The entire bar menu is half price, but yet full size portions. You can taste the quality of the food, it taste good. While, I dont eat meat--the burger looks good enough to even tempt me.
They have one HH cocktail and one beer on tap.
Classy, elegant, and you get the fun hob-nobish feel of the Pearl, but for a budget friendly price.
I had planned to have a celebration for a party of 12 there the night of my law school graduation, so my boyfriend and I went to check it out. (I had been there for drinks several times, but had never seen the space that we were going to reserve for the dinner). Was so disappointed have decided to do the graduation dinner elsewhere. . .
First, if you want a fun, contemporary, atmosphere, it's great. In other words, if you are one of those Portlanders that wishes you really lived in LA, you'll love it here. However, you can get food twice as good for half the price at any number of other places in town.
The ceasar salad is overdressed--the one at Ken's pizza is 100 times better.
The steak frites come with about 8 paper-thin slices of steak--I don't consider myself a big eater, and without the salad I would have left hungry. Go to Castagna if you want that.
Finally, I had always thought at least the service at Bluehour was good--however that was shattered when our waiter (at 9:45) approached us and told us, "we already had last call but if you want I'll let you have another drink." Wait--I thought the point of last call was to actually INFORM the customers that it was last call?
I will return here if I want to have some fun cocktails in a good atmosphere. However, if I want good food and nonpretentious service, I'll stick to the east side of the river.
Very cool interior, good enough food but it lacks in service. I found the service to be rude and snobby. I won't be going back it's one of those places where it's cool to drop in once to experience the hype and realize there are better places to dine.
I had my first lunch here yesterday with visiting guests and it was out of this world! We chose the 3 course lunch for $20 and every single item was delicious starting with the best Arnold Palmer tea I have ever had. Crusty bread with butter & rock salt, tomato soup, gnocchi with a truffle sauce, fresh panicotti, orange sorbet....everything was exceptional. Great service too. Would go back for lunch in a heartbeat - super affordable too (well, as opposed to dinner!)
I setup a client meeting at BlueHour because one of my co-workers recommended it. Warning bells should've gone off though - she'd recommend McFaddens. But no, it was a busy week, so my brain said "good idea".
This should give you an idea of what to expect; there was a patio with cute seating, but the tiny tables were bolted to the ground and entirely too close together. Blue Hour looks fun, but is actually a huge disappointment.
We came at happy hour, but the menus we were given offered no distinction between regular fare and the fun stuff. Ironic, that the women seated beside us were happily flipping through that new Portland Happy Hour guide + taking pictures to mark this place off their list. I still dont know how I feel about that.
My companions ordered that pino hybrid wine (which they loved), I ordered the Claudette (which was actually pretty awesome). Good start.
Then we ordered the cheese plate, meatballs, and the bruchetta.
Found out that bruchetta doesn't mean vegetable concoction on toasted bread. Turns out it really means roasted pork with aioli mayo, arugula, and fried potato medallions. Call me old fashion, that's an open faced sandwich.
The drinks came after about 10 minutes. The food? Pretty much when the waiter felt like it. We got the cheese plate first, followed by the meatballs and open faced sandwich 15 minutes later. The food wasn't bad, but it also wasn't great. Actually on par with a deli.
The worst part, however, was how the waiter faded in and out of attentiveness as our stay went on. It took one of our party waving her arms and loudly trying to get his attention before he finished serving us. Took him another 15 minutes to bring me orange juice. This place wasn't packed, so unless he was squeezing the oranges by hand after picking them fresh from the grove, there's no excuse.
Oh yeah, and the fondue? I've had melted string cheese with more flavor. Though the hair in the cheese and in the sliced apples was a nice touch. When I mentioned the hairs, the waiter offered us new apples. Really? McDonald's has a better "make the customer happy" policy.
Moral: skip this place. If you want NW fondue and drinks, go to Urban Fondue and Martini Bar.
Come early and get the eggs benedict...this is by far the best breakfast!! Yum! Wish I was there now!!
I went back for happy hour again.... and again, they just handed us a regular menu without mentioning that it was happy hour. Next time, I'm going to see if I get charged full price if I don't mention it.
However, the food is great. I had steak frites with bearnaise.... awesome. My husband had oysters and the pork shoulder sandwich and also loved both.
I wish this place didn't have such a snobby feeling to it.
This place is trendy looking, but look past that during the 1630-1830 hours. The drink specials… Read more »
in my humble opinion, it's a bit overrated. pretty good food, but surprisingly somewhat limited menu options. honestly burgers, fondue and ceasar salad can be had pretty much anywhere for less money and bigger portions, although the ceasar dressing was pretty tasty! i suppose when i hit my next jackpot i'll go back and try more of the "frenchy" foods on the menu which are probably more unique and exciting.
i will say though, the desert was BOMB. chocolate and salted caramel torte? yes please, i'll have five. i will recommend bluehour solely based on the desert menu!!
4.5 Stars
Our waitress was very sweet, Knowledgeable as well as attentive!
My scallops were fresh and perfectly cooked . The risotto garnished with white truffles was a little bland for my taste but still pretty good. I salad garnished with blue cheese and pears was delicious.
Price: $29 to $50 per person
YUMMY LIST:
Matello Late Harvest Riesling Oregon 2007
BIBB, ENDIVE & FRISÉE SALAD
with grilled bosc pears, roasted walnuts, buttermilk blue cheese and zinfandel vinaigrette
SEARED SEA SCALLOPS
wrapped with smoked bacon, celery root purée and caper dressing
HAPPY HOUR:
Mon-Fri 4:30PM-6:30PM & 10-Close
Sunday 5:30-7:30
Happy hour at Bluehour includes $3.00 draft beer, $4.00 well drinks, $1-$7 appetizers, and $20 bottles of wine. Late-night happy hour every night starting whenever the dining area closes, usually around 10 or 10:30 pm. Bartenders at Blue Hour make drinks to please.
Now, I try to be somewhat objective about things. Look for the good in a place that might otherwise suck.
But all I've got to say is this... this place is expensive and 'posh' however it's got a 3.5 star rating. Wow... the stars don't quite match up to what they're trying to do now do they?
The honest truth is, I wanted this place to suck so badly before I even walked in. You see, I wrote a review awhile ago that called out two friends that work there in the valet section. It mentioned something about them being nice guys and how you should wave on your way into the restaurant. The star rating could only help the crappy ass average that Bluehour has but someone along the line decided that they needed to flag my review and have it removed. Well, edgar or edward or whatever his name is at Yelp HQ and I have exchanged one way e-mails a few times last year for removed reviews. It's fine, he's got a job to do and I've got plenty of nonsense to write. Like you're seeing right now!
So, walk into this ritzy place in a dickies jacket with some chucks on. Take that Pearly bastards. The group of us were sat at the back toward the kitchen. Word was they were totally anti check splitting. Wow, stupid move when you've got a table of critical keyboard wielders.
Happy hour was honestly not that impressive. Fondue that smelled rather funky for seven bucks, well drinks were four dollars - which they are in almost every bar... I'd hate to see what they are normally. A decent pizza but nothing really to speak of for like six bucks. Weird cheese plate with two pieces of cheese for some price, who knows who cares.
Andina last week was a five star experience but I four'd it because I wanted to see what a dinner was like while removed from an event. Our servers were not the problem, the mission statement of this crappy ass restaurant and the clientele is the problem. I'm being generous here with two stars because I have no desire ever to go back to this over priced, under impressive, plastic shit hole. Harsh? Deal with it.
So, to relive the flagged dream that was actually three stars, not two...
Two friends work here. One is a valet, one is a busser. They're great guys. Wave to them as you walk in.
The rest of this place, el sucks.
This is a tough review to write. Not sure which way to go with this at all. At all.
I scheduled a happy hour here for some peoples and called to ask about a reservation. They don't take reservations for happy hour (standard practice) but they made a special exception for our large party. That was nice.
I showed up a little early to scope the place and walked into an ultra-cool space with nice music, nice lighting, a great chandelier, and very well dressed staff. I realized I was amongst the upper-crust of Portland. This is where the elite dine. I could feel it, and places like this definitely have their time and place. Our table was almost ready (the kitchen table at the back of the restaurant), and I enjoyed a nice glass of red as I sat at the quiet, elegant bar. So far, the service is great. If the queen of England comes to town, I will bring her here for a cocktail.
Once at the table, I handed my card to the server and told her that I would like to keep a separate tab, so I could buy some apps for the table, and such. "Oh, we don't do separate checks". Hmm. Wow. At more inexpensive places, I can see that they need to save server effort. But at a super spendy place, with tons of staff on hand, there is no reason that checks cannot be split. Especially on a Sunday afternoon with advance notice and an attempt to work out an easy plan with the server. I am trying to host some food and drinks!! That means that everyone else at the table will spend more! No heat on the server here, obviously a company policy (albeit bad one). My wife and I have worked in the industry. It's not hard to split checks. Not hard, and common practice at most restaurants, especially if worked out before hand.
Then came round after round of food and drink. The food was decent but not amazing. The meat plate and pizza are good HH deals, but the rest was underwhelming. They offer a bottle of decent French red on the HH menu for $20, and a bottle of sparkling for $25. If that's what you are in to, you are in for a deal. Most of our group wanted cocktails, and those were not all that cheap. Only 1 cocktail on the HH special, aside from well drinks and beers. When you're as rich as Bluehour, you can afford to offer a better deal at HH. Or maybe they're trying to keep the riff raff out. From how packed it is at much more reasonably priced happy hours within a mere 1 block radius, I am guessing that Bluehour simply has not figured out the equation yet.
The service was decent enough for a party of 13 at happy hour, but our bill was insanely high for what we had. That turned the hour unhappy, and quick. This is simply not a great deal. Not at all. The only really good deals on there are the pizza (as mentioned above) and the wine at $20/bottle.
So why 3-stars? Well, notwithstanding the poor choice of corporate policy, the service was good enough. The pizza was decent and cheap for how big and tasty it was. And their initial attempt to accommodate us was, well, endearing.
But honestly. To be pretentious and inflexible at your overpriced happy hour is, well, it just pisses people off. And I honestly don't think you are in the business of doing that. It may appeal to some, but I see most at the other happy hours nearby that offer deals, flexibility, and lack of pretension. This is really a 2.5 star review.
This is the tragic part. Sitting by myself at the crisp, clean white bar, enjoying my very reasonably priced glass of tasty French red, I had high hopes for the 2 happy hours to come. As the night progressed, things turned for the worse.
I eat at plenty of very nice restaurants in this town and in other big cities, I know how it goes. There is a time and place for this level of snoot, and happy hour is NOT IT.
Let's start with the pros.
No one sneered at me when I walked in.
Our server/busser combination was snappy and non-judgmental. I'm willing to bet we're less fussy than your typical Bluehour customer, so maybe it was worth them burning the linens and destroying the dishes we fouled.
Now the cons:
Fancy pants nouveau riche jerkholery. If you have to ask you can't afford it. The only reason we let "people like you" in is because we can't legally keep you out. Stay snooty, Bluehour.
It's not worth it. Bluehour is epic fail. And the not check splitting. Grrr. They get one star because Yelp says I have to give it to them and another star for graciously suffering our presence long enough to take some money from us. Thanks bunches, Bluehour.
Guess what?
Happy hour suuuuuuuuucks!
What's the point?
What IS the point?
One fancy schmancy cocktail [that sucks] coupled with wells and ONE beer? Don't overdo yourself, seriously. Your food isn't anything to get excited for either. Nothing was special. A few pieces of meat on a plate. Some ridiculously hard balls of bread. Some cheese. A flat looking piece of pizza. Overly cooked sweet potato fries.
Spare me the pretentious bullshit. Spare me.
Not wanting to keep individual tabs, but willing to split the check up a couple ways? What is so difficult about splitting the check? I will never understand. NEVER.
I'm pretty sure we were the loudest group of people this place has ever seen. Dropping f-bombs and whatever else x-rated stuff we could was probably icing on the cake.
Did you see the windex sitting on the kitchen counter? Do you want that in your food? I don't.
I just don't understand. I was a forgiving with high tea, because well, I was excited with high tea. But now? I'm over it. I am so over it.
Over it. Thanks Pearl, you win.
Again.
Their teacups are so cute.
But they'd be cuter with tea in them.
Sarcasm was my preferred cup of tea…
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PDX is a destination for a lot of different folks. Ever have the following conversation as a visitor or with one?
"Oh Dude! You're in Portland? You've gotta check out _________."
Riders: Burnside Skatepark
Eclectics: The Velveteria
Botanist / Cruel parents of bored teenagers: The International Rose Test Garden
Architects: The Widen + Kennedy Office
That last one is damn near impossible to get into, given the obviously private global marketing HQ nature of the place. But lucky for the shooed away Bluehour is designed by the same folks (Allied Works Architecture) and is located within the same heavy timber skyscraper (no joke) as W+K.
Hitting up happy hour on a late Sunday afternoon is an interesting event. The spot is empty at 4.30 but quickly fills up as the night goes on with the pearly usuals. For being a swanky spot, the happy hour pad and pen where you check off your selection and order from the waitress seems a little strange. Aside from a list of appetizers and dishes, well drinks are on for $4 and a specialty cocktail for $5. It's not a knock your socks off happy hour, but for the Pearl it's alright... I suppose that's how I feel about the whole experience in general. Staff is friendly, but not really go out of their way awesome, drinks are good but not amazing, the place is cool but not the swankiest I've seen.
I suppose there's something to be said about the experience of place. No matter how bomb people say a spot might be, it ultimately comes down to you having to be the one to decide just how cool it is. Maybe you like the Tigard Skatepark (it's got a concrete t-rex, just sayin') better than Burnside, or Voodoo Doughnuts over the Velveteria... it's really your call. In my case Bluehour won't ever be my first pick, but will do just nicely when I want a drink in a building that's as close as Portland will ever get to "starchitecture".
Plus it's a great spot to fearlessly bust out your camera and take pictures of the ceiling while licking your W+K denied entry wounds.
My reviews r usually 2 long. So I'm pretending that I was texting during the UYE to my fictional Twitterblog.
Ack am lost! Where is door? see sign for pica but that mean eating chalk etc.
Phew found door. Ack Super trendy?? Ack snobby? where is Yelp?
Phew staff was nice. phew found Yelp. r nice.
Yum! Girly drink is girly. And pretty! and tasty! only 5 dollars!
All is going well, but theres a crazy man at other end of table.
Guagh...am hungry...but am on BUDget.
Barooo? 5 dollar big pizza? Yes please now!
(no texting--voracious nomming)
TheEnd
End thinks: hppy hr.? big yes! Will get pizza!
other times? Prolly not.
It was great food and good cocktails! That was for Happy hour but I would def go for dinner! Friends and I had alot of fun with god atmosphere!
I've only been here for happy hour, but truly enjoyed myself in the chic atmosphere. Low prices on tasty snacks including pizza. The drink special of the day is usually pretty exceptional. This place is a little more dressy than your average happy hour. Good fun!
This place is swanky, trendy, slick, and borderline ridiculous. Just the way I like to spend a Friday night!
I'm so glad I came here for dinner and a drink my last night in Portland. Pictures really don't do this place justice. It's one of the most beautiful restaurants I've ever been to. As Brian R. said, it's really is ultra modern, white, trendy, candle lit... just awesome. I was in awe of the height of the ceilings. This place is huge!
I started with the Diva, which was house infused vodka with fresh ruby red grapefruit juice and lime. YUM. Nothing gets better than FRESH squeezed juice and alcohol, especially ruby red grapefruit, with a sugar rim. It was sweet and pulpy, without being overwhelming. Thanks to my waitress for recommending it.
For my entree, I got the pan fried rissoto cakes. I was served two perfectly formed, crispy risotto cakes with a side salad of baby green and mushrooms and a thick slice of fennel. The rissoto cakes (2) were good, although they were quite oily... way too oily for my liking. The taste was good (butternut squash, green lentils), but without the caper "dressing" they probably would have been a little bland. However, the fennel was a great touch, and the salad was good... although that was a little oily as well.
I was watching what everyone else was ordering. What caught my eye- the cheese plates, burgers and fries, fondue (it's HUGE!) and gnocchi.
This place is awesome. Other than my dish being a tad too oily for my taste, my Bluehour experience really was fabulous. I look forward to coming back on future trips.
Regarding other peoples comments about the clientel being asses, pretentious, snobby. I don't agree with that at all. I actually interacted with a quite a few other diners and they were all extremely pleasant.
I must say, attending the UYE happy hour tour of Portland is THE way to experience some of our great city's happy hour offerings -- and Bluehour provided a lovely evening's diversion.
Somewhat formal decor, with white linens and uncluttered space; very courteous and solicitous servers.
Happy hour drink offerings: $20 wine bottles (some delightful choices available), a beer of the evening, a cocktail of the evening (I tend to prefer several choices, as I'm not always assured of loving the evening's selection). The cocktail of the evening was a "spice car" -- a spiced sidecar, containing the perfect balance of sweet and tart. I loved it, and ordered two.
Several options for inexpensive nosh: a really wonderful crisp thin margherita pizza, sweet fresh oysters, an elegant cheese plate, a "butcher's plate" (paper-thin savory smoked meats with whole seed mustard and sweet-tart mini-peppers), delicious fondue (served with bread and tart apples, and they even brought me steamed Brussels sprouts as well).
Good food, good drink, and good company... I left completely satisfied. Thank you, everyone.
If you are looking for a great meal at a good price, this isn't the place for you. Bluehour is very hip/upbeat restaurant in Portland. A great time out for a group or a young couple. The ambience is nice, although they crank the music and the food isn't what you pay for. To start, try the Corn & Heirloom Tomato Soup and/or the Gnocchi; they are both very tasty. The entrees are a slightly different story. The King Salmon is good bite, although if you don't like horseradish then stay away. The Steak is mediocre, definitely not worth the $40. Dessert isn't bad; the Peach dish is quite a treat. Make sure to bring an extra $10 for Valet parking. To sum up this review, Bluehour is all about the atmosphere, and less about the food.
Nice atmosphere with cool outdoor seating. This was the first stop on our 3 restaurant dinner.
Here is what we ordered:
1. Sangria - Different than a typical Sangria. It had champagne in it so it was a nice light drink.
2. Cheese Fondue - This was mediocre. The flavors of the cheese tasted a little artificial. Only bread for dipping, nothing else. Some apples would have been nice.
3. Oysters - These were fantastic. Big oysters that were very fresh. Request fresh horseradish, it makes all the difference.
I have not had dinner there yet, but I would give it a shot the next time I am in Portland.
Lose the hipsters and this place would be 5 stars. Lose the beautiful waitresses and maybe 3 stars. Ah, I guess you can't have one without the other! Happy hour menu is good.
I have had a dinner, a couple of lunches, Easter brunch, and several happy hours here. My vote is with happy hour, as it is with most anyplace. Bluehour is chi chi Peal district cool. It's fun to go to places like this now and then.
The happy hour prices won't break the bank. You can imbibe decent wines for about $20 a bottle and enjoy the pleasant selection of foods. The things I've had and liked have been the cheese fondue (good with the honeycrisp apple), the pizza was great with whole roasted cloves of garlic, and my surprise favorite, fried olives. They sound bizarre, but taste great! They're small pincholine green olives with a very thin crust. They aren't greasy at all. For $1, you should try them.
I like coming to a place where I can wear something fancy and not feel overdressed. Hard to find that in Portland. I like it.
I really liked it here. It was NOT pretentious at all.. unless it's cuz my friend and I are both pretentious anyway so we fit right in? We came here on a friday night, probably after 8pm. Landed a table right away. Blondie and I stopped by here to drink some more and encounterd protesters protesting selling/consuming Fois gras. So FUN, SO FESTIVE!!! There's not many of them so it's not some scary scene. I was sad because they were gone by the time we left at about 10. I like a good chant. Anyway, service was wonderful. Our server was very nice and sweet, extremely attentive and apologized because she thought she was rushing us in ordering more drinks. I'm leaving off a star because I haven't dined here yet. I had the diva martini and it was really good, stiff and tart. Great crowd, great atmosphere and service.
Don't be intimidated by the place, we saw a girl wearing adidas slippers in the place. She just needed to be smacked across the face to be reminded that those are not appropriate for friday night outings. Lazy ass.
Definitely will be back for happy hour
Decor was wonderful for a girl's get together. I love the high ceilings.
Waitstaff was great.
Food was amazing. We couldn't stop eating the oysters.
Happy hour menu was extensive and reasonably priced.
I am a bit biased since my experience was problematic... I grew up a strict vegetarian and over the years have started to take on new things... first sushi (then all kinds of fish/seafood), then added on chicken. However I just have not made it to pork or beef, so when at a restaurant I double check the menus to make sure everything is kool.
So we were there for an early dinner 6:30 or so, place was still pretty empty... ordered drinks and my wife wanted something that was not too tart, and not too sweet... a good bartender would have no problem with that, maybe it wasn't his night or drink. Not impressed with the drinks.
Fine little mini appetizer from the chef... and then we ordered food, I got the monkfish and my wife got the chicken. Food arrived and I started eating, and thinking hmm this is really interesting fish (never had monkfish before)... and offered my wife a bite (after I had eaten like 5 bites)... she pointed out that the "skin" was actually bacon. Anyways I am sure most of ya'll have no problem with that and in fact probably like the idea... for me it was most appetite ruining to say the least.
We had a little chit chat with the waiter in which he proceeded to tell me that was what the menu said (bacon wrapped monkfish), and lo and behold the menu just said monkfish. Anyways they offered more drinks on the house, but we opted to move on... they comped the meal, but I won't be going back... especially with those loud protesters yelling about foi grois (sp). I mean really isn't there something a little more important to protest???? like Darfur??? or McCain's credit card bills?
I'm totally conflicted on this joint. Okay, so it can't really be called a "joint." So I'll start over. I'm totally conflicted on this "dining establishment." I brought Vegas Maria here for happy hour on a Tuesday night. Vegas Maria thinks everyone in Portland wears khakis, has dreads and wears socks with sandals. So I figured I'd prove her wrong. Except it was happy hour on a Tuesday so there was nobody in there except a table full of ladies with fanny packs (I sh$% you not).
Anyway, I had the Prosecco to start. Then I had their happy hour drink which was a sparkling white Sangria. Holy yummy. Vegas Maria and I split the beef carpaccio. The idea of raw beef kind of skeeved me out, but it was damn good. Another friend showed up and she ordered the Pizza Margareta. Huge. $5.00 and huge. And yummy with big cloves of roasted garlic.
However, I can see where this place might get Pretentious with a capital P. I know this because the tables are small. Small tables = Pretentious. See how that works? So that's the conflict. Good food, good drink, but the P word brings it down a notch.
We came on a Saturday night and it was SUUUPER busy at the bar and no reservations...for 7..but luckily, the hostess was so nice (I forgot her name) she kept an eye out for us at the bar side and within five minutes she sat us down, took our coats and we were on our merry way of drinking and dining.
The drink that we had (wasn't on the menu) was called sweet heat. VERY tasty I had two and my gfriend had three. We had to ration ourselves since we were bar hopping.
People can be pretentious there..but that night..EVERYONE was really nice and considerate. While we were waiting for our coats, a very pretty lady came up to us and said people were leaving at the table next to her and wanted to know if we wanted the table! Very cool lady, too bad we were on our way out...we would have had some fun converstations.
This is one of my regular spots to hang out..it's consistent and the food is always good! Drinks can vary depending on the bartender.
DANK! Sundays are off the hook for happy hour. Half priced wine, screaming gnocchi, cheese fondue, mmmmm.... a Must on Sunday Funday.
Seeing a DB9 parked right out front, I knew I had a good dinner in store! I was here to celebrate my 21st. The creative drinks on their menu are really yummy.
We ordered raw oysters, gnocchi, tuna, duck, among others. The duck was awesome, this coming from a Chinese girl who is used to eating Roast duck or Peking Duck. The chef even started us out with a complimentary appetizer! The dessert menu is ever changing as is their lunch/dinner menus but the 3 desserts ordered were all delicious.
Very knowledgeable and patient staff. Our waiter suggested a delicious pinot gris.
The atmosphere is definitely a more hip city scene. Regardless of the scene, it was way too loud and the tables for 2 were smashed together with no privacy. The tables for 4 looked nice and curtained off. The appetizers were good, as they should be, they're not very hard to mess up. The gnocchi was amazing and so was the heirloom tomato corn soup. The entrees on the other hand were NOT good for their price. A $39 steak was chewy. The salmon was good, although not very fresh. Overall, for the price and what I think of to be fine dining, BlueHour has improvements to make. The noise is a huge factor for me. I could hardly hear my date.
Say cheese! Overall things were very good.
Service, knowledge of the menu, everything that arrived at the table was very good. Oh, but the cheese assortment and the presentation was wonderful!
Had dinner here with the team and even after two nice bottles of wine (although that's only 2 glasses per person), I wasn't very impressed with the place. It was A-OK and hence, the 3-star rating. Maybe there's just too many other restaurants out there ... The venue is really nice!
Salmon tartare was good but lacking a bit in taste (could use a bit more lime) and the seared scallops were too rich for me and I had the appetizer portion. Service was too slow. I think we waited a good half hour in between our appetizer and entree.
I can see this being a good happy hour place but I don't think I'd be spending my own money to dine here.
Daily Happy Hour!
Neighborhood: Northwest
New Expanded Happy Hour Menu
Neighborhood: Old Town
Neighborhood: Pearl District
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Pearl District
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: Pearl District
Category: American (New)
Neighborhood: Pearl District
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Pearl District
Category: French
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