The Pink Door

Reviews 3

SW

Swing Portland

The Pink door is located just blocks from Pike Place Market on Post Alley. To the surprise of patrons, the entrance door off post alley is oddly painted white rather than pink. Upon entering, the diner descends a full story down a long staircase to the reception. The dining room is a visually stunning masterpiece with lighting that highlights the pinkish hue of the concrete block walls. An empty swing hangs from the ceiling hinting at the weekly aerial acrobatic performances and cabaret that The Pink Door is famous for. The dining room is U shaped so the entry side of the restaurant has no live show view and muffled acoustics from the stage side. Diners should ask to be seated stage side if they expect to enjoy the frequent live music. Thursdays, The Pink Door hosts jazz trio Bric A Brac. The trio is one of the numerous bands fronted by Greg Ruby, one of Seattle’s preeminent jazz guitarists. Unfortunately, Greg Ruby was absent from the show on 3/26/15. An encounter with the subbing guitarist and bass player in the John revealed that accordion extraordinaire Maggie Kim was the bandleader for the evening and the accompanying musicians provided an impromptu band name, “The Maggie Kim Trio”. Whether Bric A Brac or the Maggie Kim Trio, the band was extraordinary and lively. The European string jazz filled the restaurant with excitement and life. The recognizable “La Vie En Rose” was exceptional and created the perfect background ambiance. Service at The Pink Door is near flawless. Courteous greetings and instant acknowledgement from the hostess staff transitioned to instant service from the busser to fill our water glasses. The menu was a bit overwhelming for a first time diner. Dinner entrees range from $15 to $40 and are generally served a la carte. The highly reviewed Lasagna Pink Door is $18 and a great choice for those new to the restaurant. Cocktails range from $8-$12. The Pink Madonna much like the entrance door was peculiarly not pink, but was plenty satisfying along with the limoncello and Moscow Mule. An order of Sauteed Calamari antipasti was served in a spinach, tomato, garlic, and wine sauce that was mouth wateringly splendid. The main entrees of Linguini Alle Vongole and Lasagna Pink Door arrived in a timely manner. The Linguini was served in a slightly over salted white wine sauce with pancetta, garlic, and pepperoncini. A healthy serving of baby clams in the shell were heaped over the noodles which makes the $18 meal price a fair deal. The Linguini was good, but not fantastic. Al dente is the worst way to cook noodles and it’s unfortunate that restaurants do not realize this. Fully cooked is the way to go. The linguini noodles were far from firm, just chewy and somewhat unpleasant. While the linguini was good enough, the lasagna was another story entirely. It is out of this world delicious! The fresh spinach is layered in a rich, creamy besciamella sauce with pesto and is covered in a flavorful marinara. Each bite of the lasagna is an indescribable experience of pure delightful pleasure. The meal is best enjoyed slowly with closed eyes while taking long deep breaths. The chocolate boobie cake finale sends the senses into overdrive with its multilayered chocolate exterior and mousse interior served aside a splash of caramel and chocolate syrup. The combined effect of the lasagna and cake is nothing short of spectacular. Come to The Pink Door for an amazing evening of entertainment, succulent menu selections, and wonderful ambiance.

KA

Katherine Adams

We decided to go here to celebrate my friends birthday because she said she loved the food here. The online reviews seemed pretty promising and we love trying new places, so of course we were all about it! The experience was a disappointment to say the least. We didnt plan our visit during a burlesque show, so my review is strictly on our meal and the related experience...in January. We arrived on time for our rez and were seated immediately. The tables are incredibly close together in an attempt to jam as many into the room as possible, but it really didnt impact the environment for us. Before we even ordered drinks, a server carrying food to another table dropped a plate on which promptly splattered through the back of the wooden chair and onto my back...an abrupt "sorry about that" from him and it was forgotten - could it be that the tables are so close together theres no room for the servers to move about safely? Im thinking yes. High points of our evening included: the oysters, they were delish; the drinks - the pink madonna hit the spot for me; and the garlic bread - good, but not great. We got our food and everything looked stunning, I was so excited to dive in...and then I did. I ordered the seared scallops, which tasted great, but were cold. Because the taste was good, I decided not to send the food back and end up with double warmed, almost certainly worse off scallops. At this point I was prepared to give this spot 3 stars, because things were good, but not great. Then my friend shared a shrimp from her cioppino with me and the chef had failed to devein the shrimp even slightly. Lazy and gross, but worth sending back? Nah. Then my boyfriend pulls a bone out of his mouth while eating the risotto. He wrote it off as a mishap, but our friend mentioned it to the server just to make the chef aware of the hazard, specifically stating that we dont expect them to do anything now that weve eaten everything. After Alexandra disappeared briefly, she promptly returned to tell us that the faceless manager disagreed with my boyfriends assessment that the fragment that he pulled from his mediocre risotto was bone, and in fact the piece was bread crust. Really? Because you cant tell the difference between a bone fragment and bread crust when its in your mouth? Theres a right way to handle things and a wrong way, and whoever this faceless manager is, s/he obviously lacks competence and/or just plain doesnt give a damn. To add insult to potential injury, we were sent out cookies as a "sorry," which of course contained nuts - after we had made them aware of my allergy - and some bits of chocolate for me - gee thanks. Who serves cookies with nuts in them to the boyfriend of the person with an allergy? Someone who doesnt think or doesnt care. They would have been better off sending nothing - just like we requested! If no stars was a choice, Id go with that. But the one star I am giving is for Alexandra, the server who was put in the awkward place of telling my boyfriend that the faceless manager says hes a liar. Awkward for us, awkward for her, and completely inappropriate. She was great considering the circumstances. All in all, the service was good, the management is atrocious and absent, and the chef is obviously doing something wrong. We came here with the intention of checking it out for warmer days and maybe planning a visit during a burlesque show with friends from out of town...but honestly, Id be hesitant to return.

MA

Mark Guzman

Ive been here twice now and can definitely say Im a fan of their food. The atmosphere at night is perfectly warm with a teeny touch of class. If you want to eat here, and you should, be sure to make reservations WELL ahead of time. At least four days ahead. I also want to mention the subtle art of service has been perfected here. The wait staff is knowledgeable and professional, never smug or overbearing. I think this place does it right, but wouldnt be what it is without the mysterious Post Alley location that allows for the "hidden" appeal this place plays on so well. My most recent visit was with a group of friends in town from Miami, each with their own tastes. First with the drinks! One of my friends got an absinthe-based drink with a small plastic monkey hanging from the glass, which I thought was funny and creative. Their house wine comes in what looks like a hybrid beer/San Pellegrino bottle and is a generous individual serving. I had a G&T with Big Gin, which is Seattle based (and tasty). Overall, the drinks are nothing to rave about, but they do get points for creativity. The soft bread comes out with olive oil that will absolutely knock your socks off. Its herb infused and incredible. If you want to spring for the nominal extra charge, give their balsamic vinegar a try! It is aged and has depth of flavor and a kick like youve never had before. Appetizers came and we tried the calamari and la fettunta (grilled garlic bread) and while the garlic bread was great as expected, the real surprise treat, perhaps even star of the meal, was the calamari. It was prepared in a way that none of us had ever had and the quality of the meat was tender yet smooth, not spongey and slimy. Ive tried the bolognese and the caesar with prawns so far, and both were excellent in their own right. The prawns were garlicky, peppery, and seared to my liking. The bolognese is a total win, if you cant decide which pasta to go for I would say it is a safe bet. I also got to try a bit of the lasagna, which the house claims as their signature dish. Its easy to see why when you taste it for yourself. ...and then there are the shows! Sun/Mon they do trapeze shows right in the restaurant, I was lucky enough to catch part of one and found it very entertaining. They have burlesque shows every Saturday where you can have dinner starting at 9 and the show starts at 11, but its first come first serve. I have heard the venue is small but the show is great. It is still on my short list of things to do in the city. TL;DR Great Italian food, would recommend for out-of-towners. Just make a reservation well in advance! On a Sunday/Monday ask to be seated with a view of the trapeze. There is a burlesque show Saturday nights, invite me if you get tickets because Ive never been.