Brasserie Pigalle opened in November 2023 in the stylish Hotel Victoria and finally there is a restaurant to match the hotel. The restaurant is very elegant and there seems to have been quite a lot of focus on details – from the plush, red furniture to beautiful and playful custom-made saucers from local Figgjo! The hotel is 123 years old, and they have actually managed to keep some of the original interior (look at the ceiling) while being playful and elegant at the same time! The menu is not extensive, but you can enjoy starters like steak tartare, scallops, langoustine and mains include meat, turbot, suckling pig etc. The wine list is also quite good, but I predict that it will get more extensive as the restaurant develops.
I decided to have a celeriac/white asparagus starter while Nikki decided to have the steak tartare. And for mains: suckling pig and sirloin. But before we got the food, we got some bread and two types of butter. The bread was good, but it would have been even better if it came warm out of the oven. But it did not take long before the starters were served, and Nikki’s tartare was impressive. It came served in a large bone and the tartare was mixed with roasted bone marrow, pickled onion, mustard seeds etc and it was outstanding. It was a large portion, so I was fortunate to get to taste it as well. My celeriac was served with white asparagus and stracciatella and looked pretty – but I would have enjoyed getting the celeriac baked even longer to have a contrast to the firmer asparagus.
The mains were served after about 30-40 minutes and note that you can order various sides and sauces for the mains. Nikki’s sirloin was cocked to perfection and came just with a sprinkle of salt. The green salad that she ordered as a side, was visually stunning but there was not that much to the crispy salad. My suckling pig was served with a simple demi-glace sauce, Hasselback potato and sweet potato cream. The meat was amazing as it was so tender that it was basically falling apart the moment I touched it! We all thought the portions were satisfying and did leave a bit of room for dessert! Pigalle can offer a cheese platter (including Fønix from Stavanger Ysteri) – or various classic sweet desserts. I am a sucker for cheesecake so I ordered the Basque cheesecake that was offered. This was good but I think there is room for improvement in both consistency (I would like to see it creamier) and in taste.
All in all: this was a great night out and Brasserie Pigalle is certainly a place we can recommend! It is stylish with an elegant atmosphere and as the night progressed, it got lively but it was still possible to enjoy a conversation over the table. The service was great and there were some delicious highlights in some of the dishes. I’m sure that when they get some more experience, this will be a popular restaurant to celebrate events – or just celebrate life! We look forward to returning to taste more of the items on the menu.
Pros: - elegant yet playful restaurant
- rich and scrumptious dishes
- good service
Cons:
- maybe some will find it too formal
- you have to trek through the hotel reception to find bathrooms
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