Beast

Amazing! Its been a year and I STILL think our dinner at Beast was one of the best we have ever had. Kind of hard to find at first, and maybe a special occasion sort of dinner, but once we got there it was SO worth the drive, and the extra money... We will be back again. more

Just finished dining at Beast this evening and unfortunately my wife and I are fairly disappointed with the experience. Perhaps it was just an off night given the many great things we have heard from friends who have been to Beast. The menu was middle of the road with Cornish game hen as the main followed by Spring Dandelion Aux Lardon with a poached duck egg which, disturbingly,was fairly undercooked (not a good thing when egg whites run clear on a dish). The balance of the dishes were middle of the road as well as the wine pairing. A couple of high notes are the atmosphere is wonderful and the service is impeccable. So the big question, will we return for another meal? Honestly, after spending $250 (including gratuity), I would say doubtful. As I said earlier, perhaps it was an off night as well Chef Naomi being absent, but our expectations were definitely not met. more

Seeing that chef Naomi Pomeroy was to appear on Iron Chef America, I immediately booked a reservation for my next available evening. I was a solo diner, and it sounded wonderful to enjoy food at a communal table with others who appreciate fine food. more

Chef Pomeroy and her staff know how to cook. Bottom line the food is great. The beef tenderloin in puff pastry was like butter. Don't get me started on how good the Foie-Gras Bon-Bon with the Sauternes Gelee was, it was a bite of heaven. Pros: Delicious food and great staff. Cons: The chairs. OMG the chairs suck. more

I went with friends we enjoyed the 6 course meal and the wide variety of items served. It was a great dinner to catch up with friends who were visiting from New York. Dinner took a couple of hours. Service was great, staff were friendly and informative. Ambiance with chef's plating food in front of you was cool! If you want a change and are tired of eating the same ole food at the same ole places try The Beast it is different in a new and exciting, good way. For the time and effort that goes into the food and presentation the $60 per person was worth it for us! We ate things we had never tried and they were very tasty. The sorbet to cleanse the pallet between courses was nice too! Try the Kronenberg 1664 Beer it is France's #1 selling beer and was a very nice surprise. WOW a refreshing approach to dinner we will be back! Pros: Great food, Very different approach, Local food items Cons: Limited drinks selection, unusual seating like picnic table more

Several outstanding dishes. Great wine pairings. Could have used one more ounce per glass. Some new flavor experiences that were amazing. But 2 hours in those chairs was cruel & unusual punishment. With the all the prep & service stagg right there in front of you a little more interaction would have added interest. The communal dining was not an issue unless you are looking for privacy. Overall it is well worth a visit. Bring a seat cushion more

Very good service, very good quality ingrediants prepared by an excellent chef...a great dining experience except for the dull ache that started 20 minutes after sitting down. Pros: Very artistic version of traditional French food. Cons: YOUR A$$ WILL BE IN PAIN FROM THE CHAIRS! more

yes, it's unique--so what? it is really expensive and a bit of a stretch--way too precious for me. i went two years in a row for my birthday with two other food snot friends who were also celebrating. i'm not doing it again. i think the truth about this place is somewhere between the worst reviews and the moderate ones. although they are seriously good cooks the concept is boring after the first try. Pros: some items are really good Cons: what if you don't want a saddle of rabbit? more

Beast can be slow sometimes but is usually great food and worth the wait Pros: lives up to the hype Cons: a little slow sometime more

After hearing much about the food at beast I visited their Website and reviewed the opening days, menus and all of the other information that one might want to know about a restaurant. All sounded good so without any other questions I ask the concierge at our hotel to make a reservation for three persons at the second seating on July 3rd. We arrived 10 minutes early, opened the door and found the early diners sitting quietly eating their dessert at two communal tables. Wait, communal tables? The Website mentioned nothing about communal dining. The room was devoid of decoration and looked more like barn than a dining room. Some of the diners seemed startled by our presence but shortly a waitress arrived and, with an air of disdain, informed us that we could either sit by the door and wait for the next seating or have drinks in the restaurant next door until we were called. We proceeded to the Yakuza Restaurant next door quite upset by the idea of communal dining when we had anticipated a quiet dinner by ourselves with some conversation regarding personal family matters. After a few seconds consideration we decided to abandon Beast and have dinner at Yakusa (which turned out to be spectacular). The host acknowledged that this was not the first time that Beast patrons had balked at communal dining and offered to intercede with Beast management to cancel our reservation and hopefully avoid having to pay the $60 cancellation fee. The cancellation was taken but they charged my credit card the $60 fee. Deceptive advertising, self important staff, communal dining, barn like atmosphere, inconsiderate cancellation policies all make one star too high a rating for this travesty of a restaurant. Yakuza on the other hand was a total delight and the antithesis of Beast. Pros: We did not eat there. Cons: Read my review more

A little slow and I dont love a fixed menu... Pros: tasty Cons: fixed menu more

We have been wanting to go to Beast for awhile now. The published raves were very inticing. Pros: Creative menu Cons: Noisey and BAD chairs more

I feel sorry for the owner. Most people know the story of her ego maniac ex-husband who screwed over, unfortunately the photos of her that are in these magazines advertising the restaurant make her look bitter and angry. No need for attitude, be thankful and humble for your restaurant. more

My husband is a real meat eater and me, not so much. I also was expecting, based on my experience at other restaurants of this owner, to encounter not so customer-oriented attitudes (bad chairs, bad music, snide service as the price for great food). So I made this reservation with reservations, taking one for the team because Beast was so highly recommended by a co-worker and my husband was very curious. Pros: Multiple tastes of food and wine expertly combined Cons: If you're shy the common tables might be a challenge. more

Several months ago I began laying the groundwork for my birthday. ""Honey,"" I'd muse to my husband, ""have you seen the Portland Monthly magazine. There's a great article in there about this new restaurant called - of all things - Beast. Apparently, it's been named co-restaurant of the year."" Pros: food, ambience, service, wine pairing more

Went there for a friends birthday, the food wasn't all that great and there were issues where an owner running a good business should have knocked the bill down, but none of that was done. It is only human to help others out when a mishap occurs, there was no sympathy, just the large bill with no comp at all. A true owner would have put a little out to make sure the business comes back, there was no effect in making sure everything was going alright. VERY DISAPPOINTING!! more

I had been looking forward to trying this restaurant as it has been getting rave reviews in the local magazines so I took some friends for a special night out. Pros: unusual food, nice decor, nice server Cons: unusual food, uncomfortable seating, snotty attitudes, poor ambience, expensive more

Don't waste your money. Restaurant of the year???? not even close!!! While the ambiance and setting are nice, the food is very average. The wine pairings were so-so, the reds very overdone for the meal. The hanger steak was bland, the soup good, and the rest of the meal - forgetable. Don't waste your time or money. Pros: ambiance Cons: food more

First the Yukon potato and garlic soup had me excited, if this had been the tone of the meal, then Beast would have done for summer fare the same justice it had for homey indulgent winter eats. Perfectly flavored, with just a touch of earthiness from the Yukons, crisp and perfectly chilled. Then came the charcuterie plate, the first disaster. The steak tartar with quail egg was delicious, the egg yolk breaking perfectly in my mouth as the tender tartar melted, that aside, the rest could barely have passed for Fancy Feast. Pork that was quite simply forgettable and foie gras that was hardened into a cold fatty lump and overpowered by salt, a taste that wouldn't leave my mouth for the rest of the meal. Enter the entree; serving food cold does not, in my book, make it suitable for warm weather, the quail was a perfect example of this. I wanted to ask if it could be heated as it had lost all of its juiciness and most its flavor. The duck liver toast was simply inedible, think salt lick, and the frisee overpowered by a terrible pairing of citrus dressing. The leek and lentil salad may have been the best part of the meal, simple, seasonal and fresh, but after enduring the entree, served only to cleanse my pallet. By the time desert came around I found myself rushing to pay the bill and get out, the expectation of a wonderful meal was dashed by food that was under thought, overly salty, and trying to be something is wasn't. Simple warm weather flavors and fresh ingredients were substituted with strange preparations and heavy flavor. One can't help but think the heat wave left the chefs at Beast scrambling to come up with an alternative menu and failing miserably. more

Before you react to the three stars (it was controversial last night after dinner) give me a second to explain. I had very high expectations last night going to Beast, but after dinner was over I left the restaurant feeling a bit, no a good bit unsatisfied. We reached the end and I was literally wondering if I'd missed a course. Pros: Food, service, wine pairings Cons: Spendy, overly high expectations, the seating swap out rush more