We came here a month ago on the last leg of our honeymoon as our "splurge" celebration meal and we were severely disappointed...
We used to live in Calgary, work in the industry, and we have been to many restaurants including Model Milk (which we really enjoyed) so we thought Pigeonhole would be a safe bet.
We came in on a busy Friday night - a bit later in the night (around 9:30pm). Our server/bartender was great - the cocktails we ordered were not very palatable though (although they were strong!).
We ordered a few plates to try:
Salted cod crepes - these were delicious! Perfectly cooked and great flavour combinations.
Charred cabbage - also tasty, but a bit greasy
Cauliflower - it really was as amazing as the reviews say!
BC Pine Mushrooms - definitely not a win - our sourdough baguette was burnt (not toasted, not "charred") and so burnt in fact that it was all you could taste - we had to take the mushrooms off the bread to fully enjoy the subtle taste
Milk fed veal breast - do NOT get this - we literally had the taste of sesame stuck in our mouths for the rest of the night. It was SO salty and SO doused with sesame sauce we couldn't even finish it, much less taste the actual veal (I'm sure it was delicious).
Not sure if it was late and the kitchen dropped the ball, but for such a high rated restaurant you'd think their quality & service would be on par no matter what time it is.
Yes we did like 3/5 dishes, maybe we just made bad choices on the other 2? But the thing that left us with the most sour taste in our mouths (after the saltiness of the sesame) was the management style. My husband (a former chef who has worked in some of the best restaurants in this country) talked to the manager (or supervisor) about our "abysmal" dishes - he removed the veal off our bill that we barely ate, but was in no way sympathetic, or willing to go the extra mile to change our opinion of the food and restaurant. We were still STARVING but after being treated like we were somewhere that we didn't belong and didn't deserve to be taken care of, we just paid the bill and went somewhere else. Absolutely terrible hospitality on his part and the restaurant's for that matter.