Petite Jacqueline

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to have a fun, delicious dinner at Petite Jacqueline in Portland. If you are ever in Portland and are looking for some French-ish food that isn't too unfamiliar, between here and The Merry Table, you definitely have some choices.


First impression speak volumes, and my first few impressions made me a little nervous. Despite there being several empty tables and having a reservation, we were held in the vestibule for about 10 minutes before being seated. I saw there was a perfect table for two in the window facing the street and told my dinner companion that I was sure that table was being saved for someone with more money than us (I was right). There was a very bored 3 year old running around the restaurant. This is NOT a place to take a 3 year old with a short attention span. 


I ordered a glass of rose that the the waitress recommended that was just blah; however, my friend ordered this lovely wine.

I took a picture so I would remember. We were brought a small baguette (in a bag).

It was served with an herbed lemon butter. This baguette was not french bread. It was sourdough. Way too sour sourdough--with a clashing lemon butter that made the whole thing together taste sort of sour and spoiled and just "off."


For appetizers, we ordered escargot and charcuterie. 

The charcuterie was duck and pork. I wish I could remember the exact preparations but sadly I cannot. I remember the duck was silky and succulent and the pork tasted good but a little fatty. You would expect that of pork, right?


The escargot was extremely garlic-y and onion-y. The puffed pastry was perfect for scooping up the juices of the snails. The snails were not tough. The sauce was a lot of butter and white wine. Yummy.


For dinner, we had a French gnocchi and the roast chicken.

The roast chicken was almost as good as mine :-) . Really, it was nearly perfect. The skin was crisp and not fatty, the chicken moist and perfectly seasoned, in that I couldn't taste any other flavor than chicken, which is just what I wanted. The potato puree under the chicken was sooooo creamy and buttery and wonderful. The one flaw of this dish was the red sauce on the dish. I assume it was a chicken drippings/red wine sauce with some butter but honestly, the sauce had absolutely no flavor. If you tasted it with your eyes closed you would pick up no discernible flavor at all. It wasn't bad, it was...nothing. The gnocchi was wonderful. It was made with wheat flour (no potato) and was light and pillow-y. It had a bunch of fresh veggies--zucchini, snow peas, and I think asparagus. It was a very well-cooked dish. 


Of course, at a French restaurant, I'm going to get dessert.

I had the chocolate mousse. It was a delicious mousse, as good as I've ever had in my life. It was topped with  sea-salted peppermint chocolate toffee. The toffee was DELICIOUS but I really really didn't like the salt. This apparently didn't stop me--my love of peppermint and chocolate was too strong--I ate every bite. I also had the best cappuccino I've ever had in Portland. The server said they have the best machine in town and I would believe it. My friend had the blueberry crepe and I thought it was exceptional, he said he could make it as good himself at home. Who am I to say differently? I feel the same about the chicken.


Overall, this was a delicious meal. Even disliking the bread, this was one of the best overall dinners I've had in Portland. Every course had a high point. No course had anything inedible. The service was friendly and the prices was very reasonable. This is more of a "date night" place than a "girls night" place. Bon Apetite!