Le Bistro Montage

My friends and I came here for a bachelorette night dinner, as it was recommended by friends and I don’t get a chance to have Cajun food often. As soon as I got there, I could see that this place was trendy and clearly popular since we had a 45 minute wait close to 8PM on Saturday night. We actually hit up other bars since the wait was so long, but they were ok with us not waiting in person and would call if they came to our number.
Overall, the food was not bad but I’m not sure it was worth a 45 minute wait.
Atmosphere: Dim, clubby, giant murals, and LOUD. Young crowd, some were pretty dressed up. Looks like a nice pre-​gaming dinner spot. Some tables are communal long tables and can be hard to get in /​out of if you’re on the inside row.
Food selection: Long drink menu, and pretty long food selection (but some are variations on similar dishes, i.e. different versions of jambalaya or cajun pasta). Portions are moderate. Some hits:
Jambalaya with Andouille — probably the best dish of the night, smoky and flavorful
Cajun Pasta — good but could have had more flavor contrast. Felt that it was somewhat salty with not much kick, and there’s a lot more of the sauce than pasta. I had it with the rock shrimp but I think getting the dish with andouille would be a better complement.
Crawfish Etoufee — Also not bad, not all that memorable.
Fried oysters — not bad, but not really a standout item. On the appetizer menu.
You also get your food artfully spun into an aluminum foil thingy when you take things home. I got a rose. I also saw a giraffe, a sword, among other things. I’m surprised nothing leaked but if it’s a liquid item (i.e. the rest of my pasta and sauce) it’s a little hard to take out of the packaging since it’s saran wrapped inside the foil. Overall, interesting place but I’m not sure it’s worth the wait or the hype.

I’d love to know what’s up with the server this past Sunday who would stop and scream unintelligibly in the middle of the floor every 15 minutes? Theater kid? It’d be difficult for someone with PTSD to eat here with a server roaring at regular intervals.

Fun, busy restaurant. Although there is generally a wait, you can get a drink in the bar in the back while waiting. Many of the tables are long, family style tables where you may be seated next to people you don’t know. Food is good, cocktails are really great.
It’s just a fun experience coming here — they have unique items like alligator on the menu. They will wrap your food up like any animal you would like. I like taking out-​of-​towners here when they are in Portland because it’s just kind of a novel, cool place.

Oh my gosh! Always have had excellent food and fair service here, but tonight 5 star service to go with the five star food! Dave was our server of our party of 6 and he made the whole dining experience great! Very funny and charming as well. Fast and quite efficient! No attitude. Real. Thanks Dave and thanks Montage for consistent delicious, cheap eats.
I started with a smoked mussel on the shell and of course the hush puppies. Both fresh and delicious. Moved onto my fave, the spold mac. So perfect. Tried some catfish and the tartar sauce was amazing! The sauce with the hush puppies was delicious as well. Tried the chicken fried steak also and it was the best one I have ever tasted!
Finished it all up with some melt in your mouth butter cake, and peanut butter pie.
Perfect dinner, with outstanding service. Dave, if you ever want a different job, I will hire you on the spot at Saylers. Thanks for the great night!

Came here with a few friends when I was in the area. We came here for dinner on a Wednesday night around 8pm.
We were a group of 6 and seated right away. The inside at night has a romantic feel to it with dark interior, dim lights and lighted candles on each table. It’s sexy.
I started with few raw oysters. Oysters came out as shooters with sauces in it which I’m not a big fan of, I like them in shells and like to put the amount of sauce right for me.
They have an extensive list of drinks. The Moscow mule was good, was not brought in a mule mug (lol) but good still. The Stinky Kitty, a bacardi rum drink, was alright.
Since I had read they were popular for their mac and cheese, I ordered the roasted garlic and bacon mac and cheese. I really wasn’t that impressed. It wasn’t the mac and cheese I was expecting, more like pasta with bacon bits. Wasn’t creamy, cheesy like mac and cheese should be.
My other friend ordered the spicy mac and cheese and I tried some. We were disappointment with it. It was spicy but again wasn’t mac and cheese. Just spicy pasta.
Their Mac and Cheese was disappointing and wasn’t really ‘mac and cheese’.
Couple of other friends ordered chicken fried chicken and that was good. They enjoyed it.

My friends and I were out brewery hopping around the neighborhood and stumbled upon this place before we went back to our hotel.
We all love cajan and were super excited to get some! We were a little taken aback with the community style seating. But it turned out not to be as awkward as we originally thought.
We were seated quickly and given waters when we were seated.
After we were seated it was like we were forgotten! No one came by to see if we wanted drinks or appetizers. It was busy, but not too busy where all the tables were full. We were about to just leave after 20 minutes when a waiter came around.
Once we ordered everything came very quickly. I’m glad we waited it out because the food was really something else. The fried oysters and alligator bites were top notch.
Overall, the service was slow to begin with but food was well worth the wait.

Montage montage montage!
This is as classy as you’ll get for late night, post drinking, hot mess crazy eating! With a super menu, dim lit/​dark interior! You’ll still think your date who you just met at a bar/​club/​support group is sexy at 4 am: P if that’s your sort of thing!
I’ve been here since way back when in 2011! We mainly came for food that time since they are known for their hot ass Mac and cheese! I mean! I almost had a friend divorce with a friend cause she came in between me and my spold Mac from here after waiting for an hour! I forgave her later though.
The good: awesome pasta, jambalaya with a kick!!!
The bad: long wait lines post 2 am! Or even at 1:30 am! Everyone come here!
The best: the leftovers! Don’t finish your food!!! Even if you have a teeny tiny bite of whatever left, ask them to pack it for you.
Why? Why not!!! They pack it in the most creative foil wraps in any shape you want! Even female anatomy! Cats? Giant penguins? Giraffe, a blow up doll?! Ask and you shall receive!
Minus their amazing art creations, the food is pretty decent too. Spicy Mac and old school Mac combo aka the spold is my favorite! It comes with super hot pepper! Hit the spot post drinking! Jambalaya is decent too! 4 stars post 2 am! Did a day time visit here once: it’s like seeing people without beer goggles on: D I’ll stick to the late night visits!

Ok, the first time I came here I was hungry, ordered the wrong thing and extremely irked. le Bistro Montage is not a 3 star restaurant. It’s almost a 5 star.
What I’ve eaten and is good:
1. Bay scallops in green sauce. The sauce is so creamy mixed with the pasta and delicious scallops, really good!
2. Spold with garlic and sausages — Got a little kick and the chunks of garlic go well. Drink a beer because the food is insanely salty. I find that the SPOLD itself is kind of boring, but if you mix and match the correct meats/​sides into it, the spold will pop.
3. Gator appetizer — taste like chicken
A few things…
If the line is getting lone check out the small bar in the back. They have the full menu and a lot of times you can snag a table.

Love the food here! They have some exotic selections such as alligator bites and frog legs. They aren’t as chilling to eat as they may sound.
I love all of their pastas. I am a big lover of carbs! Their Mac and cheeses are just right. The spold Mac would be my favorite of them all, with just the right amount of creaminess and a kick of spice.
My go-​to order is always the andouille sausage Alfredo and the mussel shooter.
The wait may be long, come right when they open.

All the hype for what??? Food was fine, nothing extravagant, extensive cocktail list that is tasty, and great service for sure except for the over eager busboy who franticly cleared the table even if we were not done yet. He had a go heart.

Food was okay, not spectacular. Had the crawfish étouffée– and it’s usually a creamy dish. This came out with a tomatoes based sauce that was a bit sour. The cornbread was dry and flavorless — it needed butter and honey to give it taste.
The servers were really anxious to clear out plates — ridiculously so. The restaurant was not that busy, so I don’t know why they were hounding us. Decided not to stay for desert.

Seeing the Cajun-​Creole description is what drew my eye to Le Bistro Montage. The mac and cheese section of the menu is what convinced me to go there. The location is under the Morrison Bridge and a little on the shady side. The restaurant itself is dark, eccentric, and loud, but it all seems to balance itself out. Especially when you’re there later in the night. The tables are family style and you might be sharing space with strangers. When I went it was around 10 – 11 and it wasn’t so bad, but if it is a busy night I could see how it might get cramped. The service is a little awkward and curt, but they are fast and keep the food flowing so not really an issue. I ordered the vegetarian hushpuppies that were on special. Was pleasantly surprised when I bit into actual corn kernals in the dough! Different, but in a very very good way. For my entrée I ordered their «Spold» Mac. (A mix of their «Old» and their «Spicy» Mac) I also added red crab to it. To say I was happy with my dish is an understatement. It was a perfect blend of their creamy cheese sauce and Cajun gravy. The crab was fresh and flavorful. The portion sizes are great. You get your money’s worth and are bound to leave full! If you have leftovers you are gonna get a kick out of your to-​go packaging!
I’ll be back!

The wait here is incredibly long but I guess I shouldn’t be complaining since we had a party of 15 or more… An interesting dish that my friend tried is the alligator linguini in which he enjoyed very much. The meat was chewy (as expected) but it didn’t overpower the linguini.
Another interesting concept is the way they package your food when you can’t finish your meal anymore. My friends got their to go items in the shape of a squirrel, rose, giraffe. The possibilities were endless.
Overall a very unique experience. just make sure to park your car in the parking structure adjacent to the restaurant since other places to park were kinda sketchy. Did I also mention the restaurant was right under a bridge?

I’ve been here at least 100 times. It’s a great go-​to for a late night out with friends.
Comfort food, cocktails, shared tables. Get the mac & cheese!

Oh, Montage.
I’ve been coming here since high school, but it had been a few years. It wasn’t as dark as I remember. Possibly cleaner. Service was still snippy but didn’t border on rude.
Party of 10 on a Tuesday evening for a birthday dinner. Promptly seated. Bottles of wine half off? I’ll take one! Complimentary bread, you’d think they could warm it up, but they probably don’t care.
I always get mac, but branched out and got the Alfredo with sausage. It was good! Needed hot sauce and salt. It’s pretty hard to screw up pasta, and as I haven’t had anything else, I can’t comment on the quality of the other foods.
Locals know what to expect when going here. Business as usual.

A decent experience. There was a wait, but I was not surprised and it was really nice that they have the cocktail room that you can grab a drink it while you wait. It would have been nice if the bartender at least pretended that she liked her job at least the slightest bit– but her negative energy was not a good way to start a meal.
Luckily when we were seated, our next server was super nice and had great recommendations. I am not sure what I expected from this place, but it was definitely something different. I was not too impressed with the actual food. I ordered the Blackened Chicken and my mashed potatoes were cold and then chicken was cooked nice– but the abundance of blu cheese that was piled on top was overpowering. It was ok, just not great.
I don’t know if I would come here again. I think that it was nice to experience it one time– obviously it is a notorious spot and the décor inside is unique– but once was enough for me.

The good:
— interesting food
— cool, old school service
— interesting atmosphere
The bad:
— heavy food?
— communal seating
Our final night in Portland meant it was time for one last meal with our friends. They said they wanted to take us somewhere, somewhere they haven’t been in a while, because it’s uniquely Portland. So we jumped in their car and off they went! The drive seemed suspicious, especially since they kind of forgot where they were going! The wife and I joked that we were being kidnapped, because let me tell you… the place was in a very industrial, kind of creepy looking area. But when we finally arrived, they explained we were going to a place called Le Bistro Montage. Why? Because they serve Spam! Oh, and cajun food. We don’t have that in Hawaii.
The restaurant was REALLY dark with a kind of divey atmosphere with a hint of fine dining, as the tables were all covered in white tablecloths. But the tables were all arranged almost communal style, and again, it was like a dive bar meets restaurant. Interesting! The service was decently friendly and a little old school too. More on that later.
To start, we split two appetizers, along with the complimentary bread basket. First up were the Crawfish Hushpuppies ($ 8). These were large nuggets of deep-​fried corn batter with peppers, onions, and crawfish. Served with garlic aioli and remoulade. These weren’t exactly my kind of thing, but the crawfish was cooked nicely and overall they were nicely done.
Our other appetizer was the Gator Bites ($ 11). These were Cajun-​seared alligator tail with cocktail sauce, horseradish cream, lemon, and honey wheat bread. Now these I liked! The weren’t gamey or fishes at all! This was my first time eating gator, and I really hate to say it, but this kind of tasted like chicken, but with a clean, briny flavor and a uniquely chewy (in a good way) texture. I could’ve eaten these all night!
For our mains, one of my friends got the Andouille Sausage Jambalaya ($ 14). This was delicious, and I thought I could handle the small its she let me take, but the heat really sneaks up on you! Wow! But, I can’t handle spiciness; case-​in-​point, the wife didn’t think it was all that spicy.
Speaking of the wife, she ordered the Spold Mac with gator ($ 16). The spold is a mixture of the Old Mac (heavy cream reduction, garlic, salt, and Parmesan) + Spicy Mac (our signature Cajun gravy, jalapeño, and Parmesan). Didn’t try this one, but it’s a spicy, creamy macaroni dish.
Our other friend and I both ordered the Green Basil Mac, gator for me ($ 17) and Spam for him ($ 15). This one was basil pesto sauce, heavy cream reduction, and Parmesan. They aren’t kidding about the heavy cream either. The macaroni dishes are HEAVY. I couldn’t finish it, not even half. For some strange reason, the gator in this one was pretty fishy too, so there’s that. The Spam was clearly the way to go here, but I probably wouldn’t order this again.
So that old fashion touch? Leftovers are wrapped in foil «sculptures» like swans, scorpions and more! Pretty cool

Dark, loud, and delicious. I have been here a few times and am always pleased. While I understand the sounds «cajon mac and cheese under the Morrison Bridge» does not sound terribly inviting, take a leap of faith and give it a go. Let me break it down for you.
Ambiance: As I mentioned, this place is DARK and LOUD. Is seems as if it is only lit by the candles on the tables and the hard wood floors and high ceilings do not help suppress any of the noise. Please note that the noise is not the fault of the employees. While the kitchen is (somewhat) visible from the floor, the cooks are not yelling profanities at the wait staff and the servers are not singing happy birthday to every 16 year old looking for a free dessert. It is merely a byproduct of the building’s design. Personally, I like both it.
Service: Prompt. The servers I have had do not waste time. They take your order, bring your food, check how things are going (maybe twice, but no more), and bring you your check all very quickly. They do not make it about them. They are insightful on menu options when asked, but let the food do the talking. The assistants also have a busy job. They are constantly filling your water glass, setting/​re-​setting tables, etc. If I were to guess these folks probably spend 70% of their time filling water glasses. This is because the glasses at each table are no more than 6 oz. Seriously, one big drink and you’re half empty. Don’t worry though, within seconds someone will be there to fill you up with a splash.
Food: I have had a few different types of macaroni and the are all outstanding. I am remaining loyal to this trend until I have tried them all, but at this point my favorite is the Spold (Spicy + Old). They do not skimp on portions and, as I’m sure you will see in the picture, leaving with leftovers is like walking out with a trophy.
So do yourself a favor, go eat under a bridge and leave satisfied with a trophy in hand.

I first came to Montage in 93 when I moved to Portland. I have not been in years and not a lot has changed. Still have tattooed servers with ‘tude and sometimes BO.
I have enjoyed the Macs and jambalayas. Portland punch (with a shot of vodka maybe) is another staple. Baskets of Portland sourdough to start it off.
Seating is family style, so plan on making new friends.
Portions are large, two if not three meals. The leftovers are wrapped up in fun foil art, and sometimes you get something super creative.
This place was hipster before hipster was a thing, and it’s still going strong. A Portland institution.

Can I get some ear plugs please? Good God this place is so loud inside. I could barely hear my family conversating were it not for using their OUTSIDE voices with a hint of lip reading. I could barely hear myself think.
That was 1 part of my horrible experience.
You dont make reservation here. First come first serve. Larger groups expect to wait a while on busier nights. This was a Sunday around 7pm and our party of 9 had to wait about 30 – 40 mins.
They have thin simple to understand paper menus. one for the food and one for drinks.
Our server (didnt catch her name) made sure our orders were taken relatively fast, but it gets busy and the order process will depend on how full it gets and how big each party (group) is, so if its not as fast as you expect, dont get all pissy about it. You will have other reasons to complain.
The item famously acclaimed here is the Mac N Cheese. You have several choices which all seemed yummy. I should have chosen that instead of what I actually ordered. *ONLY ORDER THE MAC n CHEESE*
They give you cheap bread for starters at the table. Its not even decent sour dough or home made. It was also cold. I bet the keep it frozen until the thaw to serve.
I went with the ‘Blackened Catfish’ dinner (totally outside of my food choice box).
Includes a house salad which was nothing more then Arugala, 5 seasoned huge croutons and salad dressing that I could barely tell was there. I asked if I could get some of their Cajun Ceasar dressing so I Dont choke down dry salad. I’m shocked they didn’t try charging me a shot glass size of the dressing. You’ll understand why in a minute.
The meal arrived:
1 decent fried filet light and flakey, 2 iddy bitty bites of (and I mean 2 actual bites worth) mini mini corn muffins dry and tasteless. Don’t get me started on the old green beans… cold and super old from sitting. It looked like the old and new beans were batched together. I know fresh made and THIS was NOT fresh. They were almost mushy. *gag* picture is posted. Did I say they were cold?
I politely asked our server if I could get some fresh green beans after showing her what was on my plate.
OMG​.it was the exact same that she brought me in a soup cup. Really? I cook, so I know the difference people. They ‘comp’d’ the order of those beans that I asked to replace the crappy one’s on my plate like that was some kind of deal. It shouldn’t I have even appeared on the bill.
I still wound up paying the ‘full price’ of the meal or I would have been billed $ 4 extra for the second helping of beans that were supposed to replace the original.
Shame on them.
1 star strictly for the friendly server and that is it.
Were it not my nephews bday night out, I would have spoken to the manager and promptly left.
I was hear about 20 years ago. Dont remember it at all, so this was like a first experience for me. I Dont live here anymore but I do know the food options in this city are abundant.
Why go here when you have nicer, quieter places that serve fresh excellent meals. If you do come here, you’ve been warned.
After that. all I wanted to do is get out of here, but I was at the mercy of another driver.