Quartet

I’m so sad, just learned that this place shut down. This restaurant was beautiful, upscale, fine dining, amazing. Located near the newer side of waterfront. Live piano on the lounge side. Glass window, waterfront view all around. The food was better than most of the restaurants in town. I had the shrimp scampi w/​large scallops fettuccini and my fiancé had the steak and shrimp (Surf and Turf) entrée. Yes, they’re both expensive, but is amazingly delicious and is beautifully presented on a plate. I regret not taking any pictures, thinking I was going to come back here again. Also, did I mentioned, whipped hazelnut butter for bread (best butter ever)! … It made me fall in love with butter all over again. Elegant restrooms! This is a place you will see James Bond having meals at in a movie… possibly too upscale for Portland?

Grapefruit Margarita — Nasty, it should be served with Sugar as the flavors are off with the salt. 1 star cause i still drank it, used the lime to trick the tongue.
Waygu Sliders — I asked for it with no bun, see picture, all i got were 2 patties and 2 pickled green tomatoes. After getting the condiments on the side, i found the chipotle ketchup totally over powers the beef. You have to use just a little with the dijon-​carmelized mayo to get a good balance. The Waygu beef patties themselves are flavorless. The pickled green tomatoes tasted like dill cucumber pickles & were refreshing. 3 stars — 1 for presentation and having to ask for the rest of the burger.
Q Salad — It was a salad and the dressing wasn’t over powering. It is really small and boring for $ 7. i don’t recommend it unless they agree to sub he salad for the bun on the Sliders then it might be worth while. 3 starts — 1 for cost relative to size.
Pomme Frittes — Matchbook size fries that are slightly on the over fried side with a miniscule amount of salt, parsley, and garlic. No Truffle Oil and the garlic isn’t roasted. They were still good but i used my left over chipotle ketchup dijon-​carmelized onion mayo mize to spice them up a bit. 3 stars

Well, I guess it’s too late to review this place now. It’s closed for good. 1 star for being closed. :P
Here are notes from my review I didn’t finish:
Food: 3 — Food was hit & miss to extremes, 5 star hits and 1 star misses. Week-​old sour demi-​glacé sauce ruined everything it touched, fortunately my meal wasn’t covered in it.
Hits: Bread, crab cakes, lobster
Misses: Steak, veggies, mashed potatoes, demi-​glacé sludge :(
Service: 5 — Wait staff was very nice, I felt way underdressed for the place, but they treated me just fine, very knowledgeable waiter, management was apologetic of the food issues
Ambiance: 5 — The restaurant itself is beautiful and I love the water features in the floor, very fancy, great views
Value: 2 — Expensive vs. the quality, definitely paying for the view

Quartet is unlike any restaurant in Portland. It is definitely one of the finest dinning experiences Portland has to offer. I just don’t think Portlanders are really ready for this kind of fancy dinning experience if a Groupon was not offered as an incentive.
My visit to Quartet was not as bad of an experience as the other reviews on Unilocal.There ambiance was definitely super fancy and nice, and we had a great view of the Willamette River from where we sat. The chairs were so comfortable! Large chairs that could fit two of me, and the cushion was so comfy. I have yet to sit in such a comfortable chair at any restaurant in Portland. Ok ok. I did not give this place four stars just because of how comfortable my butt and back was while dining.
The food, while quiet expensive, was actually very good. We started off with endless bread and butter and the beef tartar. The butter had hazelnuts in it, and it was so good! Beef tartar was good too, nothing too exciting. Our entrees were the osso bucco and the braised scallops. The osso bucco was delicious and seasoned well. However, my scallops with risotto was a bit on the bland side. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the dish. We did not get as much food as we thought with the amount of money we paid for each dish. That was a bit disappointing because I’ve been to restaurants where we paid half the price, but got much more food. Finally we ended the night with the chocolate layered cake with vanilla bean ice cream. It’s enough to share for two people. The cake had the perfect moist and texture. Our wines, the moscato and Columbia merlot were a good addition to our palates.

Just OK. The ambiance was nice for sure, great views! But the food was meh. I had the lamb chops and while very good, the demi-​glaze looked and tasted like it came from a package. My wife had the crab cakes and risotto. Not bad really but also not great. She didn’t even finish them. And even though we called ahead for reservations, we still had to wait 20 minutes after we got there… and the place was only half-​full (???).
If views are more important to you than the food, then this place is great. But if food is paramount, skip it.

Quartet is a beautiful place to enjoy happy hour with a lovely view of the Willamette River. Being pretty is Quartet’s strongest feature.
The happy hour menu is just ok and the price is just ok as well as all items are either $ 6.00 or $ 7.00. My cocktail the French 75 was really good at $ 6.00 that’s a decent happy hour price.
I did order the lobster cocktail from the bar menu at $ 16.00 and was rather disappointed because of the minimal amount of lobster for the price.
I don’t usually complain about the price of things in my reviews but in this case, it just really needs to be said. There are so many happy hour options in Portland where the prices are $ 5.00 and under for great food and portion sizes.
Service was on the mediocre side as well. You don’t let your customer eat her ice cream and cake with chopsticks; you bring her a damn fork and spoon. Also, when placing a cocktail napkin for drinks, you don’t toss the napkins at us, you place them on the table or better yet even put our drinks on top of them.
As you can see, there really isn’t any reason for me to return to Quartet.
2014 — Review # 18

I do not write many reviews, but the food was so bad, I had to! So here it goes:
Unilocal ratings for Quartet were not that great, but groupon was on an extra discount and so I took a chance.
We went on a weeknight, were seated right away by the window. Restaurant is spectacular, the light fixtures, water streams with glass bridges, white table cloths and big arm chairs, dressed up waiters, great view of the river outside. 5 stars so far! Service was good, my cosmopolitan was good, chabatta (my guess) bread was fresh and warm, though wish we got more than 4 pieces of it. Still 5 stars.
And then our food arrived… Lamb chops breaded and piled on in a plate swimming in this sauce. Not many roadside diners serve lamb chops, but if they did, that’s exactly what they would look like and taste! Later we figured out that the main problem with our meals was the sauce. Without it, food was ok, not great, but ok, however, the sauce was inedible and ruined every little piece of food that touched it. I was able to eat things that were not touching the sauce, I wish I sent my meal back… Lamb chops were nice, except for the cheap diner style breading. Mashed potatoes were tasteless and had a grainy texture. Is it possible this fancy restaurant is using powdered potatoes and not fresh? I can’t explain it in any other way. Asparagus had a funky taste, but that was mostly because of the sauce.
My friend’s meal — presentation great, lobster tail was tasty, so was the crab cake, but his medium rare steak was still mooing! Steak was not medium rare, it was seared on the outside and completely raw on the inside. We let our waiter know of the problems with food and then had to explain everything again to the manager.
He asked what was wrong with the sauce, I said, «it tastes bad and old» to which he commented, «well, since this is not a diary based sauce, we do keep it for up to five days.» Five days??? I am paying an insane $ 38 for my entre and I get five day old funky food? He apologized for our bad meal and walked away…
We never skip dessert when dining out; however, we were not willing to suffer in this restaurant anymore. As we were discussing where we should go for dessert, a waiter brought a piece of layered chocolate cake. It’s free, so we gave it a try. It looked nice, but for me the best part about it was 3 fresh raspberries. The cake was too sweet and ice cream was passable too. My friend had a better opinion of dessert, so it may be just me.
Some Unilocalers say Quartet is a sister restaurant of Portland Prime steakhouse. We had dinner at Portland Prime and it was great! 5 stars all around. Please send Quartet’s chefs to Prime for training, that may be Quartet’s salvation.
VERDICT: 2.5 stars, since restaurant décor and atmosphere are so nice.
ADVICE: go for a Happy Hour, order a mixed drink (since many reviews complain about them running out of wine quite a bit) and a bread basket, enjoy the view and go somewhere else for dinner. Restaurant décor and service are 5 stars, prices are insane and food is a hit or a miss judging from other reviews, but for us it was not more than 2 stars. Luckily, I did not get sick, but I admit, I was afraid of that.
Side note: visit restrooms, they are interesting too.

This restaurant is underrated on Unilocal.We would have never gone there if it weren’t for a Groupon, but I’m sure glad that we found this place! My boyfriend and I made reservations for 7pm on a Sunday (Valentine’s weekend) and were immediately amazed by the atmosphere. It is truly a gorgeous venue worthy of a fancy wedding reception or party. We were initially seated at one of the interior tables, but seeing that the restaurant wasn’t too busy, I requested a different table with a better view of the waterfront and the host gave us one right next to the windows.
The service was excellent and the food was even better. This is an expensive place, but the food here was worth every penny. Our server recommended the fried brussels sprouts as an appetizer, which I was skeptical about but turned out to be a GREAT choice! For our entrees we ordered the Braised Osso Bucco and Seafood Pasta, both of which were very satisfying. The osso bucco was so juicy and tender with just the right hint of wine. I was surprised at how good the seafood pasta was because it seems like such a simple and generic dish. The shrimp and scallops were fresh and well-​seasoned, and the pasta sauce had a unique sweetness.
After we finished dinner, we hung out at the bar, where we found out that they have live music on some nights. We will definitely be returning to see that on our next trip to Portland!

Incredibly romantic with exceptional service and an exemplar menu. My husband and I came here with a Groupon we casually found and what an amazing choice! We ordered Beef TarTar, the Pork Chops, Lamb, Crème Brule and the Chocolate Cake.

Fine dining? You got it!
Food was very good, and yes it’s on the expensive side, but that’s fine dining for you. Honestly the cocktail selections are pretty good, and normal prices too (surprisingly). The décor is very modern, classy, elegant and overall romantic. Since it’s right next to the river, you get a very nice view!
Staff is super attentive, friendly and nice.
We used a Groupon and had no problems redeeming it.
Will return for their live music and enjoy the lounge!

I have to say, I am not sure if the other reviewers ate at the same Quartet we did, but our experience was great.
Restaurant was basically full at 6:30 on a Tuesday. Service was great. Food was very good. It is not the least expensive restaurant in town, but we knew that, and our overall satisfaction was really pretty high.
Our group ordered a variety of items, salads, soups, steaks, seafood and sides. We were not disappointed in any dish. If came out piping hot (which most restaurants have no concept of anymore) and prepared correctly. It is not the best meal I have ever had, but it was very good.
I saw one review that was knocking them for not listing the source of each of the menu items. Wow, I guess I didn’t realize (or care) that the four scallops I ate had names? C’mon man. Go plug in your Prius and take a few deep breaths. The polar ice caps are going to be fine.
If you are looking for a special evening out, there are at least four of us that are big fans.

We had a wonderful time here with friends, but it was the conversation that made it. The service was very good. They are friendly and clearly want to make you comfortable. They ere attentive.
I liked the wine list. It had a pretty good blend of moderate to expensive wines.
The view is hard to beat.
So why the lower rating? The food was ordinary. I had a better lamb shank at home a week earlier. For the price we paid the food should have been suburb; it was merely good. I can get good food at hundreds of paces in town. In short, I paid too much money for what we got. I will have lower expectations the next time.
We came back for our firm holiday dinner. The view was great and a few of the Christmas Ships came by. They were wonderful.
The service was god again. They were friendly and attentive. The evening flowed relatively smoothly. The food was better this time around. I think everyone enjoyed their meal; mine was very tender.
I did not change the rating for one reason. I complimented the wine list the last time. As it turned out, the moderately priced wines I choose were available. Last weekend, three of the wines I ordered were not in stock. That tells me almost everyone is ordering the modestly priced wines and management is not keeping them in stock. Is this a ploy to get you to buy the more expensive wines? I hope not. It clearly is very inconvenient.
I

Overpriced for underwheming food. And completely empty.
We were greeted by a very nice doorman, but then waited at the front table which was never staffed. Finally walked in and the owner or manager jumped up from a table, he seemed surprised to see any dining customers. We had the ENTIRE dining room to ourselves (there were a few people at the bar.) The menu looked great, but none of the items we ordered were anything to rave about, which was a surprise since our average entrée cost $ 33 (we saw, but did not order, a surf & turf for $ 72.) The quality and taste of the food reminded us of the Chart House, which is not a compliment. No mention of where the food was sourced, whether any items were organic, local, etc. Unacceptable in this town at these prices. The wine markup for a local bottle of Pinot Noir was also on the high side.
At the end, without dessert, it was the 3^rd most expensive bill we’ve ever had in Portland, but it would not even rank in our top 50 dining experiences. So many better options at this price or lower (Noisette, Ava Genes, Roe, clarklewis, McDonalds, etc.) They should check out Wildwood
I don’t expect this place to stay in business long based on how empty they were. Lovely location and décor, however. The service was fine, but the staff seemed to have this resigned attitude, as if the writing was on the wall.

I’ve passed this restaurant numerous times while walking the promenade, so I was really excited to get invited to a birthday dinner here tonight.
While I can say that my pork chop stuffed with apple chutney and mashed potatoes was very good, it was the truffle mac and cheese that had me drooling. By far and away, this is the best $ 8 a person will spend on mac and cheese.
My friend got the scallops with risotto. I’m not a big seafood eater, but took her word for it that her dinner was just as good as mine.
As we sat and dined, there were whispers that Morgan Freeman was having dinner with a large group of people seated near us at a private table. We stayed until closing time; joining friends for a birthday party in the bar — but Morgan never showed. Not that we knew he was really coming, but this is definitely a restaurant he would be eating at, if he was in town. It really gives the other fine dining restaurants a run for their money.
Besides the lovely, lovely décor, the whole restaurant is windows facing the Willamette River. No seat in the house is a bad one.
The layout is very modern and unique. There is even a river that snakes throughout the restaurant and you use the multiple flat glass bridges to cross it.
Quartet ran a Groupon so we used that tonight, knowing this would be serious fine dining fare (and prices to match). However; that $ 30 savings can be a little deceiving at a fine dining restaurant and our totals still came $ 48 each. My heart palpitated at that; being that I’d never spent so much money on a non-​special occasion dinner out with friends. Not that it wasn’t top notch and we weren’t treated wonderfully… it was just a bit on the spendy side — for me. All that being said, if you are on a budget, be careful about how much you order (their portions are good size so you don’t need to add sides to it unless you are famished). Trust me, it adds up fast.
While I’d love to say that I would be back often — my wallet disagrees. Here’s to doing their happy hour next time!

I ate here last weekend (Oct 12). We had a reserved party of 15 or so with a prix fix menu that was $ 75 per person. Now at this price I expect great service, great food, and great atmosphere. 0 out of 3 ain’t bad right? Here were the problems:
1. The menu presented on the table DID NOT MATCH what was served. There were a lot of food allergies and the food included stuff that was not on the menu like cheese, bacon, carrots, nuts, etc.
2. I asked for a well done steak (I know… But that was what I wanted). My meat was still Mooing, not once, BUT CAME OUT TWICE THAT WAY! After 30 mins, and the rest of the party was almost done, I got my steak the way I asked because someone else came out to confirm instead if the incompetent waitress.
3. In addition to food additions, there was food listed that was not served like listed veggies, a grit dish not served but replaced with potatoes, missing food elements. Ugh!
4. The service SUCKED! Took 45 mins to get a sidecar? The waitresses had CRAZY attitude and when asked for something she told us to HOLD ON? REALLY? I did not call, I was sitting there.
5. The best part of the meal was the Key Lime pie… Because it meant we could leave! Yesss!
I have received RAVE reviews for this place but last Saturday proved EVERYONE wrong. I may stick to the sister restaurant, Portland Prime, where the staff are seasoned, listen, smile, and serve EXCELLENT MEALS in excellent STYLE. I expected the same here but I guess I was wrong!
Don’t go here unless you are ready to be disappointed!

Very expensive, but somehow I felt ok spending it (a Groupon helps :-) My wife and I had the grilled salmon and the halibut for dinner, and the chocolate lava cake for dessert a drink each and some garlic fries for the appetizer. It was all good but not great. The atmosphere felt very fancy and the view of the river was romantic. I would say this is more a place to go for the ambiance (a date), not great food. The staff was very polite, probably the most polite we have come across in Portland, even after we mentioned we had a Groupon. They were very professional and knew how to do what a server should and that’s sell a plate. And again very expensive.
BTW you would think Michael Buble owns the restaurant by how many of his songs you hear played through the night.

Hmmm. This may be premature…
Met a lovely friend here for HH based on the location and the swank factor. They were hosting a private party (which wasn’t posted on the website or signposted at the entrance) and we were told we would be able to have cocktails outside. On a sunny, gorgeous Portland summer evening? Yes, please!
The service was great — our server was engaging and efficient. The grapefruit serrano-​infused margarita I was so excited about? Not as great. Kind of a letdown. After looking over the HH food menu and seeing that even pomme frites — or french fries — were $ 7, I did a Hail Mary and passed.
However, we were then promptly issued out by the owner when the private party spilled over to the deck. I will be honest, he was fairly gracious about it. But considering that the two of us were not told that we’d need to be «out» by a certain time, it was pretty tacky. If they’re going to host private parties, they need to manage it better with other patrons.
Netted out, it’s a lovely space for a high ticket event, but with $ 7 french fries on the happy hour menu (really) and drinks that aren’t all that exceptional, I probably won’t make the effort to come back.

A Portland restaurant with a great view usually means two things: average food and high prices. Now at bat is Quartet. At $ 7 minimum, the Happy Hour foods are far from value. The tall fried hash brown concoction is the only one we enjoyed.
Where they struck out big time was with the teeny, dry, bland Wagyu sliders. Are they really true Wagyu or just Wagyu-​like marketing? They’re topped with an unmemorable sauce and wilted (ala 1980s) Iceberg lettuce. I love crisp Iceberg with a homemade Blue Cheese like at Podnah’s, but it’s just a bad oversight here. The Brioche bun is hardly distinguishable from a plain bun. What saved this dish were the delicious potato chips.
The clams and mussels in a Bloody Mary sauce was borderline gross. The $ 9 creamed spinach and artichoke mixture subpar. If these items are any indication of the entrees that start around $ 30, then I guess I’ll never experience them.
The Vanilla Lemon Drop was tasty and a value at $ 6; maybe drinks are loss leaders for the overpriced food. And you know how molten lava cake-​type desserts are all the rage? Well here it’s $ 15. I have no issue with high prices when matched with high caliber taste (see review for Mucca.)
The tables and chairs are representative of what this place is about: ooh and ah style, but little substance. By this I mean that the table was much too low for it to be comfortably functional. But hey, as long as you look good eating just in case the paparazzi snaps a picture, right?
Our server was sweet and efficient!
Fun people watching:
two separate tables of an overweight 50-​something in a suit accompanied by a mid 20-​something in bling and mini dress. May or may not mean anything, just sayin’.

Stopped here for happy hour to grab some drinks and and appetizer. I tried the vanilla lemon drop. It was fantastic. I would order it over and over again. We also got the pomme frittes (French fries, but they will correct you if you call them that). Those were also really good.
A little pricey for happy hour, but the view is great.

Manager came out to check in the table next to us 3 times and never asked us once if our food was ok, which it wasn’t… We sent a plate of fried mashed potatoes swamped with rosemary as soon as it came to the table. It was not at all what the waitress described and tasted bland and horrible… In fact I can’t imagine anyone that would eat a patty of mash potatoes that has been dropped in a deep fryer and looks like 2 slops of… Dare I say it??? Poo! My friend and I had a bite to entertain the idea that something so terrible looking just MIGHT be great in flavor… But no such luck! Tasted bland and way over seasoned with rosemary. In face that’s all we tasted was rosemary– which I am a fan of in moderation.
But let’s get back to the rest of the food. The HH salad was yummy and had just the right amount of dressing and toppings… But for $ 7 it was a very small portion. The HH ribs were cooked to perfection and came right off the bone… And the mini burgers –2 of them were on the plain side… Just meat, lettuce and bun with ketchup.
The atmosphere here is dressy and upscale with a great view of the water. It would be a great date spot or romantic evening for 2.