Papa Haydn

NOT THE SAME PAPA HAYDN ANYMORE. After many, many years of being regulars at Papa Haydn (and recommending it to many others), we have become so disappointed in/disillusioned with our once favorite restaurant and have severly cut down on our visits! So disappointed in all the menu changes. Papa Haydn just isn't the same anymore. We keep revisiting every month or so, but each time we leave disappointed and with the resolve to not return. So sad. Regarding the menu, the prices have climed way too rapidly and steeply!!!! There are a lot of other quality restaurants in the area now and I believe PH hasoutpriced itself. Aside from prices, the menu is much smaller and so many of our favorties have been removed. Especially, the chicken club - which was a staple and has been replaced with a different version that no one we know likes. If you're listening "Papa Haydn", we especially miss the chicken club, chevre pate, and creamy tarregon dressing. And I have to agree with another reviewer, the Croque Monsieur is no where near as good as it used to be - not the same quality of ham, so little cheese I had to check to see if there really was any, no parmesan on the outside and very greasy. Bring back your former chefs!! And PLEASE change your menu.…

Horrible Food. I took my out of town guest to Papa Haydn's and was horrified with the food. We started with the pate which was so hard I had to crush it with a fork to try and get it on the hard bread which had been cooked in rancid oil - oh my!!! The waiter, reluctantly took it back. Then we had the Croque Monsieur sandwhich which was so soaked in oil that we couldn't eat the bread and just picked out the ham. When I complained to the waiter he presented the bill. I was a regular customer, now I will never go back. The food at least used to balance out the snobby waiters, now the whole place is a mess. Management, what have you done?…

Disappointed. I was psyched to try out Papa Haydn after hearing glowing reviews from several other Portlanders. Unfortunately, I found the experience fell flat of the hype. My issues with Papa Haydn can be summed into three points:

1) Proportion

2) Portion

3) Description

First, it is the mark of a good pastry chef to balance and accentuate the unique flavors of their creation through proper proportioning of each component. Unfortunately, this was not the case at Papa Haydn. The two desserts we tried (Raspberry Gateaux and Autumn Meringue) seemed as if the proportions of different component had been determined either by aesthetics or by whim alone. The gateaux was disappointingly dry and lack luster and relied on the raspberries and raspberry sauce, of which there was depressingly little, to create moisture and interest. The Meringue, on the other hand, was overwhelmingly rich and sweet, and suffered from an excess of chocolate "mousse" and, again, a lack of zippy raspberry sauce to counter-balance it. The meringue, which had exquisite texture, was almost lost in the layers of mousse, and its subtle orange flavor went unnoticed until almost half of the dessert had been eaten. Also, saucing seemed more about appearance than taste. Chocolate sauce was squiggled in the common, extraneous way across most plates I saw come out of the kitchen, despite the fact that it detracted noticeably from both of the desserts we ordered.

Second, a good dessert should always leave you wanting one more bite. You should crave a return visit to your patisserie almost before you leave it. Unfortunately when a dessert, and particularly a very rich dessert like those at Papa Haydn, is very large the diner is able to indulge the desire to eat "one more bite" and actually eat the dreaded "one bite too many". This leaves one, at the least, wishing they had eaten one bite less and, at worst, leaves one wishing they hadn't come for dessert at all. Thus was my experience at Papa Haydn. When our desserts came out, I was shocked by the enormity of each (in fact, my date remarked that they looked more like "cheese cake factory"-sized desserts). Besides the classlessness of their appearance, the desserts were so large that, my appreciation of each suffered from over indulgence. I do realize that Papa Haydn creates most of their desserts in large cake form, as opposed to in individual servings, which is a great time/cost cutting measure- a savings which they seem to pass on to the customer through their enormous portions. However, I think that if Papa Haydn were to cut the size of their desserts in half, they would been much better for it.

Third, and this is a most minor point, the desserts were not properly represented by their descriptions. As someone who has extensively studied and eaten French pastries (mostly in France), I have very defined expectations about the application of certain French terms. For example, when I order a dessert that is described as including layers of pot de crème and chocolate mousse, I do not expect to experience any confusion about which is intended to be which. I do appreciate the right of each chef to express themselves creatively through their medium, but I also expect to be handed the dessert described to me. It's not a big deal if the dessert doesn't exactly match some French standard, just use a different word to describe it.

I must say the ambiance was very pleasant, with a very welcoming lighting scheme and a cohesive design concept. Wait staff was terse, but not unpleasant overall. Gluten-free options were plentiful and well marked.…