Pinto Box - Cliff Island

Excited to go after seeing Figgy on Chopped. But, the chicken was dry. Side dishes were yummy, though. Service was good and quick.

Since the owner was a winner on the Food Network show Chopped , my expectations were very high. Sadly, the chicken was average and the sides were disappointing. The mashed potatoes and gravy were extremely blah with hardly any flavor. The mac 'n cheese tasted too strongly of nutmeg and the Sesame cole slaw just doesn 't go with fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. Regular cole slaw would have went much better, and the biscuits were nothing special. Quite frankly, I 'd rather eat at KFC, which is saying a lot. I expected Figgy 's to be incredibly good, but in our opinion, they sadly weren 't even close to being better than a fast food joint.

Holy Smokes! The Smoky Walker was the best eggplant anything my wife and I have had anywhere! The eggplant was roasted to a point where it melted together with the gouda. The sandwich was creamy and sweetened by the caramelized red onions, and the oversized biscuit in place of a bun was a brilliant choice to make this *way* more than a comfort food indulgence. We came back with friends later to share an ice cream sandwich- cherry ice cream between two chocolate chunk cookies- that was worth every scrumptious bite. (Psst… the sandwich should be a stop on any city ice cream crawl J . Figgy has made a powerhouse of a food stand out of a small space, and Portland should be extremely happy that she is a neighbor doing good things for her community. My wife and I are long-time fans of her restaurant incarnations, and it seems that everything she touches is magic. All the best to Figgy and her Takeout and Catering crew, we hope to be back soon.