Parc

Parc
227 S 18th St Philadelphia, PA 19103 | 215-545-2262 | http://www.parc-restaurant.com/
M-TH: 730am to 11pm F: 730am to 12am Sat: 10am to 12am Sun: 10am to 10pm

Parc is meant to recall the traditional brasseries of Parisian France. A brasserie is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed setting, which serves single dishes and other meals. The word brasserie is also French for "brewery" and, by extension, "the brewing business". A brasserie can be expected to have professional service, printed menus, and, traditionally, white linen—unlike a bistro which may have none of these. Typically, a brasserie is open every day of the week and serves the same menu all day.  Parc is one of the few restaurants I know in the Philadelphia area to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is always busy, first due to the outstanding quality of the food and secondly the extensive hours kept by this establishment.  Friday and Saturday nights they are open until midnight!

Parc is part of the Starr Restaurant group which features restaurants in PA, NJ, NY, FL and Washington DC.  Starr Restaurants owns such Philadelphia landmarks such as Il Pittore, El Ray, The Continental, Morimoto, Dandelion, Granite Hill, and Talula's Garden. Each of these places is wildly successful so one has very high expectations walking into Parc.  Advance reservations are recommended especially for dinner.

 We started the meal with traditional house made baguettes with butter.  Very tasty indeed. No complaints here.

SHRIMP COCKTAIL . . . 17.00. The shrimp were tasty, served on ice which is the traditional presentation for a shrimp cocktail.  Nothing too fancy here.  The cocktail sauce was very good and I'm glad it was served with two lemons instead of one.

Trout Salad with Baguettes. Very good, a nice way to wet the palate for the entrees to come.

GAZPACHO $9.00 Cucumber, olive oil crostini. Light and refreshing chilled gazpacho.  Perfectly balanced, and very good.  Cucumber added freshness and the crostini was a crunchy treat. For all the history buffs, Gazpacho is a soup made of raw vegetables and served cold, usually with a tomato base, originating in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. Gazpacho is widely eaten in Spain and neighboring Portugal particularly during the hot summers, as it is refreshing and cool.

NORWEGIAN SALMON $27.00 cider poached, braised red cabbage, mustard vinaigrette.  The salmon was breaded and cooked to a perfect medium, pinkish-orange on the inside while perfectly browned on the edges.  The mustard vinaigrette was sweet and added some spice to the meat.  Cabbage accompanied the salmon adequately. If I was cooking however, I would have chosen some sweet potatoes or fingerling potatoes in place of the cabbage.

PAN SEARED SCALLOPS $29.00 Sauce vierge, heirloom tomatoes, marinated zucchini. Sauce vierge is a French sauce made from olive oil, lemon juice, chopped tomato and chopped basil. Frequently, crushed coriander seed is added, and variations may include the addition of other herbs such as chervil, chives, parsley.  Personally, I don't like tomatoes mixed with scallops, but again, that is just personal preference.  A very good dish overall.

Cafe Vietnamese $4.50 is a traditional Vietnamese coffee recipe. It is made with coarsely ground Vietnamese-grown dark roast coffee individually brewed with a small metal French drip filter (cà phê phin) into a cup containing about a quarter to a half as much sweetened condensed milk.  Parc's edition includes the sweetened condensed milk (bottom layer) the coffee (middle layer) and steamed milk (top layer).

Gateau: a rich cake, typically one containing layers of cream or fruit. Chocolate with oranges to accompany it and layers including a raspberry coulis in the center.  Delicious.

LA FRAISE $10.00 Strawberry cake, vanilla mousseline, strawberry compote, pistachio ice cream. Fantastic.  Silkier than whipped cream, lighter than custard, vanilla mousseline is pretty much all things to all desserts.  Amazing.

LE BIJOU Tanqueray Gin, Green Chartreuse, Fresh Lime Juice, Mint $13.00.
Not a bad way to start the evening.  Was made a little strong for my taste though.  Green Chartreuse is the only liqueur in the world with a completely natural green colour It is powerful and unique. Only two Chartreuse monks know the identity of the 130 plants, how to blend them and how to distill them into this world famous liqueur. They are also the only ones who know which plants they have to macerate to produce the natural green and yellow colours. And they alone supervise the slow ageing in oak casks. Chartreuse has a very strong characteristic taste. It is very sweet, but becomes both spicy and pungent.

The restrooms at Parc take us back at once to Parisian, France.

The infamous original zinc bar.

Red leather banquettes topped with frosted glass provide a sense of intimacy. Details such as well-worn wooden chairs, vintage framed paintings and photos and antique brass fixtures transport guests across the Atlantic.