Parc

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Posted by Wendy / no comments » / Restaurants

How many times do I have to say “excuse me”?

On my first trip to Parc I was excited to finally have an alternative to the Rouge/Devon dining scene. This French restaurant, bistro and cafe serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is centrally located on Rittenhouse Square at 227 South 18th Street down the block from Rouge and Devon.

The first time around we had seats inside the restaurant overlooking the sidewalk that runs along 18th street which gives you a great view of Rittenhouse Square. The service was perfect. The meals were flawless. Absolutely no complaints.

My second trip back to Parc was an entirely different experience. It was a beautiful Saturday which I knew meant that the restaurant would be packed. I made reservations hoping we would get a decent seat. We arrived 15 minutes before our reservation. The table understandably was not ready. We decided to wait at the bar. After about 25 minutes I decided to check to see how much longer we would have to wait for our table. The hostess asked if we had already checked in and acted surprised that we were not already seated. I am certain that we would have been waiting a considerable amount of time if I did not make the effort to check on our table.

We were finally seated at the back of the restaurant which was pleasant because it was a little bit quieter than the front of the restaurant. On a busy day the restaurant takes on a deafening buzz. There was a nice breeze blowing in from the open French doors which allowed us to enjoy the beautiful weather. Admittedly the best seats are outside. However, when we arrived the wait was close to an hour. Outdoor dining has a separate wait list from indoor dining. We opted to eat inside.

Once seated the experience went downhill pretty quickly. Thankfully, I had a great dining companion with whom I enjoyed passing the time while we were waiting and waiting and waiting for our server. Everything was delayed. I lost count of the amount of times I had to say “excuse me” to get our servers attention to get refills, etc. The restaurant was busy but it was nothing out of the norm for this popular restaurant.

The food is good but no better than many other restaurants in the city. You don’t really go to Parc so much for the food as you do for the people watching. The “scene” at Parc is the ultimate allure. From what I can gather the most popular item on the menu seems to be their onion soup. It was a little too warm outside for soup on my second visit. We opted to share the Steak Tartare hors d’oeuvre. It’s a chopped filet that is served cold and topped with a small quail egg. Sounds a little weird but it is actually quite good. It comes with three small baguettes and a little side salad.

As for entrees I decided to indulge in a Lamb Sandwich. I was a bit disappointed. I thought the lamb would be served as a breast. Instead it was served sliced more like a luncheon meat. It tasted like any ordinary sandwich I could get off the street.

Thankfully, my dining companion chose the Chicken Paillard which was much tastier. It was topped with a light shaved vegetable salad. The chicken was seasoned perfectly and served traditionally thin.

Of course we had to save room for dessert. We decided to try the Profiteroles which are pastries that have vanilla ice cream sandwiched between them and are topped with chocolate sauce. Dessert was the highlight of my meal.

I definitely plan on returning to Parc to try and grab a drink outside and enjoy the view. I’ll probably have my meal elsewhere.

Dress is casual. Prices are reasonable. Reservations are highly recommended most nights.

Check it out for yourself: http://www.parc-restaurant.com

Photo from http://www.parc-restaurant.com