Parc Bistro-Brasserie — Restaurant in San Diego

OUTSTANDING SERVICE ! My wife and I were downtown early on Thursday to see our long term dentist in Bankers Hill. While my wife was having her teeth cleaned I quizzed Eric the front desk manager about his fav eateries. Our plan had been to have lunch at a fav cafe on Fifth Ave after our dental work was completed around midday. Eric suggested Parc Bistro-Brasserie and told me where it was. He said that all the staff had a fabulous Xmas dinner there. GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME ! When my wife came out I told her and Parc became our lunch destination. To save parking hassles on Fifth Ave we left our car in the 2 hour metered street spot on Third Ave outside Dr Chau's. It was a short 10 minute walk to Parc. The closer we got the more I felt I knew this location.....sure enough when we arrived I remembered it used to be Croce's Park West. My wife and I arrived at the hostess desk just before 12.30pm to be warmly greeted by Lee the lovely hostess. We sat at a high top table near the front window which looked out onto their outdoor patio. A food runner named Sean brought us waters, menus and Complimentary Hot Bread & Olive Tapenade. I could see looking around that a substantial re-model had taken place since the demise of Croce's Park West..we came here once with our daughter. Morgan our very charming server came by to take our lunch order. Well....the COMPLIMENTARY ARTISAN BREAD AND OLIVE TAPENADE was going down a treat....this place could be a winner ! My wife ordered the WILD MUSHROOM RAVIOLI ( Organic wild mushrooms, ricotta cheese, tarragon, cream sauce ) while I couldn't resist the STEAK FRITES ( Sliced flat iron steak, sautéed spinach, shoestring fries, peppercorn sauce ). I didn't want any alcohol at this time of the day but their craft beer list was a little average. Our lunch orders arrived together courtesy of Sean and looked totally spectacular. My wife was in raptures over her Wild Mushroom Ravioli...I had a taste and it was incredible ! My Steak Frites....steak medium rare with the sautéed spinach and peppercorn sauce...perfect texture and flavor. The shoestring fries tasted nice but I would have preferred a larger size fry. But seriously everything tasted sensational. Sean the food runner even brought us another serve of their Complimentary Artisan Bread & Olive Tapenade Sauce...to die for ! DESSERT DESSERT DESSERT..we had looked at their dessert menu online and pretty much knew what we wanted. My wife had to have the MARQUIS ( G.F Chocolate cake, Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Glaze, Chocolate Crumble ) while I ordered the CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE ( Chocolate cake, Chocolate ganache, vanilla bean gelato ). Our amazingly presented desserts arrived together courtesy of Sean the food runner. I could tell the moment my wife tasted her Marquis that it was super delicious..I had a taste and it was ! My Chocolate Lava Cake with Vanilla Bean Gelato wasn't too shabby I can tell you....house made our server Morgan told me. The Marquis is an outside item but who's complaining ! We wanted great lattes to top off our lunch and Morgan our talented server came to the rescue. Our beautifully presented Lattes made by Morgan appeared in front of us and tasted superb. This would be one of our best ever lunch experiences and we are already planning a...

This place is probably convincing enough to fool the kind of San Diegan who would go to a French restaurant in flip-flops -- in other words, most of us slobs. Here you'll enjoy a typical mediocre San Diego French bistro experience.

They nail the basics at least: the complimentary slices of baguette come with a pungent tapenade that is briny, tangy, and decent. My visit here was on a cool day, so I started with a French Onion Soup which had a sweet onion broth with roasted beefy flavor and stringy melted cheese. This hearty soup perhaps did a disservice to the restaurant, as it raised the bar to a level that the rest of the meal could not meet.

"Tournedos Rossini" is one of the most enduring and delightful dishes of French "Cuisine Classique," its name thought to be in tribute to composer Gioachino Rossini. Escoffier made this dish a staple of French restaurants in the early 20th century, his recipe consisting of a seared Filet Mignon over buttered croutons, topped with a slice of foie gras, adorned with shaved truffles, and then smothered with "Sauce Madère," a demi-glace sauce made of veal stock, Madeira wine, butter, and more truffles.

In my review of local steakhouse "Born & Raised," (who does a faithful and excellent rendition of this dish) I wrote that I wondered why "Tournedos Rossini" is not more widespread, as it checks nearly every box of what one wants on their dinner plate. The answer to that question is "Parc Bistro-Brasserie."

Here I was served chewy, lukewarm steak topped with foie gras torchon (unlikely prepared in-house, and used as a shortcut substitute to sautéing a whole liver in a beurre noisette as the classic recipe demands). Actual truffles supplanted by truffle oil. Cold haricot verts. Undercooked pommes au gratin. It may have looked pretty, but this was barely edible and a true disappointment, even at $38. If you're going to carry this dish on your menu, please charge me $30 more to do it right, and teach your kitchen how to better manage timing vis-à-vis plating.

Service bordered on problematic, as my waitress who doubled as the bartender would disappear for long periods. She was much more attentive when the owner and one his friends was on the patio with me, but less so once they left for the night.

When I asked my server if they used roosters in their coq au vin, she went back to the kitchen and returned to tell me that their executive chef said they prefer to use "chickens" over roosters because chicken is more tender. This statement made no sense on a number of levels due to:

Roosters ARE chicken

Coq au vin is a stew. Rooster is a stew meat, hen meat (I'm assuming what they meant by "chicken") is not a stew meat; e.g. it'd be like stating a preference for beef tenderloin over beef chuck in bœuf bourguignon because tenderloin is more tender

They should have just told me the truth: roosters are expensive to source in this country and not worth procuring to impress only a small handful of people like me who would care for an authentic rendition of this dish

Middling service combined with inconsistent food combined with nonsensical dishonest answers to basic questions about the menu made this a less than stellar experience. I would give them another chance perhaps, but not...

ON POINT SERVICE ! My wife and I don't get down to San Diego much these days now that we live in Irvine which is 84 miles way. However when we have to make a trip such as to our dentist in Bankers Hill we like to catch up with some of our fav restaurants in the area. SO ! On Friday after our midday dental appointments at Dr Chau we walked up here for lunch. It was better to our car in its metered parking spot because parking can be very hard to find in this neighborhood. And the walk will do us good ! A hostess named Rylie welcomed us in friendly manner when we arrived at the front entrance. We like to dine indoors most of the time and it was a hot day...too hot for the sidewalk patio. We gestured towards a bar height table beside the front window...our usual fav spot. No many familiar faces around except for Jeff the long time server here...he seemed to winging it on his own. The lunch menu is not huge but always interesting. CRAFT BEER ! I seldom drink alcohol with lunch but I remembered the lovely Duvel Belgian Ale I enjoyed here on a lunch visit not that long back....served in a colorful Duvel glass. I saw on the beverage menu they had Duvel 6.66 on tap so I asked Jeff our server for one of those and 2 glasses of iced water. BIG SURPRISE ! Jeff returned quickly with my Duvel 6.66 Belgian Blonde Ale in a generic tall glass and placed it in front of me. I asked him why it was not in a Duvel stem glass.....they have all been broken by the patrons he replied. WHATEVER ! When I pay $10 for a Belgian beer on draft in an upscale restaurant I expect the matching glass. Anyway the beer tasted good but there was little point taking a photo of it....it could have been anything. FOOD ! Our COMPLIMENTARY fresh baked Artisan Bread & Olive Tapenade turned up fast courtesy of food runner Tomas. Of course it tasted very delicious ! We liked the sound of the Lobster Arancini Starter ( Lobster risotto croquettes, spicy harissa sauce ) so we kicked off with that. ENTREES ! When you like something on the menu a lot it is hard to change....my wife ordered Wild Mushroom Ravioli ( Organic wild mushrooms, ricotta cheese, tarragon cream sauce ) and I stuck with Steak Frites ( Sliced flat iron steak, sautéed spinach, shoestring fries, peppercorn sauce ). Of course our server Jeff asked how I would like my steak cooked...medium rare thank you. The Lobster Arancini starter hit the table faster than a speeding train courtesy of Tomas the food runner. VERY DELICIOUS ! We tried a bunch of Arancini during our recent vacation in Italy.....love it ! There were a lot of diners on the outdoor patio....not so many inside. At some point I asked Rylie the hostess if Varo the owner was in the house.....he is busy I was told and then corrected me that it is Garo. DAAAH....I should have known that. Our entrees arrived in good time again courtesy of Tomas the food runner. Their kitchen chef & co know their stuff.....our meals tasted as good as on our previous lunch visits. We decided to pass on dessert even though we love what they serve. Just before we left a very well attired woman popped over to our table too say hi....Leticia Mazeron the GM. We enjoyed our...