Find a “PARC” in downtown Philadelphia and have a good meal!

PARC

227 S 18th St, Philadelphia, PA 19103

I recently ate at Parc, a Stephen Starr restaurant in downtown Philadelphia with 5 other people. Stephen Starr is a famous Chef from Philadelphia who is known for several of restaurants in Philadelphia. The awning-covered seating wraps around the restaurant’s two sides and overlooks Rittenhouse Square, one of Philadelphia’s most popular public spaces. Parc has the motif of a French Bistro; we sat outside to enjoy the Philadelphia Rittenhouse scene. We were approached by a couple of different people trying to selling whatever they were hawking. I did find this annoying since we were trying to eat but it’s a part of the city sites!

Parc has a decent wine list with mostly French style Wines. There were also a few wines from Australia, South Africa and California. We opted for a bottle of Chateau Viex Chevrol a 2012 Merlot, Cab Franc, Cabernet blend, a Bordeaux. Certainly on the low end for a Bordeaux but definitely drinkable. There were a decent variety of wines at price points to fit most budgets. Of course you could still get draft and bottled beer along with specialty cocktails which had a French theme.

I opted to have a salad but there were a variety of choice as the French call them Hors D’ oeuvres. There were plenty of sea food choices. The bread was great!

I had the Lamb shank which was very tender over some coucus cous with a couple of sauces on the side. The trout looked very good and was covered in almonds and salmon looked like it was cooked perfectly. The presentation of all of the food was very appealing. Side dished were ala carte but we had more than enough food. We opted out of desert since we had more than enough to eat.

I had a decent meal and the presentation of the food was appetizing but I wasn’t overwhelmed by Parc. I was expecting more with my experience at a Stephen Starr restaurant to include above average and exciting service instead of adequate. Maybe it was an off night and I would certainly go again.