Fancy Night Out at Parc Bistro-Brasserie

Jake and I recently had a dinner date night at Parc Bistro-Brasserie in Banker’s Hill. Last year I started to reduce the amount of things that I own and am trying to go for a more minimalist lifestyle. With our wedding on the horizon and us moving in together after we get married, I decided it was time to reduce my belongings to hopefully embrace a more meaningful lifestyle away from “stuff”.

With that in mind, Jake and I agreed to not buy each other “stuff” for Christmas and instead we purchased a deal for a 3 course meal at a local restaurant. We picked Parc Bistro-Brasserie because 1) they had a good deal and 2) it is a French restaurant and we are going to Paris for our honeymoon!

We were originally supposed to go to Parc Bistro-Brasserie in December, but Jake got a cold, and then I spend the majority of December sick with a cold, which is another reason why I put off blogging for awhile – I just wasn’t feeling good! I’m happy to report that nasty cold has finally left us!

Parc Bistro-Brasserie is in Banker’s Hill, not too far from Balboa Park and Extraordinary Desserts. We had an early reservation and were able to find street parking about a block away.

Dinner Menu at Parc Bistro-Brasserie in San Diego

With our dinner deal, we were able to choose one appetizer to share up to $18, 2 entrees up to $34, and one dessert up to $12 to share. They make it easy though – if, say, you want something more expensive, you just pay the difference. 


Jake started off with the Lavender Soda [$6] which is lavender infused simple syrup with lemon and acai lemon soda. It was fizzy and sweet and the lavender wasn’t too strong and added a nice flavor to the drink.

I decided to be “fancy” and had a glass of white wine. I had the Pierre Sparr Pinot Blanc from Alsace, France. I decided a French wine should be a good choice for my meal.

Our meal started off with a warm, crusty baguette and already we were happy and content! The board came with some pats of salted butter and tapenade. I already know I don’t like olives, but JUST TO BE SURE, I tried the tapenade. Nope. Still don’t like olives! I’ll just stick to olive oil only, thank you.

We got another baguette after munching through this first one, and I saved some pieces to go with our appetizer.

Charcuterie Board

I really wanted the Charcuterie Board [$24] and we paid the extra for it since it was over our $18 allowance with the deal we bought. Our board came with baguette, jam, salami, chicken liver pate, prosciutto, capers, almonds, and 4 different kinds of cheeses (blue, brie, and two semi soft cheeses), cornichons, and dried apricots. 

The brie was my favorite thing! The blue was very pungent and strong and better eaten mixed with other things on the plate. I don’t remember what the semi soft cheeses we had were but they were both good, I just love brie more than anything. The meats were also excellent and we both discovered that we don’t really like liver pate. The flavor is incredibly strong and permeates your senses and really lingers with a bit of a bitter aftertaste that we didn’t enjoy.  

Jake really wanted to maximize his value and decided to get the Filet Mignon [$34]. I told him I thought he would get the Steak Frites instead but he said he wanted the more expensive item. He gave me a bite and I remembered why Filet Mignon is not my favorite. It is tender, for sure, but the lack of marbling and fat makes it lack in taste to me. It is not my preferred cut of meat but the bordelaise sauce that Parc Bistro-Brasserie lays all over the potatoes and meat does give it some flavor oomph. But still, I would never order a filet, and Jake said that while he did enjoy it somewhat, he would not normally order filet, either. 

I had my heart set on the Duck Breast [$34] and it did not disappoint! The duck breast is served with a Bigarade sauce (which is like an orange sauce) with a parsnips, acorn squash, and sautéed baby kale which is all hiding out underneath the duck breast. The duck was incredibly tender and had a wonderful rich flavor. The sauce topped it off really well. My *only* wish was that the skin was crispy, but otherwise this was a really excellent duck dish and I would happily eat this again!

Jake let me pick the dessert and I decided to go for something a little lighter (aka not chocolate) so he would eat some, too.

I decided on the Ultimate Lemon Bar [$12] and it did not disappoint! Jake commented he thought it was more like a key lime tart due to its tart flavor. The bit of strawberry sauce complimented the lemon bar really well and I liked the torching they did on top of the lemon bar. This was the perfect sharing size, too, since I was starting to feel quite full after our luxurious meal.  

Jake at Parc Bistro-Brasserie

And as proof, here we are all dressed up for a night on the town! Doesn’t Jake look so dapper?

Mary at Parc Bistro-Brasserie

I wore the dress that I wore for our engagement photos again. This dress has pockets and that IS THE BEST.

Heels

I would also like to note that I wore 2″ heels so that I could be a) fancy for an evening and b) 5″ tall. But it’s winter and my feet were cold, so I wore my heels with pumpkin pie socks. Because why not. 

That’s our fancy night out! I must say that I felt it was more memorable than getting some “stuff” that we each may or may not use. Memories are better keepsakes and we had a fun evening out. We rarely ever get dressed up so I got a kick out of seeing Jake get extra dapper to go on a date with me. 

Parc Bistro-Brasserie
2760 Fifth Ave
San Diego, CA 92103


5 thoughts on “Fancy Night Out at Parc Bistro-Brasserie

  1. Ooh I thought you went here for sdrw preview. Where did you get your meal deal from? I remember the duck being pretty awesome here and ya’ll are just so cute in this pictures! We made dinner for everyone at our last game night and hope to see you at one of the next!

    1. Ohhh no SDRW previews for me, I guess they don’t like me anymore but that’s okay! We got the deal through TravelZoo! Yes we will have to come to your next game night, hopefully no one is sick!!

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