Parrot Cage

In another south side of Chicago adventure we went to eat at Parrot Cage, a restaurant we heard about from Check Please. The restaurant is located in the South Shore Cultural Center, a beautiful building right on Lake Michigan; in fact this building is where the Obama's wedding reception was held.  We had no idea that there was anything like this near that location.  The grounds also house a 9 hole golf course.



View outside with Lake Michigan in background

The South Shore Cultural Center is home to the Washburne Culinary Institute, and the Parrot Cage Restaurant serves as a training ground for the culinary students.  The students staff the restaurant in cooking, hosting and waiting on tables. They serve mostly American dishes with a French flair. They are known for their Sunday brunches, especially their themed Jazz Brunches where you can dine in the Cultural Center's Solarium.



The actual restaurant area is not that big but the space is beautiful.  There are windows looking out at the lake and golf course.  The decore is art deco and very colorful.  You could not ask for a better scene.

Lobster Tart

The setting made for some high expectations of how the food would taste.  Here is what we ordered:  As appetizers we ordered the crab salad and the lobster tart.  The lobster tart was baked with red peppers, onions and smoked Gouda cheese and was served with baby greens and a balsamic reduction.  It was super tasty and something different that we hadn't eaten before. We would have enjoyed it more if it had been heated evenly; some spots we colder than others.

Crab Salad

The crab salad came with avocado, tomatoes and baby greens and was served with a crispy wonton, balsamic vinaigrette and basil oil.  The crab, avocado and tomatoes were molded into a round shape.  The presentation was quite impressive but the dish lacked a little seasoning.  We're not sure what it was missing, they offered cracked pepper over it but we turned it down thinking it might be too strong of a flavor.  Maybe by tossing the crab, avocado and tomatoes in oil and vinegar before plating them it would have tasted a little better.  All of the ingredients were good and fresh tasting but it didn't quite hit the bulls eye.

Chicken Cassoulet

For entrees we ordered Chicken Cassoulet and a Maple Glazed Pork Chop. The chicken was served with wilted spinach and diced sweet potato in a veal glace.  This dish had good flavors but wasn't exactly what we were expecting. The menu mentioned andouille sausage and beans and we just didn't see them.  Maybe they were cooked into the sauce somehow but we're just not sure.  We have been to an authentic French restaurant where we ordered Cassoulet and the dish included several different meats served in a bowl of beans.  So we were expecting sausage and beans to be part of the dish, especially after seeing the menu description. This was the only chicken dish on the menu so it wasn't supposed to be something else.  It was just a little odd.  We did find the chicken to be moist and tender and the glace and spinach were good accompaniments.

Pork Chop and Corn Fritters

The pork chop was served with collard greens and corn fritters.  The greens and fritters were very tasty but the pork chop just missed the mark.  From the description on the menu we were expecting a maple/sweet taste to them from some kind of sauce, but honestly it tasted like a plain pork chop - like the glaze was entirely missing. It was unfortunate and made it so that half of the pork chop became leftovers so we could jazz it up at home.  The pork chop was cooked well; it just was very bland. The best part of this dish was definitely the corn fritters - they were sweet and moist and had flavor that the pork chop was lacking.

Hallway to Ballroom

Final thoughts on Parrot Cage:
Food - 50/50 hit or miss. We had high hopes that despite the restaurant being connected to a culinary school it would be great.  Natalie has been to other cooking school restaurants around the nation that were outstanding for a great price. The food was fairly reasonably priced and a lot of the clientele were elderly so they could stretch their fixed incomes.  We could have ignored the crab salad seasoning and even the cassoulet confusion, but the pork chop just soured the experience. We wanted to like this restaurant so much to support the budding chefs; maybe Sunday brunch or just a different semester with different chefs would make the difference.
Service - The service was great.  The students were very attentive to every need. They kept refilling water and bread.  They were even concerned when Nick went outside (just to take pictures) to make sure everything was okay.

Entrance to Cultural Center

Atmosphere - This is a very picturesque location.  If it were on the north side of Chicago people would be flocking to it in droves.  One weird thing is that we had to pay for parking despite plentiful parking spots at the Cultural Center (probably to prohibit the neighborhood from parking there for free).  It was a beautiful setting to have a meal and too bad most restaurant's can't offer that. As far as locations go, probably North Pond has been the only other restaurant we have been to have such beautiful scenery.