Showing posts with label Downers Grove. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Downers Grove. Show all posts

Friday, June 15, 2012

Parker's Restaurant and Bar

We ate dinner closer to home at Parker's Restaurant & Bar in Downers Grove. 
Bread & Flatbread
It used to be known as Parker's Ocean Grill - but now it has both a steak and seafood focus.  They are also a farm to fork style restaurant - they don't go through a distributor and have relationships with the farmers and growers.

What we ate - soup - maybe it's crazy to order soup on a warm day in June, but they somehow enticed us.
Manila Clam Chowder - white clam chowder like New England style, but lighter (not as heavy on the cream)
Manila Clam Chowder
Lobster Bisque - with a lobster ravioli, it tasted different than most lobster bisque does so not sure we would order it again.  Like the chowder, it was lighter (not as creamy) as most bisque is, which in this case made us not like it as much, as opposed to the chowder.

Lobster Bisque
Cedar Plank Alaskan Halibut with spinach and whipped potatoes - This was Parker's in season fish from Alaska.  The cedar plank gave it a good smoky and peppery quality.  There was a massive amount of spinach on the plate which seemed odd. especially since it was in the center of the plate. so was the focus the fish or the spinach? Good fresh fish.
Cedar Plank Alaskan Halibut
Lobster Mac and cheese with cold water lobster tail, smoked gouda, pancetta and asparagus - Nick is a bit picky about mac n cheese and he loved this combination.  You can't really go wrong with combining mac n cheese with all those awesome other ingredients.  The asparagus gave the dish a crunch which is kind of unique for mac n cheese dishes. The smoked Gouda with the lobster tail gave the entire dish greater dimensions than so-called good mac n cheese dishes at other restaurants.  We could try to make it at home but we probably wouldn't come close.

Lobster Mac & Cheese
Final thoughts on Parker's
Food - Nick liked it so much he would like to his parents to come here sometime
Service - good, but our waiter didn't explain as much about all the dishes as other wait staff did.  We tried to listen to a server a few tables over when he was going through the specials. But otherwise service was good - drinks were full all the time.
Atmosphere - very fancy looking, with nautical artwork and decore, there is a bar up front that has live piano music.  Nick said if he were to open a restaurant it would be a lot like this place and its theme.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Ballydoyle

Went to eat at Ballydoyle in Downers Grove, an English/Irish Pub.  It was a late celebration of St. Patrick's Day for us.

 

Corned Beef Bites
As an appetizer we had Corned beef bites - they were corned beef and cream cheese shaped into balls and fried. It filled Nick's need for corned beef for St Patty's day. They were warm and freshly fried. We were a little apprehensive about the cream cheese but it went together well with the corned beef.  They were served with a cocktail sauce, but it really was not the best sauce to pair them with as it was too tangy and strong.  The cocktail sauce over powered the corned beef; maybe a honey mustard or mild mustard sauce would have been better.

For entrees we ordered a Steak Boxty and Bangers and Mash.  In Irish, a Boxty means "poor house bread".  The menu described the boxty as a homemade potato pancake cooked on a griddle and wrapped around a filling.  The potato pancake was actually thin and crepe-looking; not exactly what we expected  from a potato pancake (i.e. not like a Jewish/Polish pancake).  But it was very delicate and nicely wrapped around tender well flavored steak.  Nick wishes he could have tried the corned beef boxty.
Inside a corned beef bite
The Bangers and Mash were several links of Irish sausages with a mountain of mashed potatoes.  The bangers were well balanced in the spice arena and served in a light gravy. Natalie was hoping that they would be sweet like the bangers we ate at Chequers in La Grange but they were still delicious.

Final thoughts on Ballydoyle:
Food - tasty, would like to try their corned beef in a more traditional presentation.  Otherwise standard bar fare.
Service - when we walked in there was a sign that said to seat yourself, which seemed a little odd. Then we felt like we waited a long time to get menus and water.  After that everything was served very quickly.

Steak Boxty



Atmosphere - most people probably come here for the pub atmosphere so eating here on a Monday night doesn't really exude the same feeling as on a weekend.  But in the bar area they do have a stage for band performances to take place at night. Something else we noticed is that the waitresses are dressed in kilts and t-shirts - maybe trying to be like Tilted kilt, just a little more subdued an not overtly sexual.



Bangers & Mash