Parkside is Austin legend Shawn Cirkiel’s gem of a restaurant in downtown Austin, he formerly of Jean-Luc’s bistro fame.  Parkside, as I wrote about here, is in my top 5 Austin restaurants.  No other spot in Austin seems to serve food prepared as simply yet innovative as these guys, okay I lied, Uchi does.  The restaurant graciously invited Austin food bloggers to a happy hour (I’m really liking these!) to taste the goods.  As predicted, I ate every bite of everything (except the lamb belly).  Delicious.  When dining at Parkside, the descriptions on the menu are bare boned so trust the kitchen with the details or feel free to ask your waitress to elaborate.  Examples: Brandade, Poached tomatoes: what’s a brandade? or Macaroni: is it Mac & Cheese or macaroni salad?  See what I’m getting at.  The raw bar has fantastic offerings and FYI: Wednesdays is half off all champagne and oysters.  

Crab fritter w/ sauce ravigote

To see pictures of Parkside:

Parkside at corner of 6th and San Jacinto

The evenings menu

Fluke w/ lemon and almonds from the raw bar

Green garlic soup w/ duck confit.  The tastiest dish of the evening.  Will return for a bowl of this!

Cotto salami w/ house pickles.  Tasty but I’m not sure how many people go to Parkside to eat salami.

Salmon w/ green beans.  The salmon was cooked to perfection, just raw enough in the center.

Lamb belly w/ sweet potato puree.  Beautiful presentation but too fatty.

Bar steak w/ roast mushrooms and a red wine sauce.  I’ll eat anything with onion rings.

Petite chocolate crunch. This dessert tasted like a gourmet Kit Kat bar.  But…. if you have not been to Parkside yet, on your first visit you must get the donuts.  6 donut holes are served in a bag with 3 dipping sauces.

Parkside 301 E. 6th St. Austin, TX 78701 www.parkside-austin.com 512-474-9898