Monday, April 23, 2012

Saxon + Parole

I'll admit it - I judge a restaurant by its cover.  If I pass by and it looks totally cute, I'm pretty much interested in trying.  Its not a guarantee that I'll like it, but it does get me in the door.  Walking home from SoHo one day, I passed by Saxon + Parole, sister restaurant to PUBLIC, and immediately put it on my list of "to-try's".


When you walk into Saxon + Parole, it's just as cute on the inside as the outside!  Think shabby chic French chateau meets farmhouse.  There's a decent size bar area in the front which feeds into beautiful dining rooms.

Bar area (pic from http://saxonandparole.com/)
Dining room (pic from http://saxonandparole.com/)
 Dining compadre and I really lucked out with these awesome seats next to the fire candle-place.  Check it out:

Our great seats next to the candle-place!
Upon being seated, we were handed not one, not two, not three, but FOUR menus!  Included were the menu of available oysters, the cocktail menu, the wine list, and the dinner menu:

All our menus! (pic from dining campadre)
As much of the extensive dinner menu as I could capture
The oyster menu with hole-punches next to the available ones - super cute!
I really liked how our waitress was extremely knowledgeable and talked us through each menu.  She was also able to answer all of our questions right up front (no "uhh...let me check with the kitchen...").  The cocktail menu was also fantastic and included several interesting and unique cocktails - so many to try!

While waiting for our appetizers to come, we were served some really amazing bread.  Came on a wooden board with TWO types of butter - regular butter and foie gras butter!  The bread was hot, fresh, and crusty on the outside while nice and soft on the inside.  And the butter, both butters, were delish!

Crusty rolls with both fresh butter and foie gras butter
For appetizers, we ordered the Mini Seafood Towers and the Truffle Portobello Mousse Pot.  I love that they offer a seafood tower that's just perfect to share between 2-3 people and also at a reasonable price point.  It came with oysters, tea-smoked mussels (tasty!), and jumbo prawns.  The Truffle Portobello Mouse Pot was basically a whipped mushroom and truffle spread with this whiskey jelly on top.  It was definitely a unique appetizer, super flavorful, and really fun to try. I'd recommend!

Mini Seafood Tower and the Truffle Portobello Mousse Pot
For our entrees, I ordered the Hanger Steak and my dining campadre selected the Roasted Pork Belly. 
And of course we couldn't pass on the Cauliflower and Gruyere side!  The Pork Belly came with pickled red cabbage, roasted apple jus, and pork-crackling (whatever that is).  My steak came with a bone marrow Bearnaise sauce.  Both entrees and the cauliflower side were delicious and quickly polished off. 

Roasted Pork Belly
Hangar Steak and the Cauliflower and Gruyere side
And finally, for dessert, we finished off our dinner with Warm Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts.  Our waitress stopped by and also offered us complementary glasses of Moscato - what a perfect way to end our meal. 

Fresh Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts and Moscato
Overall I had a great dinner at Saxon + Parole.  The fantastic service, enjoyable atmosphere, and tasty food were all a treat.  If you get a chance, definitely stop by!

Piggy says Yes!

Thanks for reading - Piggy KK

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