PARK AVE

PICTURED (top to bottom): Pepper Steak with Herbed French Fries and Seasonal Vegetables, 5 Spiced Baked Salmon, Whole Boneless Chicken, Warm Butter Cake with Whipped Cream, Cheesecake with Sorbet, Chocolate Sundae.

Orange Coast Magazine recently named Park Ave (www.parkavedining.com/) "Restaurant of the Year". So, we decided to try it for lunch today. It's a beautiful restaurant with a nice ambiance. It's really an oasis in the middle of an unlikely part of town. The chef really knows how to cook and the menu is filled with his wonderful creations. They have a great Lunch Menu, and actually the entire menu is also available for lunch.

Sweetie pie ordered the Pepper Steak with Herbed French Fries and Seasonal Vegetables, and added Arugula Aioli and Jalapeno Aioli Dipping Sauces. The steak looked beautiful coming to the table, but was ordered medium and was actually quite rare. They put it back on the grill, but it came back well-done and a little wizened. The manager asked how everything was, and when informed of the problem, quickly brought sweetie pie a Park Ave Burger. Unfortunately, the burger was too rare for sweetie to eat. Her mother's Salmon was perfectly prepared and quite delicious. My Whole Boneless Chicken (stuffed with Spinach and Whipped Potatoes) was wonderful and swimming in a great Pan Juice Sauce. It really was a large, whole chicken- boneless and perfectly prepared!

We were told that Dessert was "on the house" for us today; so sweetie pie ordered the Warm Butter Cake with Whipped Cream, her mother the Cheesecake with Sorbet, and I had the Chocolate Sundae. When the desserts arrived, we told the server that they looked great and she responded "at least you can't send the desserts back". WHAT!?

Well the desserts were delicious, and we give management an "A" for effort. The quality of the food, the lovely atmosphere and good management all helped to rate today's Park Ave lunch three thumbs up from the 3 Tubby Tummys!