I feel weird taking pictures of interiors sometimes. (Or waiters look at me weird, so then I feel weird.) To be more low key, I put my camera inconspicuously on the table and gave you a worm's view.
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| From a high table looking toward the bar. Nice interior. |
The coupon was great because it included both food and wine. Many of these group coupons don't include alcohol if you read the fine print. (P.S. Always read the fine print! Some of them even say you can only go on Mondays - Thursdays.)
We got there early, on purpose, so we could enjoy the lower happy hour prices. We began with some $3.00 and $4.00 glasses of wine. And this place has some great, quality happy hour wine. Some other places will only offer lower quality wine for the early evening specials, but not this place. You get the good stuff up front. I had a glass of red zinfandel and a pinot noir that were both lovely. But, we did need some food too.
First up, the cheese board. Three cheeses (brie, goat and cheddar), red grapes, apple butter, apple slices, dried apricots in honey with sliced almonds and water crackers. This alone with the wine could have me satisfied for an evening. (In theory.)
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| A generous portion for $10. |
Like many places now, they have wine tasting machines. Bottles are lined up with tubes in them. You buy a card with whatever amount of money you want on them and you can get 1, 3 and 5 ounce pours that are automatically dispensed. The prices are all listed above each bottle of wine, along with some notes, so you can make an informed decision. This is a great way to taste many kinds of wine and not commit to just one bottle.
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| I have done this at another place and it's a fun thing to do. |
Next delivered to our table were the other three appetizers. (Remember, this is research. So we have to go all out!) Might I note that the portions were very generous. There is another wine bar we like and the food is out of this world, but the portions are quite small for their happy hour's reduced pricing. (Less money, less food appears to be their motto.) So you really get your money's worth at Parallel.
1. Spring Lettuce Chicken Wraps - Iceberg lettuce cups filled with Asian style braised chicken mixed with mango & red peppers, topped with sweet thai-chili sauce & peanuts.
2. Parallel Bruschetta - Mozzarella cheese with sherry vinegar, tomato, garlic, kalamata olives and mushrooms, shallots & basil.
3. Baked Brie - Warmed brie served with fresh apple butter and apricot with toasted almond honey compote.
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| All $5.00 each. You won't go home hungry. |
The sun set by the time we got around to dessert, so the flash had to come on. I don't have a fancy camera, so please bear with the brightness bouncing off the white.
Dark chocolate torte - Served with cassis & cream sauce. (Fresh berries underneath.)
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| Rich and dense, but well balanced with fruit and creme. |
And one more, Apple Strudel - Fresh gala apples baked in filo dough with walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg & brown sugar.
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| I gravitate to any sort of apple and pastry desserts. |
The food was good. It wasn't quite as knock out amazing as another place we like to go, but it was still tasty, the presentation was terrific and portion wise, for the happy hour pricing, it can't be beat. The wine was fantastic and I appreciate that they don't try to do the cheap stuff switcharoo on ya. That alone made it worth the trip. Plus, the interior was quite cozy. I'd go again. Which is a good thing, considering I have another coupon.
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