Chef Justin's Park Plaza Gardens
Winter Park, FL 32789-4317
Phone: (407) 645-2475
- Price:
- $$$
- Hours:
- Mon-Sat 11:30am-3pm, 6pm-10pm, Sun 11am-3pm, 6pm-10pm
Editorial Review for Chef Justin's Park Plaza Gardens – by Lynelle Lawrence
The Scene
An elegant, elaborately decorated garden setting, filled with vibrant flowers and comforting floral aromas. The dining room is reminiscent of a French courtyard and dining along the sidewalk cafe is great almost any time of year.
The Food
Seafood is a standout among the elaborately staged entrees. Seared ahi tuna served on a mound of jasmine rice or the baked Brie and green apple napoleon are fantastic starters. Blue-crab cakes with mustard sauce and greens are tasty and full of meat. Pan-seared salmon with avocado and citrus cream and the Florida snapper sauteed with mushrooms in New Orleans brown butter are memorable. Desserts are decadent and worth saving room for, like the tangy Key lime pie or the Blue Ridge chocolate cake, a towering confection of moist cake, mountain blackberry preserves and chocolate ganache icing. The homemade ice creams also tantalize.
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Insider Tips
Where to SitIf possible, try to sit out in the cafe. It offers great views of Park Avenue--perfect for the casual people-watcher.
User Reviews for Chef Justin's Park Plaza Gardens
08/20/2007 Posted by pkzart
We visited on Aug. 18th. The service, food and wine were wonderful. We started with French onion soup, which had a wonderful herbal broth, the goat cheese salad and crab-topped gazpacho. For entrees, we had the crab-stuffed grouper, shrimp and scallops over homemade pasta in a savory sauce, and the Steak Diane. I tasted everyone's meals and everything was perfect. My husband's steak could've been cut with a fork. Although I stuck to capuccino for dessert, the chocolate mousse cake and bananas foster that I sampled from my guests' plates were equally wonderful. I am definitely returning.
Pros: everything was great, including the attentive service and friendly staff
Cons: Winter Park restaurants are pricier but this one was worth it
08/11/2007 Posted by breeze7891
The best thing about Park Plaza Gardens is the lovely setting. It's very romantic and comfortable, you feel like you could be in a bistro in Manhattan or even somewhere in Europe. The prices are steep for the portion size, but it is usually worth it. I say "usually" because something was not quite right - we had escargot as an appetizer followed by the Shrimp & Scallop dish and the lamb dish. Both meals were very good, but maybe it was the olive oil that was brought twith the bread that threw me off (it's looooaded with garlic). I am a big garlic fan but something about it left me still tasting the garlic the next morning. A little unpleasant, so just a small warning about the intensity. Otherwise, it was a good experience though - great service, beautiful atmosphere. I do have to say though, I wasn't as impressed with the food as I felt like I should have, especially for the price. It was by no means bad...just not quite up there like I had expected.
Pros: Ambience!!!, Service, Menu selection
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