Parma 8200

Stephanie and I met for dinner the other day and decided to try Parma 8200 in Bloomington. It is located in one of the office buildings right off 494 and 100, but it is not in  visible location, so I tend to forget all about it.

The room is very open and yet cozy and comfortable all at the same time. Definitely and inviting atmosphere. And it is easy to forget you are in an office building. They even have a nice patio out back. They even had a jazz trio playing in the bar while we were there. The music was at a good level, not loud at all. We were seated right away, though I had made a reservation on Open Table in case it was busy. It was pretty quiet when we arrived, but it filled up later on.

We started with the fried Sicilian rice balls at the recommendation of our server. They sounded odd to me at first, but they were very tasty. The red sauce on top was very tart and I liked the contrast of the crisp exterior against the soft rice inside. Stephanie also ordered the apple salad, but I forgot to take a photo of it. It was amazing with a wonderful gorgonzola dressing, candied hazelnuts, apples and romaine lettuce.

I ordered the Friday special of the shrimp risotto. It had a generous portion of shrimp, asparagus and risotto. I could not finish it and ended up taking the leftovers home to eat the next day. The sauce was very rich and creamy.

My poor photo skills are in play again here. Stephanie ordered the broiled lemon chicken and it was amazing. I had a few bites and it had a tart lemon sauce with perfectly cooked chicken and delicious roasted potatoes and arugula.

Our entrees took a long time to arrive, but we really had not even noticed as we were visiting and having fun. The manager stopped by to let us know what the delay was and offered to take the lemon chicken off the bill and also offered us a complimentary dessert as well. So we were very happy about that as we were probably going to order dessert anyway. Too bad more establishments do not stay ahead of issues in such a professional and proactive manner.

For dessert we ordered the butterscotch panna cotta with sea salt chocolate shortbread. This was amazing and almost as good as the butterscotch pudding we had at Tilia awhile back. Maybe better. The panna cotta was very rich and creamy and the generous amount of caramel on the top put this dessert over the top. The sea salt shortbread helped cut the sweetness of the panna cotta if your palate needed a break. I would not hesitate to order this dessert again and I’d maybe stop in just for drinks and this dessert!

Even though we had some slight issues with our food taking a long time to arrive, we had a great visit to Parma. I’d like to go back and sit on the patio sometime.

Parma 8200

5600 W 83rd St #100  

Bloomington, MN 55437

(952) 896-8888
http://www.parma8200.com/