At the corner of Central and Grove, there lies a local French restaurant that is very busy over the weekend. I've had a chance to eat there a couple of times, and every time I went there, the food was perfect!

After sitting down and ordering some food, we were served a piece of warm French bread with a knob of room temperature butter for the best spreadability. I despise restaurants that serve warm bread with cold butter. It's impossible to spread the butter on to the nice warm bread. Bistro Central Parc did it right! The crust was crispy and the inside was warm and chewy (but not too chewy).

I always start with a cup of French onion soup, which I found is one of the best onion soups I've had anywhere. Even better than what I've had at a more fancy French restaurant like Bouchon Bistro in Yountville (Napa valley). The cheese on top is to die for and the flavor is explosive.

The day that I went, they had a special appetizer which is a plate of crostini with chicken liver pâté, prosciutto, smoked duck breast, and some guanciale. Everything on the plate was delicious, especially the pâté. However, I didn't like the guanciale, but that is my personal preference.

For entrée, I got a filet mignon steak with potato gratin in a peppercorn sauce. The meat was cooked perfectly, and the gratin was rich. The meat itself was very tender which shows the quality of the meat that they use. I also love that fried yam on top which enhances the dish with a contrast texture.

My friend, however, went with a fish special of the day, which is a sea bass with shrimp sauce on top of garlic mashed potatoes and snap peas. I asked him to try a little bit of his food, and it was delicious. The sea bass was cooked perfectly, the mash was smooth, and the snap pea was crispy and sweet. The only problem I had with the dish was that some of the peas weren't "stringed" properly.

We then proceed to get dessert. Since we already had quite a bit of food, we settled on getting profiteroles. The profiteroles here weren't just stuffed with creme, but it was ice cream! (double the deliciousness!) The pastry was nice and soft, the ice cream was delicious, and the chocolate sauce on top of the profiteroles made the dish even more incredible.

Overall, this is a great restaurant to visit if you come to San Francisco. As you see below, the restaurant doesn't really have a sign or anything noticeable from the outside. This is a hidden gem of the panhandle in San Francisco.

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Bistro Central Parc: Local French Favorite