Parma
“As I made my way through the Upper East Side, the walk was pleasant, but I had definitely worked up a healthy appetite.”
“But really this is a neighborhood place for the well-heeled locals who reside on UES.”
“I had the Malfatti stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese with mushrooms and my boyfriend had the chicken Parmigiana served with spaghetti.”
Parma
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
3 reviews
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Two friends and I were wandering around the Upper East Side and looking for Italian and found this place. It is definitely as others have described it–old school, in its menu, decor, and service. The service was just alright, and the bread that came out was cold and a bit too hard for my liking. The food, however, was pretty good–I had the gnocchi, which was very good and fresh with average to slightly higher-than-average prices. The small dessert plate at the end of the meal was a nice touch, as well. It's a decent place to eat in the area, but not some place I'd go out of my way to eat.
Parma is the kind of restaurant that initially earns a healthy dose of yelp skepticism.
After all, there are all of 9 reviews about a place that's been around for 30+ years.
I suspect Parma's aging demographic isn't exactly likely to check-in here with a smartphone.
And that's fine as the food at Parma is the main attraction. You can come here and not worry about distractions such as trendiness or youthful escapades.
Parma, like its namesake city in Italy, is known for ham and cheese. I experienced both by ordering the prosciutto di Parma with melon and then chicken parmigiana. (Geographically, parmigianas are more of a southern italian standy than northern but I digress…)
The menu probably hasn't changed in 30 years except to adjust to the rate of inflation.
An appetizer isn't really necessary as the generous bread basket and fresh butter provide enough sustenance while waiting for the main. It's the kind of italian bread that is perfect for sandwiches– crusty yet airy in the interior.
I've had prosciutto with melon many times and usually the melon is the sideshow, the relative you cover up, send to the corner and maybe see once a year for holidays– proscuitto's poor relation.
Not so in this duo as the melon was every bit contributing to the goodness as the star prosciutto. Juicy melon, salty prosciutto, happy Tom.
My chicken parm occupied almost every inch of the plate. It's easily large enough for two servings given the side of spaghetti. The mozarella was evenly distributed and lacked the goopy excess of past parms I've tried.
The layer of cheese best resembled that of a french onion soup but with bread chicken underneath. Just the right amount of sauce and each bite was downed with gusto.
$22, when compared to other chicken parms from say a pizzeria may seem high but given the size and quality, is well worth it.
The tiramisu dessert was use the spoon to clean the bowl worthy.
Think of Parma as the kind of place Gordon Ramsay may visit for Kitchen Nightmares, sample the food and then get up and leave because it's just too good and his efforts at changing menu and interior would be futile.
Parma is good karma.
This is the sister restaurant to Nicola's, and the food is very similar. The negatives are similar as well, although in my experience the service at Parma is better, and the prices are somewhat more tolerable, as they do more accompaniments (almost everything at Nicola's is pure a la carte). That said, just like at Nicola's, the quality of the food overwhelms any negatives — their chicken parm in particular is one of my favorites anywhere.