Dining Out: Park Restaurant & Bar

Admittedly, this review is about three weeks overdue. In the final week of August I went out with two friends for Restaurant Week. Each cycle of Restaurant Week I dine with these same two ladies, we pick a place none of us have been to and we wear pearls, a la Coco Chanel, to mark the fancy occasion. This dinner was our 9th of the tradition!

This cycle we decided to dine at Park Restaurant & Bar in Harvard Square. I had been reading about the restaurant for a few weeks. Park is owned by the same restaurant group that runs fellow Harvard Square spots Russell House Tavern and Grafton Street. That alone would have been enough to get me in the door, but it didn't hurt that the chef is formerly of Woodward (at the Ames Hotel) and Mistral.

Park is located underneath Wagamama in the space formerly occupied by Redline.

On the evening we went, the weather was particularly beautiful and JFK Street's trees were in full, green bloom forming a gorgeous canopy over the restaurant's sign.

When you step into Park you immediately feel transported. The restaurant is garden level so there isn't much natural light. Instead the dining room has a glow from warm light fixtures and candles on every table.

The bar area of the restaurant had a long, communal table which would be perfect to reserve for a birthday celebration. I also couldn't help but notice that the white and red napkins were very similar to the ones at Towne, Lydia Shire's newest hot spot on Boylston Street.

We were seated in the back, right corner of the dining room in one of the lipstick red, leather booths.

Our waitress came over right away to deliver us the menus. Before we even had a chance to open them she asked if we knew what we'd like to drink. We asked for a minute to look over the menus.

While we were reviewing the massive beer and wine lists, she returned again. Still unsure of our choices (as only 90 seconds had passed) we asked for just another minute. She returned two more times before we finally gave up and hastily ordered wine. I so appreciate attentive servers, but asking for a drink order four times in less than six minutes is a bit pushy.

With the drinks ordered we could focus on the food menu. Park's menu is so fun! I love the fonts and doodles; they give the pages a whimsical feeling.

Our waitress brought our wine and something to nibble on. Park offers paper thin cheddar crisps with a side of herbed butter. The crisps were just enough to tide you over, but not so heavy you felt full. The herbed butter was a nice compliment.

Though we came for Restaurant Week, we actually found ourselves more intrigued by the regular menu. We decided to ditch the special Restaurant Week menu and follow our cravings.

One of the girls started with the feta and watermelon salad. The presentation was absolutely gorgeous. I snuck a bite and the salad was so refreshing!

We saw a girl at the table next to us order the full, three course Restaurant Week menu (which included the feta and watermelon salad) and her portion of this same dish was one third the size. We definitely got the better end of the deal!

I started with the tasting of toasts. It comes with three varieties - pickled shrimp and smoked tomato jam, roasted mushrooms and tellegio cheese, and confit tomato, mozzarella cheese and arugula pistou. Since I don't eat shrimp, I handed those two toasts off to the other girls. They reported back that the toasts were delicious and had a nice, smokey flavor.

The mushroom and tellegio toasts were excellent. They had a great balance of flavor. Mushroom flavored dish can sometimes be overpowering, but these toasts were spot on. The best of three was the tomato, mozzarella and arugula. I devoured them with reckless abandon!

For the entree course, one of the girls ordered the slow roasted brisket. She described, "This meat is literally melt in your mouth delicious. It's outrageously tender."

For those of you (and you know who you are) who complain that there isn't enough meat on this blog, feast your eyes on this:

Next to me, one of the girls ordered the crispy mussels. They came in a fun presentation, almost like you'd get at a carnival or on Cape Cod.

The mussels were whole bellied and fried in tempura. She shared that, "The mussels are light and crispy and the batter didn't take anything away from the mussel flavor. I also loved that the dipping sauce had a kick!"

To accompany the mussels, she also ordered a side of succotash (so fun to say!). In between bites she commented "This is so fresh, but I do wish it had a bit more flavor or seasoning."

For my entree I went with the summer tomato risotto. Tomatoes are all the rage at the end of August/beginning of September so I had high hopes for a juicy, tomato flavor in the dish.

Sadly, the risotto did not deliver. I was really disappointed. The flavor of the dish was totally flat and actually tasted a bit like the broth that comes in a can of Spaghetti-O's.

Despite feeling a bit underwhelmed by dinner, we were ready to grant redemption over dessert. One of the girls went with the espresso rice pudding. I am not normally a fan of rice pudding (the texture totally freaks me out) but this was awesome! The flavor was like coffee ice cream and the bottom of the cocktail glass it was served in was full of chocolate covered espresso beans!

I ordered the triple chocolate terrine which was hands down one of the best desserts I've ever tasted.

The terrine was like a vertical chocolate mousse. Though the flavor was extremely decadent and sinfully chocolately, it was still light. When combined with a forkful of cherry-brandy compote it was sublime. I would come back to Park just to sit at the bar, drink champagne and eat this terrine.

Overall, our experience at Park was a bit of a miss. Our waitress was over eager for the first twenty minutes and then once we were ready for the check, she was nowhere to be found. We waited over thirty minutes for her to reappear. Though a few dishes were stands outs, there were more flops than home runs.

Have you been to Park? What did you think?