Address: | 9 Park St, Boston, MA 02108, USA |
Phone: | +1 617-742-9991 |
Site: | no9park.com |
Rating: | 4.4 |
Working: | 5–9PM 5–9PM 5–9PM 5–10PM 5–10PM 5–10PM 5–9PM |
DU
Duane Morin
I think you pay extra for the attitude. Arrive at 5, sit in the bar area (because we already know that weve come for the lamb fondue that is on the bar menu), bartender gives us menus and says, "Kitchen opens at 5:30." I ask if that applies to the bar menu as well and he says, "Kitchen opens at 5:30." Thanks chief. Its not like there are restaurants in the world that have a separate small/cold plate selection that is sometimes offered specifically when the kitchen is closed. My wife and I ask for glasses of pinot grigio, he says they dont have that by the glass and walks away. Comes back, I say can we get a bottle. He says they dont have that by the bottle. Walks away. Fine, clearly Im an idiot who doesnt know how or what to pick off a wine list, but youd think that this is his opportunity to be nice and friendly and suggest something and maybe actually ring up the bill, instead of making me want to pack up and walk out of there. Luckily a different server comes over (possibly because hipster bartender just cant even, and traded tables) who very nicely makes a suggestion which we found perfectly lovely. He took our order, we had an interesting conversation about cows in Vermont, but then ... he, too, disappeared, and random people started coming over to check on us. Before leaving I asked, "What happened to the first guy?" and a hostess/manager person said, "Hes pickling onions." Because apparently when its slow (and slow must have been defined as "those people youre waiting on dont count"), they have other jobs for the servers. I wonder if the pickled onions tipped better than I did? Look, the food is great. We first came here over 10 years ago and the lamb fondue was so good we still talk about it. But its pricey and pretentious and they know it, so really only go if youre comfortable in that kind of atmosphere. Two of us, two appetizers, two glasses of wine each, runs easily over $100. Not a casual "Lets stop in here" place by any stretch.
MI
Minh Chau
It was the first snow day in Boston. Although, by the time we got to the restaurant that night most of the snow had melted away. Walking up from Park Station, you get a picturesque view of the State House as the restaurants backdrop. Once inside, I was immediately greeted by the hostess and redirected to where the Lady of the Table was waiting for me. We were eventually seated at a corner table with a view of Boston Common and all its trees decked out in Christmas lights. No. 9 Park is quite generous with its bread, and lacking self-control, I took advantage of it as I was hungry. The butter is apparently so rich in fat that the salt is served on the side so you can salt it to your own choosing. Anyway, for appetizers, we had the kampachi crudo and the beets. Both were light and refreshing, even for a cold winters night. For our entrees, we had the salmon and beef. I enjoyed my salmon - it was cooked as I requested, and the beef I assume was good as well since the plate was completely cleared out. Service slipped up a little when our waiter forgot to give us our dessert menu. Someone eventually gave us the menu and thirty seconds later our waiter came by to ask us if we were ready. No biggie. For dessert, we had the pistachio panna cotta and the chocolate gateaux. I think anything with pistachio is great, so check mark. The chocolate chateaux (with passion fruit in the middle) was OK, but certainly not on par with the earlier dishes. I will be back again in a couple of days, so lets see if Park can hit two home runs out of the...
SL
SlowFood Guru
This is an example of a restaurant resting on its laurels only. Boston is NOT a great food town, though it is changing. But if this restaurant was to serve people from other communities who DO know what fine dining is it would never make it. Boston eaters base their reviews on what they hear, not on what they taste or what they know about food and how it should be prepared, and they have bought the legend of Barbara Lynch and her rise from rags to riches lock stock and barrel and used it as a justification to give this restaurant reviews it does not deserve. Sorry. My partner and I brought another couple here for a special occasion. My partner and I ordered the prune gnocchi. Our guests ordered what I think was pork belly--I cant remember exactly. My prune gnocchi were flavorful but kinda dense. The pork belly was AWFUL!! Seriously, just a slab of undercooked unsmoked bacon. It was pink, like bacon that has just been pulled out of the fridge after having been there a little too long. It was very poorly executed. AND so overpriced. The wine was excellent, so we ordered two bottles, which made the entire evening worth the trouble. The dessert, I cannot recall. Our guests were visiting from California, so their standards are a little higher than the typical, unsophisticated Boston diner. But, even for Boston, given the fact that there are places like Toro upping the game, I dont think this place is worth all the hype. Get over the hype and save your money for a trip to a city with a better food scene than Boston.
KA
Katherine Dixon
I brought my boyfriend her for his birthday and everything we ordered was so delicious! We both ordered off the Prix-Fixe Menu and got different things so we could try as much as possible. To start, I got the mushroom tortellini and he ordered the prune stuffed Gnocchi. Both were delicious! I, personally, liked the tortellini better. You can tell everything is fresh! Next we ordered the Atlantic Hake and Duet of Rohan Duck. Both were wonderful! The Hake was the perfect portion and I was so full eating the duck. When I cut into the duck it fell apart like a pulled pork. It was perfect! (it tastes a lot like turkey for those who have not tried duck). For dessert I got the Creme Caramel which was so amazing. If you go here you HAVE to try this dessert. Its simply amazing. At the end of the meal my boyfriend and I were both SO full. I would say the meal was definitely worth $69.00 per person. Additionally, the staff was so inviting and nice. John and Greg would answer any questions we had about the menu and make great suggestions on drinks (which are all amazing from the bar) and food depending on our preference. On top of that they were super nice and wonderful people to talk to. Thanks for a great experience!
A
A Private User
The food here was a very big disappointment to us. We have eaten all over the world, all over Italy, Spain and France and never had a meal we wish we had not put into out mouths. What they did to foie gras was simply an abomination. Grilling it? Ruined every thing that foie gras stands for. It ended up tasting like chicken skin. I cant shake the food memory of that and I really want to. Badly. Dreadful consistency. The gnocchi were ok, certainly not the best dish in town as it has been rated. The porcelet was four types of pork completely destroyed. Alternately dry, stringy or flavored in such a way as to overpower the pork. Less IS more. The apple was the best item on the plate.The concord grape calfouti with little cubes of grape jelly and the worst thing every made from peanuts--I wish I had never tasted this. Too sweet or too bitter depending on which part hit your tongue first. Again, just thinking about this dish makes me want to wash out my mouth. I wish I had the nerve to send the entire table of food back. We should have gone to Hammersleys and you should too. Save your $350 and go twice.