Pleasing Park Restaurant and Bar - Cambridge

From the moment I saw that parking was validated (on weekdays only) for the garage directly above the restaurant, I knew that it was going to be a good night to Park. Though I should probably pronounce it Pahk if I'm extolling the awesomeness of a restaurant in Hah-vahd Square.

Park houses the ultimate casual, unpretentious, tavern-esque ambiance with food far better than the no-frills unfinished wooden tables and booths would suggest. It's the ideal place to grab a beer and a couple appetizers to snack on or to go out for a fun dinner date. My night started on a lovely note with the goat cheese dip – no boring bread served here!

The Roasted Beets in red and yellow are sweet and juicy with creamy goat cheese and a tangy citrus dressing. This cool-as-a-cucumber salad is the sweet summer Blue Moon with a slice of orange. That first cold sip of a Belgian beer brightens a summer day and whets the appetite when Boston's stifling heat and humidity overwhelm it.

The Crispy Duck Leg with a sharp blackberry glaze is a Guinness – meant to whet the appetite but becomes a meal. The bed of lentils stick to your belly with all the solid density of a frothy stout, but the dark-meat duck remains light and juicy, smooth as a Tsingtao with all the full-bodied flavor of the Guinness.

  

The Summer Tomato Risotto is the ultimate successful adaptation of a warm winter dish into something light and summery. It tasted nothing like bitter parmesan, and the cool, fresh mozzarella with tangy tomato make it as light as an ice-cold Allagash White.

I didn’t know that belly was a cut of lamb until I ordered the Grilled Lamb Belly. It’s a lot like pork belly with a thin, crispy skin and a thick layer of fat, but the strong flavor of lamb prevails to add a gamey quality. The fat also mollifies the lamb in turn, achieving the perfect balance of pure alcohol vs hops, as harmonious as the Delirium Tremens we drank.

The Peach and Plum Pie was filled with a chewy, non-goopy fruit, just the way I like it, but at best, it’s the ordinary Coors Light you pop open at a friend's summer barbecue – nothing special. The crust was a bit too hard, probably baked too long. I appreciated the lack of added sugar, but the fruit didn’t have much flavor either.

The rich, dense Triple Chocolate Terrine is Young's Double Chocolate Stout all the way. A stout so thick it might as well be served on a plate, so rich you slosh it around in your mouth to break it up before swallowing. Like the stout, the terrine is the perfect eat-it-slow texture, a dense, not-too-sweet chocolate loaf, a nightmare of indulgence for the Puritans that once ruled in Mass.

Speaking of Puritans, Park is as Bostonian as Sam Adams and as laid back as Harpoon. It is the ultimate Cambridge restaurant. This dimly-lit den of dining radiates warmth, and the little hearth in the middle adds to the pre-revolution spirit of the casual yet unified American tavern. The wooden tables are unpretentious, and the general attitude is one of chattery contentment. It is almost puritanical in its simplicity…except you’re allowed to drink…and wear colors other than black…and be happy… Basically, Park had me at the beer. Everything else was just icing on the cake. Park is the right mix of all that is good, and it is my cup of tea, my flagon of ale, and my stein of beer.