A Square Meal: Park Square Is Not Just About The Steaks
The white tablecloths, thin-stemmed wine glasses and (rumors of) minor Chinese celebrities may evoke certain expectations, but Park Square holds surprises. An oversized menu reveals far more reasonable prices than we’d imagined. The dining room, which occupies an odd space between vaguely stuffy and Sino-flashy, leads out to an expansive courtyard with low-slung furniture for sinking into. Menu options lean towards the grill – your standard steaks and sauces – but Executive Chef David Mitford has taken pains to make it more than simply that.
Seafood makes an unexpectedly strong showing. A trio of crab cakes (RMB 88) arrive browned with small berets of mango and pink peppercorn salsa. Each cake is substantial, more tender meat than dry bread crumb. A generous chunk of cod (RMB 158), sitting on a pedestal of black rice, is almost geologic with its crisp layer of skin and a strata of soft meat beneath it. The crunch of water chestnuts hidden under the fish provides an unexpected foil to the cod’s buttery texture.
There is room for growth. For example, the kitchen is overzealous with the mango dressing; as tasty as it is, the delicate, crisp leaves of arugula and watercress in the crayfish salad (RMB 68) flounder underneath it. The chicken roulade (RMB 98), stuffed with chorizo and shrimp, is slightly dry, an entrée outshone by its side dish of roasted squash with honey overtones and rosemary, garlic and thyme – though this is as much to the squash’s credit than the chicken’s discredit.
In the end, what we will return for is the signature Park Square ribs (RMB 138). The ribs have been braised in Guinness for eight hours, garden vegetables and balsamic onions spill out from underneath, and the mashed potatoes are laced with Cheddar. Perhaps you think the warmer weather is for lighter fare, but you would do well to reconsider.
Park Square 园庭: Daily 11am-3pm (lunch), 2.30-5pm (afternoon tea), 5-10.30pm (dinner), bar snacks until midnight. 9-3 Jiangtai Xilu, Chaoyang District (6823 8880) 朝阳区将台西路9-3号
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