Weekly Review: The Park

Jeremy King's latest opening drips with NY vibes and deco charm, and the food is just about good enough to draw a return visit.

Quick hit: Italian-influenced American cuisine with a great wine list and clever cocktails in an appealing venue.

Details: Booking essential. Bayswater. £££.
Restaurant website. More on Instagram.
Find it on Google Maps. 2 Queensway, W2 3RX

When I turned 12 years old, my parents took me to New York for the first time to celebrate my birthday. It was a coming of age moment, and I remember it vividly. Our stay at the Algonquin Hotel and the food we ate — which was nothing like the options in Richmond, Virginia — both stand out.

On the night of my birthday, we went to a classic New York spot, though the name escapes me after all of these years. The waiters were tough, pushy, and rushed, but the service was still perfect. The room was wood panelled. You could feel the city humming right outside. I ate exotic things and finished with Baked Alaska, flambéd table side. I had never seen or tasted anything like it.

The Park has been designed to conjure the same NY feelings, and it mostly succeeds. Let’s call it NY with a small, corrective dose of British politeness.

The interior is stunning art deco, with oak panelled walls and oak furnishing. There are deco-style paintings on the wall. And it’s all very comfortable, just the way a Jeremy King restaurant is supposed to be.

The drinks offering is clever: A wine list composed entirely of American and Italian selections, as though put together by someone of Italian extraction in a posh part of New Jersey. (There are posh parts of New Jersey, I swear.) I had a chat with Sean, the Sommelier, who is from upstate New York. I gawked over the sheer quantity of my favourites on the list. The biggest challenge, he told us, was finding credible Italian and American rosé, but he and his colleagues have done it.

There are fabulous cocktails, but there’s also something new: A small selection of “Sharpeners” — half size, classic cocktails. The list includes a Manhattan, a martini, and “an intro to Aperol.”

Aperol and I had been previously introduced, so I went straight to wine, but my friend tried it and confirmed its deliciousness. I’m definitely trying the martini sharpener on my next visit.

The menu is American. No “influenced by” or “hints of” or “flavours of” here. It’s simply American. Albeit American done by a brilliant a second or third generation Italian family. Mains are “Entrees".” Pastas are available as starters. There’s a Cobb Salad and hot dogs and shrimp cocktail. Dessert choices include ice cream sundaes, notably a banana split, which I have never, ever seen on a menu in the UK.

Now, it’s time for a caveat.

I normally wouldn’t review a place 4 days after it opened. I think restaurants need some time to find their feet. Chefs need to learn their roles and the dishes. The system of getting food to table needs testing and optimising.

I made an exception here because the menu sounded so appealing and because I realised that I didn’t have a place to review for this week.

So, for the moment, I can report that the food was very good. I will happily go back.

The Park’s take on “New England Clam Chowder” was delicious — full of fresh clams (in their shells) and bold clam flavour. It was a big reason I wanted to try the restaurant. But we didn’t get a side bowl for the clam shells, and the soup — which is lovely — isn’t New England chowder. There wasn’t a drop of cream or milk in sight. The porchetta starter was more authentic and better presented.

Successful, tasty, and authentic Porchetta starter.

The summer squash gnocchi was the best dish of the meal. The gnocchi were well made and well cooked, and the veg were fabulous. My halibut was conceptually excellent — accompanying mushrooms were a highlight — but the fish was slightly overcooked.

Halibut was tasty, but slightly overcooked.

Amalfi Lemon tart was the best of the desserts were tried. My chocolate “mud pie” was more like a cake, and I was envious of the table nearby that went for a gigantic, NY-sized ice cream sundae.

Mud pie was decadent but more cake than pie.

But here’s the thing: As far as I’m concerned, these are all tiny problems. Jeremy King made The Wolseley the biggest thing in London. And then the Delaunay. And many others. By the time you go in two or three weeks, all of the niggles will be resolved. Of that, I am certain.

So would I recommend The Park for a Professional Lunch? Yes. But there are some qualifiers.

New York vibes and deco charm really worked.

The location is weird. It’s technically in Bayswater, which, to me, isn’t convenient to anything. I loved the menu because it’s a taste of home, but will “American” food be appealing to British diners, especially in west London? I’m not sure. Although King and his team made German-ish food popular at the Delaunay, so there’s reason for optimism.

But here’s my advice: Go have a sharpener and a glass of wine and see what you think. For me, The Park is a keeper. I’d love to know whether anyone else feels the same.

Thanks for reading this week’s review. I’ll be add The Park to my London Quick Reference Guide and accompanying map. Please share this review with friends or colleagues you think might be interested, and subscribe if you haven’t already.