Restaurant Park has been in my restaurant wish list for quite a while. Because it is higher priced restaurant, the chance never came until recently.

I was over excited when Mr.Butter decided to go with me! I read too many good reviews and saw too many   pictures.

It was a good choice to make a reservation because the evening we went, the restaurant was full-house. There were people that came in later at about 8 pm, and were refused due to full seating. So please take note, make sure to reserve!

The decor of the restaurant is very simple, emitting the Korean feel (which is totally in accordance since Park , the owner and chef, is korean…).

The menu offers Japanese, Korean and some influence of fusion modern cuisine. Our waiter informed us that the menu changes relative to what the season and market offers. This statement already wants me to re-visit it again just to see what’s new!

It was such a difficult task to choose what to order. Everything sounds so good… Well good thing is, Park offers a tasting menu which has 5 services. This allows us to taste a bit of everything. But, because I was greedy and because we were 2 to eat, we ordered 2 more dishes! Yay moooore things to try!

 And…the cast of the spell has started…

Oysters from different places – which I have totally forgotten where…Each time the waiter served a meal, he would explain in great details how the food is cooked and with what ingredients. Very informative!

The oysters were fresh and each was seasoned differently as illustrated on the photo. I had the one on the right, where the caviar added a little flare to the oyster…but I think I am too accustomed to just tabasco and lemon that, i would prefer to eat it with tabasco… Hey, raw oyster is raw oyster! All it needs is to be fresh, and these oysters definitely were fresh!

Ah~ the display of the salad was just so pretty, with little flowers, that were 100% edible! I was totally attracted to this salad as the waiter told me that there were figs in it. This salad has a mushroom (which again I forgot which kind, my guess is portobello) slightly grilled. It also has grapes from Champagne, which added sweetness to the salad. The shrimps, I could care less, they were too tiny and tasteless to bring any value to the salad. But, in general, I really enjoyed the salad because of the great incorporation of the fruits.

And there came the ………SUSHI!!! I think this is the dish i was mostly looking forward to. Why? This dish offers a variety of different salmons and tunas over the world. Each one was explained by the waiter. My favorite one has to the very first on the right (see below).

As you all know, I am a fanatic of sashimi. And the very first on the right was so fresh and smooth. Almost the feeling it would melt  – i said almost…it just so tender.

I could just re-order this dish again….and again…and again. Or even eat it for a week without getting tired.

Then, the maki arrived! (this is not part of the tasting menu). The waiter told me that this is the best maki he ever tasted. When I heard that, I was very skeptical and had to try it myself to believe his claim. Well? The maki was definitely very delicious. The best? um, not quite. Not to say this maki wasn’t impressive, but it wasn’t as mind blowing as the waiter would make me to believe so. I would much rather go to Mikado to have my maki…. so, let’s just say, this roll isn’t the one who will make me come back to Park.

And then… O ….M…. G. This dish (not part of the tasting menu) was HUGE. it takes a bit more than half of the table, no exaggeration! It was (okok, i’m horrible, yes yes, I am taking the habit of taking notes…from now on) beef ribs. – i don’t wanna say it’s kobe, but my memory is telling me that it might be kobe. Anywho!

This dish was just amazing. Not only was the portion is more than generous (we got 2 huge ribs), the taste is so savory. It was well marinated and well cooked, that the meat was so tender. And I really loved the sweet potato paste served under the meat. Ah…it’s like perfection.

Then, the scallop was served. There were zucchini and shrimps accompanied as well. The scallop was big and juicy. Scallop tastes best when it’s not over flavored and it is light seared to keep its freshness of the sea. This is exactly what Park did. Well nicely executed. But, nothing overly different or original that I have not tasted from other restaurants.

And our diner ended with this dainty dessert. This dessert is derived from korean cuisine, where (if i am not mistaken) the fruits are squeezed into juice, and then it is put into the refrigerator to allow it become ice, and then shaved into this dessert – basically almost like a sorbet. The fruit that was served this time was pear. Other fruits were added to the dessert, as you could see in the pictures, raspberries, grapes, mandarins, apples…

This dessert was very light, just perfect to soothe a very bloated stomach after having a huge meal.

Overall, I am not disappointed at all! My high expectation of this restaurant was clearly met. The hype is evident. Go to the restaurant and test it yourself, and you’ll be just like me, under the spell of Park.  

Zuuchini