A Slight Delay

You know that old saw about not judging a book by its cover? It probably goes double for restaurants. Exhibit A could well be Park and Orchard, in East Rutherford. From the outside, it has all the charm of your average auto repair shop. Get inside, especially once there’s a plate in front of you, and it’s a different story altogether.

The ambiance is good; the place is unexpectedly large inside, airy and tastefully decorated. Then again, you can’t eat sage paint. Thankfully, they don’t try to get by on looks alone.

Some of the appetizers on the menu seemed, well, appetizing enough, but not all that creative (of course, this is coming from someone who’ll eat mozzarella and roasted red peppers on, or with, nearly anything at the slightest provocation). So we opted for the Pastrami Smoked Salmon, which is pretty much what the name suggests: a generous slice of smoked, pepper- and herb-encrusted salmon, with a tasty but pitch-perfect sour cream horseradish sauce. If you’re not normally the type for raw (or raw-ish) fish, make an exception in this case for your own sake.

The entrees are something else again. When I like a restaurant, I tend to end up going back and working my way through the menu an item at a time (just not all at once), and I think Park and Orchard will be another for that list. Ants On A Tree isn’t as Andrew Zimmern-ish as its name suggests; it’s a startlingly tasty blend of pasta, chicken, Chinese spices, crushed red pepper, and scotch (the menu lists the scotch, but it’s deployed skillfully here, pretty much incognito). Jasper’s Crabmeat Pasta was also pleasing; we’ll have to thank Jasper one of these days, whoever he is (unless he was the crab, in which case, we offer our belated gratitude that he should have given his life in such selfless, and tasty, fashion). Most times that I’ve had dishes containing crab or lobster meat, it’s been slim pickings, a rumor or suggestion of shellfish, as though someone rubbed the plate vigorously with some hapless mollusk before putting the rest of the ingredients on it. This had some serious crabmeat, partnered with linguine, garlic, white wine, basil, butter, and a handful of other spices. Pardon me while I salivate.

The evening was capped by a credible Tiramisu (you won’t have room after that dinner, but you’ll finish it anyway, trust me). The staff were friendly, attentive, and competent, and the price ($95 for two, before tip, including alcohol) reasonable. You can visit the website, but you’ll be much happier to visit the place itself.

Park and Orchard is located at 240 Hackensack Street in East Rutherford, NJ. You can call ahead: 201-939-9292

Tags: fine dining, restaurants in New Jersey

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 8:35 pm and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.