Park Row Restaurant Review: Fine Dining in Gotham City
Park Row is an immersive Batman inspired restaurant in London’s Soho.
The entrance of the Grade II listed building takes you into Bruce Wayne’s living room/library and then through a secret door, you are transported down into the early twentieth century to the main restaurant.
The decor of The Iceberg Lounge is grand and sophisticated – navy velvet furnishings and crisp white tablecloths give it an Art Deco, Gotham City vibe. The dining area is large and spacious and in its centre is a gorgeous bar with the famous Penguin. A live band playing smooth jazz provides a lovely ambience and we were seated close to the stage with meant we were serenaded by the band throughout our meal which was a nice touch.
The service was had slightly long wait times to be seated, to order drinks and place our food order, even though it was fairly quiet when we dined. This was not too much of an issue, but not ideal if you are in a rush to go somewhere after. I recommend this being your only event for the day, when you book.
However, the food itself was presented impeccably and tasted wonderful. The menu is luxurious and there’s a strong seafood focus which suited us well. We started with a selection of warm house breads, with black coated truffle butter. For starters, I ordered the fried oysters which were delicious and my guest ordered the raw oysters, which she also enjoyed. We both ordered sea bass for our main course which was cooked to perfection – light and fluffy. We accompanied the mains with Parmesan and truffle French fries and truffle mac and cheese and the portions were perfect for us.
For dessert, I ordered the Floral Toxins which was a tropical flavoured cheesecake which was beautiful to look and tasted divine. My guest ordered the Kiss From A Rose, which was a vanilla custard tart that came with a real rose that was dipped in nitrogen oxide – this was the highlight of our meal.
Dining at Park Row is certainly an event: from edible sugar balloons filled with helium, to fancy flame desserts and nitro popcorn it really is a unique and enjoyable culinary adventure. But what I appreciated most was the attention to detail – there were subtle Batman hints and throughout the entire restaurant – but don’t worry, I won’t give too much away! Storytelling was a strong element of the experience, the waiters provided backstories of certain dishes and cocktails which was delightful.
Overall, it was a nice experience and I would return, it’s a great experience for special occasions for something out of the ordinary – there’s nothing comparable in London. It’s definitely a must for any Batman/DC Comics enthusiast. But please take note of the dress code and don’t show up in costume, or you won’t get in!
Park Row is open Tuesday – Sunday, 12pm-1am (last reservation 10.45pm)
Address: 77 Brewer Street, Soho, London W1F 9ZN
Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus
Website: www.parkrowlondon.co.uk
Written by Akua Dwomoh-Bonsu
