The main restaurant at The Park
What can you tell us about The Park?
This is the second restaurant from Jeremy King under his new restaurant group. Once part of Corbin & King, with which he launched iconic London restaurants The Wolseley and Brasserie Zedel among others, he's considered by many to be one of London's leading restaurateurs and this opening sees him properly back in the saddle.
After huge success with Arlington, which saw him reviving the old Le Caprice location in all but name, he's moved onto his second opening, The Park. This is a much larger affair in Bayswater. It's still the grand café style for which he's known, but this time with more than a little American influence, both in the look and the food.
Where is it?
The restaurant is part of a new and decidedly art-deco-esque building on the corner of Bayswater Road and Queensway, right beside Kensington Gardens and just across the road from Queensway tube, which is by far the easiest way to get here.
Where should we go for a drink first?
We'll admit we're not all too familiar with this immediate part of town. So normally we'd strongly recommend heading to The Park for a drink. However, while they do have a space in the restaurant that seems clearly delineated as a bar, they're not allowed to serve drinks only yet due to Westminster licensing restrictions. If the council sees sense in the future, this will absolutely be the first place to come as the cocktails which, as you would expect in a Jeremy King restaurant, are very much on point.
Until then, we'd probably suggest a short walk (or one tube stop) to The Mall Tavern as the best bet.
A look at the more areas of the Park - the bar and, bottom right, the private dining room. Note that we visited very early, so final touches are still being made to the PDR.
And inside, where should we sit?
The Park is a striking affair, and quite different from the European-leaning design of previous Corbin & King openings. Here, there's a much brighter, cleaner design that seems influenced by mid-20th century USA. There's a light pared-back look throughout with much less in the way of brass fittings that you might see in something like The Delaunay. It's unique in London, and very much suits the overall building aesthetic.
It's a big restaurant, with lots of options for seating. We'd say that the booth tables by the windows are the best bet, but the two central sections of the main dining room are also pretty good. Even the booths on the opposite side of the room are good, with each having their own personal artwork on the wall. Generally, sit in the main restaurant if you can, but if not, the bar area does have a great posh 50s diner look that's also pretty great.
Onto the food then - what can we expect?
With this menu, there are certainly some elements that seem familiar from Jeremy King restaurants. The main all-day menu is a one-page affair and outside of the main snacks, appetizers and entrees sections, you'll also find sandwiches, salads and pasta.
While the uber-present schnitzel at King's restaurants does make an appearance here, albeit in the form of Chicken Milanese, you can certainly detect some influence from across the pond. For instance, there's a cobb salad, New England clam chowder, barbecued corn ribs and more dishes that seem to be a decided diversion from the European cafés we're perhaps used to King opening in the past.
It's a large menu - but here's what we had to give you a taster:
The Park Monkey Bread (£4.75) - tearaway buttery bread that's a perfect start.
Dita di parmigiano (£7.50) - the must-order of deep-fried cheese-filled goodness.
Porchetta, Fennel, Celery & Walnuts (£16.25) - there's a fair amount of porchetta hidden under the greenery.
Gotham Shrimp Cocktail (£17) - King fans will recognise this plating from his old restaurant the Colony Grill Room. Here the prawns come with a punchy tomato relish.
Crab & Bottarga Linguine (£25.00 / £37.50) - The bottarga is shaved tableside on the lovely buttery linguine.
Ham Hock Pie, with peas, fava beans & fingerling potatoes (£22) - the menu confused us a little at this point, as we thought the potatoes and peas were on the side as opposed to inside the pie. Still - it's a carby marvel.
Grilled Swordfish with sweet corn & bacon succotash, tomato relish (£27.50) - maybe the only slightly dull note of the evening, this dish could have done with more emphasis on the seasoning.
And what about dessert?
There's a standard dessert section but The Park also features a special ice cream and sundaes section, with bespoke sundaes, a banana split and the following on offer:
Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich (£11.75) - one of two showstoppers, an excellent bespoke ice cream finish.
Red Velvet Cake (£6.75) - This, however, is something you have to order. It's a massive slice of rich, deeply red sponge that you could easily share between two (but won't want to).
Anything else on the food front?
As well as the all-day menu, there's also a breakfast and brunch menu on offer. Both feature more traditional egg dishes like eggs benedict as well as Eggs Arlington (with smoked salmon). In addition to the more traditional dishes, you'll also see some where the inspiration stretches further afield. Those include potato latkes with fried eggs and more. We can see this being a very popular place for brunch on the weekends.
What about drinks?
Leaning into the American influence, this restaurant sees a significant section of the wine list devoted to US wines, concentrating on California, Oregon and Washington. So if you like American wine, this is a pretty decent list, starting at £53 for a 2021 Grace Bridge Pinot Noir and heading all the way up to a Harlan Estate red for £2500. The European side of the list starts at a pretty good value £36 for a Sicilian Grillo Bianco, with a fair few choices in the £40s and £50s.
As for cocktails, they're around £12-15 although they also have smaller "sharpeners" for £7. Cocktails are again looking more westward for inspiration, with a paloma, pisco punch and the following on the list:
Rose Gray (rhubarb aperitivo, campari, punt e mes, fever-tree tonic, £12.50) and Habanero Margarita (siete misterios mezcal, habanero chili, lime juice, kumquat, agave, £14)
There's also a good-sized no-alcohol cocktail list alongside a decent no-alcohol/soft drink list, including Brooklyn ‘Special Effects’ Amber Lager (0.4%)
Overall thoughts
The Park was actually the first restaurant that Jeremy King announced under his own banner, but which actually launched second to Arlington. And it's easy to see why as this is quite the undertaking - a huge beautifully-designed space, that seems both similar and different from what King's launched before. We visited very early - we were actually the first in the door during their initial test-phase, and it was already a perfectly honed operation with a menu that we think will do very well in this area.
Another hit for King then and with Simpson's up next, he's on a roll right now.
More about The Park
Where is it? 123 Bayswater Rd, London W2 3JH
How to book: Book online
Find out more: Visit The Park website or follow them on Instagram @jeremyrbking and @theparklondon.
Hot Dinners ate as guests of The Park. Prices are correct at the time of writing.
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