|
Type: American
Hours: Sunday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; daily, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Good choices: Chicken fingers, clam chowder, broiled pork chops, sirloin steak, baked stuffed shrimp, chicken teriyaki, chocolate cake.
Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express.
Access: One step up from the street, no handicap access in bathroom.
|
HARP & BARD
1099 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester
(617) 265-2893
Restaurant reviewed 01/14/99 by Adam Pertman
Often, as we've roamed from one reasonably priced eatery to the next, we've been struck by how upscale they are becoming. Even modest neighborhood taverns with longtime loyal clienteles have fancified their dining areas and kicked their menus up a notch (sorry Emeril fans), adding some dishes that diners used to find only at establishments with higher aspirations and prices.
Generally, we like the trend. It has led to bar-restaurants with atmospheres that are more hospitable to a greater number of patrons, and it almost always has improved the quality of the food.
The Harp & Bard, which has stood at the corner of Dorchester and Savin Hill avenues for three decades, is not one of those places. And, in this case, that's a good thing.
Even as the area surrounding it has metamorphosed radically in recent years - the result of a huge influx of Vietnamese and other Asian immigrants who have revitalized Dorchester Avenue with terrific little restaurants and bustling businesses - the Harp & Bard retains a magnetic, old-fashioned neighborhood feel.
The first thing you see when you walk in are the 20- and 30-somethings seated along the long bar, the regulars watching television and chatting after work with the bartender, who knows all their names. Middle-aged couples converse easily at the tables in the spacious adjoining dining area, which is separated from the bar (where smoking is permitted) by a narrow tartan-checked curtain. A few feet away, an elderly woman eats alone, clearly at home, on a leatherette bench in one of the booths that line the tavern's walls.
The waitresses speak with an unmistakable brogue. And, lest anyone miss the point, the slogan printed below the Harp & Bard's name is, "Where Irish Eyes Are Smiling."
While the restaurant hasn't yuppified its menu much, executive chef Thomas Seabury has set out to improve it since he came from the Hampshire House on Beacon Hill six months ago - and he's enjoying considerable success.
Most of the offerings here can still be appropriately classified as bar food, but with fresher ingredients and higher standards than the greasy, fried items that the phrase suggests.
The best example, by far, are the chicken fingers ($5.95). Available plain or moderately hot Buffalo-style, they may be the best we've tasted: long, plump slices of white meat with a homemade breading, fried just right to be crisp but not oily, and to emerge strikingly tender. Another standout starter was the New England clam chowder ($1.85 per cup or $2.95 for a bowl); it was so thick, creamy and chock-full of clams that one member of our group made it her dinner, along with a salad.
Most of the entrees were also enticing and well-prepared. As with all the meats we tried, the sirloin steak ($8.95 for an 8 oz. portion) started with a superior cut and was simply, perfectly broiled. Likewise for the pair of center-cut pork chops ($10.95), which were probably two inches thick and arrived with a tongue-pleasing, slightly charred outside and an interior that remained tender and succulent.
All the main courses, by the way, come with soup or salad (choose the former; the salads are fine but ordinary), and a potato or fresh vegetable (opt for the home-made mashed potatoes, which whip the other options). And the pork chops are served with a dollop of delicate, delicious home-made apple sauce - but, unlike most of the portions here, it's too small.
The new chef has done great in just half a year, but he still has some glitches to deal with. The cooks at the Harp & Bard are at their best when they keep things simple, but their consistency seems to falter when they give in to the culinary equivalent of more-is-better.
So the broiled chicken teriyaki ($8.95), marinated in conventional Asian ingredients and served dry, was wonderful - while the same tender breast of meat became unappetizing in its barbecue form (also $8.95), slathered in a goopy red sauce that looked and tasted like it overflowed from a bottle. Similarly, the baked stuffed shrimp ($11.95) was scrumptious, topped with a thin coat of seasoned bread crumbs - but the shrimp, scallops, and haddock in the fried seafood platter ($11.95) were overwhelmed when the same topping was mounded so high that its insides stayed greasy rather than crisping up in the oven.
The problems in the kitchen are hardly show-stoppers, however. Chef Seabury and his crew clearly want to get things right, as evidenced by their fine efforts on the accompaniments they make from scratch. Those efforts, by the way, extend to two home-made desserts, strawberry shortcake ($2.95), and chocolate cake ($3.50); both are moist, crumby (that's a compliment), and not overly sweet.
"You'll like them," our waitress said, smiling broadly. "They'll make you glad you came in."
We returned the smile, thinking we'd been happy since we set foot in the place.
Tips & hits
