Om Restaurant and Lounge-Cambridge

http://www.omrestaurant.com/

Om Restaurant and Lounge

57 John F Kennedy StCambridge, MA 02138(617) 576-2800

Young Greens banyuls vinaigrette, herb fines, shallot, radish10

Marinated Beet Salad baby beets, maitake mushrooms, baby arugula, baley-hazen blue cheese, honey-truffle vinaigrette13

Hawaiian Blue Prawns grilled prawns, ajo blanco, sweet & sour peaches, honey granola, culantro17

Spring Bean Salad farmers market assorted beans, tarragon & lemon vinaigrette, sugar plum, gorgonzola cheese14

Soft Shell Crab“creamed corn”, cilantro, baby boc choy, Chinese sausage, shimeji mushrooms, pea tendrils, cilantro, garlic chives17

Duck Confit queso Azul de Valdeon, Pear mostarda, arugula, urfa pepper aioli, pine nut brittle16

Hawaiian Big Eye Tuna $22

Steak Tartar Wolfesneck farm sirloin, wasabi vinigrette,
asian pear, sweet & sour rutebega, adzuki bean, quail egg, taro chips18

Duet of Berkshire Pork grilled pork loin, sorrel, apple mostarda+braised pork belly, sweet & sour cabbage,fingerling frites, Chinese hot mustard28

Elephant Trunk Sea Scallops sweet english pea puree, apple wood smoked bacon, Ben’s mushrooms, pickled red onion, basil, mint, 28

Colorado Lamb grilled boneless lamb sirloin, baby fried artichokes, olive jam, pecorino-romano cheese, coriander emulsion34

CHEF’S TASTING MENU

5 course 75 with wine 105

Went to celebrate a friend's bday and we ended up having a nice meal.

Started off nibbling on the truffle oil cheese popcorn (no bread) before ordering. I must say they are addictive! The restaurant week menu was not exciting enough for us so we got the tasting menu instead. First we got an amuse bouche of cold gazpacho with watermelon, guave and orange juice. It was freshing.

Watermelon soup served wtih brooke trout (we liked the trout) but together with everything someone commented the dish needing a bit more acid for contrast. Another appetizer the Marinated Beet Salad were great as the beets were sweet, the honey truffle and the mushrooms made this lovely. (I still think the beets I had made at Domani tasting menu had a better edge over this beet salad and my friend agreed with me). Spring Bean Salad, we thought the beans were a bit too crunchy, the flavors were subtle but we did like the lemon tarrogan vinigrette but the gargonzola cheese did nothing for our tastebuds. Hawaiian Blue Prawns grilled prawns was nice with banana slices on the bottom, hints of chili the flavors were lovely and the accent using the intensely flavorful coconut sorbet topped the dish. Next the Soft Shell Crab“creamed corn” did not make sense. We loved the fried soft shell crab but the sweetness of the corn (though lovely a bit weird with this dish) and then you have chinese bokchoy, Chinese sausage (which I adore) on this plate seemed at the chef Rachel Klein's attempt to marry homestyle Chinese into this dishwith a Western twist, not a big hit for us. Better separating the flavors and tastes of each component than all together in one bite. Plus there was some "spicy" heat needed to "liven" this dish up. The Duck Confit was supposed to be a highlight for my friend, but though good (Domani's duck confit still trumps this version) and the cheese did nothing for the dish, it was not. The arugala salad was nice and the pinenut brittle were interesting accents. My friend just kept on leaving it untouched on her plate. The Steak Tartar had many interesting elements using wasabi aoli, tarot chips, quail egg did not do it for me. I usually like tartar but this one the meat was not minced or grounded enough. I felt the steak to have big strips to be tough and chewy with each bite. I enjoyed the Duet of Berkshire Pork using grilled pork lion and pork belly which were delightful (but the kurobata pork belly eaten at The Social House in Treasure Island was much superior). The Elephant Trunk Sea Scallop was nice but the highlight were all the fresh sweet pea puree that made me enjoy the dish and the pickled pearwl onions but the hints of finely chopped smoked bacon were a true delight. The Hawaiian Big Eye Tuna was with Japanese noodle and a mayo basil sauce was good but not very memorable. Then we had the Colorado Lamb with the whitebean puree, curry sauce with golden raisin and the purple onions caused a nice contrast to the grilled lamb. We had another lamb with cheese, tomato, other veggies that was fine.

I forgot to take pics of the dessert we received----peach empanada with litchi ice cream (very light and not memorable--the ice cream anyways) and almond brittle, dark chocolate truffle and Cherry hazelnut streudel with a white chocolate dipped cherry, white chocolate cheesecake ice

cream.

Atmosphere: 9

Service: 9

Food: hits and misses 8

Cost: 8

I give it 8 forks out of 10 forks.