Alden & Harlow

Cuisine	American (New)
Price	$$$ (31-50)
Rating	7/10
Last Visit	Sept. 2, 2019
Location	Boston: Harvard

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General Notes

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Alden & Harlow is an interesting New American restaurant serving innovative small plates. The flavor combinations are really interesting and for the most part work really well; I'm especially impressed with how they incorporate a variety of pickled vegetables. A wonderful option in Harvard Square; I would absolutely recommend giving this place a try for a nice dinner!

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Positives

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> Family-style small plates! This is certainly one of my favorite styles of dining. It's also not as expensive as it seems - the dishes are quite large for "small plates" and two dishes per person (which should set you back no more than $35pp) is definitely sufficient.
> All the dishes feature a variety of carefully thought out flavor and textural combinations that you'll rarely see elsewhere. The dishes also do a great job of rounding out the flavor with acidity. Each dish is a completely different experience. It's really exciting for the palate!

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Negatives

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> Aside from a few tables, the restaurant is really dark. I personally don't like that, but it could be a good vibe depending on what you're looking for.
> As a whole, the dishes tend to lean a bit overly salty. This isn't much of a problem for me because I tend to prefer slightly more seasoning than the average person, but something to keep in mind.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★★★ Crispy Berkshire Pork Belly -- Smoked Anson Mills grits, corn succotash. My favorite dish of the night! My first time having grits, and I'm pleasantly surprised - they're creamy and go beautifully with the lightly acidic corn succotash. The pork belly was cooked beautifully - super tender, crispy skin, flavorful, and the fat just melts in your mouth.
• ★★★☆ Tomato Leaf Gemelli -- Cherry tomato, white bean, and veal sausage. The flavor of the dish is incredible. I would have liked the pasta to be cooked ever so slightly more and for the sausage to be slightly less salty, but otherwise an incredible dish.
• ★☆☆☆ Wellfleet Countneck Clams -- Smoked pig's tail, parsley & chili toast. Not my favorite dish. The toast (particularly the flavor of cooked parsley) tasted strange. The clams were good but the overly salty sauce kind of overpowered them. The pig's tail actually tastes decent but doesn't seem to fit in the context of this dish and again the sauce is too powerful.
• ★★★★ Patatas Bravas -- Blue gold patatas bravas, oregano, pickled pepper relish. Definitely the best patatas bravas I've had. The aioli is incredibly flavorful, nice and creamy, and has a bit of an acidic kick. The pickled peppers rounds out the dish beautifully with acidity. The potatoes are golden-brown and prepared well also.
• ★★★☆ Pickled Verrill Farm Corn Pancakes -- Buttermilk, maple, shishito. The corn pancakes have an amazing texture - crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The unusual combination of sour cream and maple syrup complement the pancake beautifully. I'm not the biggest fan of the popcorn and shishito; the dish would be just as good without them.