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Hardy Park Bisto, Fort Lauderdale

Hardy Park Bistro

21 SW 7th Streeet
Fort Lauderdale FL, 33301
954-764-1463
Overall Rating
1.7
Food
Service
Ambiance
Value
Last Review
09/04/2014

Details

Hours: Closed Monday. Lunch 11:30-2:30, Dinner 5:30 - 10pm (11pm on Fri/Sat)
Attire: Casual
Parking: Street Metered
CC: Yes
Alcohol: Wine and Beer
Outside Dining: Yes
Reservations: No
Delivery: No

Pros

Big Lunch Portions

Cons

No Fixed Menus
Small, Loud Room
Amateur Hour
Bad Food
Overpriced

Critic's Review

You know you're off the beaten path when you still have coin meters across from your restaurant. Fort Lauderdale has been doing away with these for years; you'll be hard pressed to find too many of these downtown these days.

Hardy Park Metered Parking

Review 9/4/2014

Hardy Park Bistro Fort Lauderdale

I've given up on this place posting a lunch menu, so a couple of weeks ago I started thinking about giving the place a try. They stop serving lunch at 2:30, so every time I thought of it it was either after 2pm or too stormy. Today it was sunny, high 80s and I got organized by 1:45, so off I went.

Usually restaurants off the main grid have free parking, but not this one. It's only 75 cents an hour; the spot I found had over an hour left on the meter so I got a freebee.

There were only 2 people eating outside so I initially thought I'd eat on the patio, but they only have 3 small tables and one communal table, which takes up half of the outside space.

Hardy Park Communal Table

It doesn't seem too smart to have a big table in a small place like this. Forced trendiness; I decided to eat inside.

Hardy Park Bistro Inside

If you don't look out the window, the place is a bit NYCish; a small very loud room with tables positioned to maximize capacity. With only 3 other couples in the place it was LOUD; it must be deafening with a full room. I got the menu of the day and ordered an iced tea. It came out with a sliver of lemon; I asked for a bit more while I decided what I wanted.

Hardy Park Iced Tea

The limited menu gave me few choices. They had a flat iron steak for $20; I didn't want a salad or a burger; I decided on the salmon cakes, which according to the menu are served with "tartare, greens and fries". Tartare usually means "raw", but I figured it was the british spelling for tartar sauce.

There was a constant flow of servers flowing through the room; they were setting the tables for dinner. Music wasn't bad with "Dreaming" and a lot of stuff I couldn't make out over the noise.

When they brought out the food I was surprised by the portions. The cake had a heavy crust which I didn't expect.

Hardy Park Bistro Salmon Cakes Lunch

I cut the cake to see what was inside: Potatoes? Really?

Hardy Park Salmon Cake Cut

The "greens" was a dry arugula salad; they didn't even bother to remove the thick stems. I started to cut it, and a bunch of the fries ended up on the table. I had to ask for a side dish to offload the fries.

The fries were served unseasoned.

Hardy Park French Fries

My idea to salt them was derailed by the gimmicky condiments; a spoon and course salt.

Hardy Park Salt and Pepper

What am I supposed to do with course salt, sprinkle it on the fries and have it fall all over the table? Coarse salt goes in a grinder; kosher salt is for sprinkling or pinching. No ketchup either; I had to ask for that as I can't eat plain, unsalted fries.

As I was eating this, I thought of the old joke: Q: "What's the difference between a cook and a chef?" A: "Arugula". Every other item has arugula here. Enough said.

Hardy Park Bisto Salmon Cake Deconstructed

With the heavy crust and fillers, the salmon cakes didn't taste much like salmon. I tried to get a fork full of salmon, but it was no use. The tartar sauce was good, but I was hoping for something delicate and healthy and I got a deep fried potato cake. And who wants a raw arugula salad with no dressing?

Conclusion

Hardy Park Bistro turned out to be exactly the opposite of what I expected. I expected small portions of well-crafted food, and instead got an overflowing plate of pedestrian stuff that I might expect to be served at Mulligan's.

Something surprising was the amateur mistakes; easily correctable, that have gone unchecked months after opening. You'd think that someone would have pointed out that you de-stem arugula, you can't salt anything with a spoon and course salt, and that you can't serve a heaping salad on a flat plate; the couple next to me struggled to eat a non-chopped caesar that couldn't be cut without the salad ending up all over the table. Get some big bowls, for pete's sake. I understand when people open a new restaurant and make mistakes. I don't understand when they don't have any employees or friends honest enough to point out the obvious things that they're doing wrong.

Comment Policy Add Comment
Administrator
Reply
It appears that Hardy Park is up for sale.
Janice
Reply
Who are the people leaving the 5 star reviews for this place one after another?
Administrator
Reply
Boat people and other people used to eating dirt from the street.
Marianne
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LOL. Are they still open charging those ridiculous prices? I think Emeril charges less at his flagship restaurant.
anthony
Reply
obviously you don't understand expensive is...
Administrator
Reply
Yeah, like we don't know that $15 is too much for a hamburger at Mortons much less this little dump.
Administrator
Reply
I almost went here for brunch, but after looking at the menu, I thought did I really want to pay $11 for 2 eggs, sausage and potatoes? Why are two 24 cent eggs $6, because they're cooked by a big time yacht chef?
Carmen
Reply
$23 for a grilled chicken breast. How stupid are people anyway?
Marie
Reply
Apparently they're pretty stupid. The salmon cakes at The Fresh Market are a lot better than this!
Administrator
Reply
They raised it to 24, because well, $23 wasn't enough.

As long as the morons pay it, they will keep taking it from you.
Just Another Moron
Reply
Who the hell is "administrator" to call me a moron. This place is great.
I enjoy this restaurant, and apparently enough other 'moron's' do.

Administrator
Reply
If you pay $24. for a $3 piece of chicken at a little dump in a bad part of town cooked by a yacht chef, you are, by definition, a moron. If the food I got was good I might have a different spin on it, but what I got was junk from head to toe. You can see what I was served. If you think that's good food, have a party.

It's $28. now for grilled chicken. The yacht people all band together and I guess they have more money then you'd think.

Joan
Reply
The pictures on Yelp say it all. Another chef who learned some presentation but forgot that serving good food at a fair price is what gets people coming back. Apparently not only are the price high, but the portions are small.
Lindsey
Reply
Have you been there yet? A $14 burger is normal almost anywhere except maybe McDonalds.
Administrator
Reply
"Standard" pricing for restaurants is that food should cost about 38% of the price. 30% maybe for high rent districts. Ground Chuck is $4.00 retail; so if they buy their food at Publix a 1/2 burger with fries costs maybe $3. That means that an 8oz burger should cost $8. Let's go wild and say it costs $4 because they use some sort of pampered beef. So that would be $10.50.
Administrator
Reply
Why does this place make me think of the Bluejay Cafe?
Jake
Reply
Remind me why I should try a little place in a bad neighborhood that charges $14 for a hamburger?
RB
Reply
Im sure people said Tap 42 wasn't in an area that could sell stuff for that price either! If it's nice enough it's worth driving to!
Administrator
Reply
Tap42 fits the mold for fort lauderdale. People spend a lot of money building a fancy restaurant and overcharge for bad food. But, there are no cover charges in Fort Lauderdale, generally, so the price of the food is the price you pay to get to hang out in a semi club-like atmosphere. There is no such argument to be made for Hardy Park.

My view is that there is no reason to go out of my way to go to Tap42. There's free parking, and less traffic, so people who have to drive to Las Olas might find it to be a good alternative to the equivalent food and atmosphere on Las Olas.
DB
Reply
Doesn't seem to fit the area. $50 grilled chicken for 2???????
Do these places do any market research before they open?
Arnold
Reply
Yacht Chef. Must be good
Administrator
Reply
Of course they don't.