3 Point Restaurant
 Akron, Ohio        Date of Visit  08/26/12       http://www.3pointrestaurant.com/ 

It’s been quite a while since we participated in anything cultural or fun locally so I was sort of excited looking for a restaurant close to our destination for the night. We are headed to Musica, which we have never been to before, to hear Roger Hoover and The Hurt, who we’ve not seen before, and looking for a dining room to try for the first time as well. I was surprised to find we had eaten next door to Musica on our trip to Crave nearly a year ago. I had heard some good things and a lot of bad things about Crave which turned out to be better than expected. Just past the entrance to Musica sits 3 Point where The Chophouse used to be. I have heard similar things about 3 Point and it sits at the entrance to our evening’s purpose. Done.
 

Bread Was Pretty Good
 

Parking is convenient with the museum/library deck open in the evening and we walked across Main St. with Musica and 3 Point in sight. The interior of the restaurant is nice enough to make me uncomfortable dressed for the concert, but at no time did the staff or other guests cast a sideways glance or look of disapproval. Our server was quick through most of the night took better than average care of our evening. The menu isn’t overly unique or exciting but we did find things that sounded good. For appetizers a bowl of soup and some tuna, duck and pork for entrees and a shared slice of cake for dessert. Similar to Crave not everything was a hit but there was enough to have us waddling satiated into the show an hour later.

As a libation I had a “Filthy” martini which was simultaneously dirty and less than dirty. The six olives and their varied stuffings, bathing in the Tanqueray were deliciously dirty. The lack of dirty juice in the martini was the disappointment.
 

The tuna was fairly good. Rare and crusted with white and black sesame seeds it was served with a sweetened soy sauce and wasabi aioli. Quality tuna, well done, enhanced with light Asian touches and tasty. Then the soup. More classic than the tuna their signature cream of wild mushroom soup isn’t particularly pretty and is a little olde world in it’s richness and texture, but it is stupendous. Stunningly rich with cream and, I’m assuming, roux this bowl could be shared for a meal and suffice. The balance between the earthiness of the shroom combo and the thickened dairy was exact and delicious. Over all the apps were very successful.

The dinners were less so. The duck breast was cooked well but had either been sliced to soon or sat too long to maintain a nice doneness and juiciness. The skin had been cut into thin lardons and set atop the breast but had also lost their crispness, I’m going with a long wait in the window all things considered. The starch on the plate was called crispy loaded potatoes and while they were potatoes they failed to live up to any of the other descriptors. Cold and more mushy than crispy they had a sprinkling of cheese melted overtop and sat atop some bits of bacon which had all fallen to the bottom of the plate rather than sitting on potatoes. I expect they are underseasoned to allow the cheese and bacon to do their job but when they are also under-cheesed, under-baconed and cold they don’t work at all. A definite don’t bother. The nice touch on the plate was the orange marmalade glaze on the duck which added an enlivening zing.
 

The pork was better prepared and oozed piggy succulence. The parmesan risotto was overdone but wonderfully rich and had a nice bite of salty cheese. Speaking of salt the mushroom demi-glace was reduced to a beautiful consistency and rich meatiness but may have been seasoned before reduction or was a reduced base resulting in near terrifying saltiness, even for me. We also ordered their 3 cheese macaroni in our quest to find someone making a worthwhile version. We’re still looking.

Noodles were well done, smooth through and through, the crunchy topping was tasty, the whole thing was just not very cheesy. Sure there is a subtle smack of cheese, but when you start bragging about the number of cheeses…I don’t want subtle. I want a punch in the face from the Cheetos’ Chester Cheetah that leaves neon orange powder and taste smeared on me for days. “Look I made 18 cheeses taste like half a cheese” does not sound like triumph to me.

With a bit before the doors opened we decided to split a recommendation from our server from the dessert tray. The pistachio cake was moist and lightly sweet with notes of the dyed green nut. We left for the show full, off to enjoy and bluesy ramblings of a chicken picker and a talented band celebrate the release of their latest album. If only they had a better looking drummer, or maybe he had a bigger drum kit. Is this a band or a freak show?..Ha-Ha. Thanks for a great night Eric. And to 3 point who did well for the area, I wouldn’t fight a return trip.