Om

This is a review for a brunch my wife and I had there early last year. We bought a Groupon only because we had heard Patricia Yeo had redone the menu. Lesson learned, we now only by Groupons to places we have been to before and enjoy.
The food was average at best. I ordered a glass of blood orange juice and was more than happy to pay the hefty price tag for it. I was brought a glass of regular orange juice that clearly had not been fresh squeezed and the waitress didn’t even understand what I was talking about when I told her that this was NOT blood orange juice.
It went downhill from there.
Awful. We will not be going back.

Om is by far my favorite bar/​lounge in Harvard Square due to its yummy food/​drinks and cozy ambiance.
The appetizers were surprisingly tasty. I highly recommend ordering the Vegetable Spring Rolls, Chicken Lollipops, and Beef Momos.
Try all of the cocktails and then tell me which you don’t like. Truth or dare, fits either one.
Excellent venue for a small dinner group to medium-​sized (30+ people) cocktail reception.

We went on a Saturday night for clubbing and there’s a $ 10 cover charge. 2 floors of good music but people seem to stay on the bottom floor. Not my type of crowd because it wasn’t diverse, typical young clubbers with guys just looking to grind on you, and very rude girls bumping into you like they rule the place. I can’t believe there’s only 1 bathroom at this place.
We parked at a garage that OM validates parking but only the bartender was able to validate it. Bartender said we can just pay them and they gave us a receipt to show the garage. Apparently, they gave us the bar receipt instead of the parking receipt so we had to pay again at the garage. I would’ve looked when she gave me the receipt but with the dark lighting and people bumping into you, I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Lesson learned, not going back.

We came in during the holidays, when all the students were home, so the restaurant was pretty understaffed and unexpectedly busy.
Pros: reasonably nice setting, nice looking bar on the main floor
Cons: bad service, average food, and a confusing mish-​mash of indian/​asian fusion
Our dishes:
Lamb Shish Kebab — shish kebabs could have used more seasoning, but the chutney was good…
Fried Calamari — tiniest pieces of calamari I’ve ever seen. Some crazy-​ass fisherman is clearly killing off the extremely premature octopus babies of the sea
Banana Leaf Wrapped Trout — the banana leaf was nowhere to be found, but the trout was pretty good — minus any substantial amount of seasoning. The fried rice was something I could make at home, but the trout worked for me.
Stir Fry Lamb — Very, very over-​flavored. The first few bites were great, but then … there are more bites.
The food had overly strong indian flavors, combined with random asian dishes scattered around the plate. It’s a place that seems like it could be trendy on a very «on» night, but the restaurant probably shouldn’t be part of your plans.

Mixed beats with African music and hip hop downstairs while upstairs is all hip hop & R&B. The club at night is full of people and there’s a $ 10 cover charge.

3.5 Stars Overall. We were excited to get into OM for a meal as we had attended a private event here and had a good time and good food. We had a google offer voucher and had no issues with service. Our server was pleasant and helpful throughout. We love the atmosphere of OM. It definitely adds to the experience of dining out. OM has a lot of nice details and statues that give the restaurant a very elegant asian theme. You can tell a lot of money went into building/​decorating this place.
We ordered a bunch of different plates. The menu is very accomodating for tapas style ordering. There are many small dishes that are made to share. Many of the entrees also come in half portion which allows for even more sampling. We loved how we were able to try so many things. Only one dish impressed us however, and none of the others would be repeat dishes for me. Our favorite dish was the curry lamb flatbread pizza, topped with lamb meatballs (curry flavored), spinach, and feta cheese. This pizza was just as good as you could imagine. We also liked the chickpea fries. The other dishes were just pretty good. These were the shrimp/​pork dumplings, the duck confit chow fun (chewy noodles, but a lot of duck!), and the short rib dish (came with ziti and veggies). The fusion thing worked really well for some dishes and for others fell short. In the end I would have rather had an asian meal (drop the fusion) and pay less. I do give Patricia props for being creative and inventive. The food is definitely fusion and different from what I have seen elsewhere. I just don’t think it tastes as good as elsewhere. Certainly a fun and different night dining out.
Would I come back? Not at full price.

Worst experience at Om to date, and also possibly my worst valentine’s day dinner ever. The 2 star rating is only because I like their food. They get a 1 star rating on the service and overall experience.
First the $ 40 bottle of wine that we requested was sold out (or so they said) — but luckily for us the had another bottle just like it for $ 75…we passed on the more expensive bottle as we’re trying to save for things like a house, and don’t have a sophisticated enough palate to notice the difference anyways. So we got a different $ 40 bottle. That’s not so bad though. I don’t blame the guy for suggesting a higher priced, and probably higher quality bottle. It was annoying, but whatever.
But then, he ‘lost’ our orders. So, after sitting for 20 minutes he comes out to us and asks us to tell him again what we’d like for our entrees. But hey, we’re forgiving enough. Accidents happen and people can lose things from time to time… I guess. So we didn’t make a big deal about it, enjoying each other’s company none the less. A little disappointed that he didn’t offer a free dessert or anything to make up for the extra time wasted while we wait for our food, but again, whatever. We like the food and had been there several times before without these annoyances.
But then, the final straw arrives with the check. Our $ 40 bottle of wine was mistakenly billed at $ 65. So of course we point this out, and the waiter, appearing alarmed and in disbelief, says he’ll fetch us the menu so we can see the actual price. He was wrong, and we were right, and he ammended the 3^rd strike of the evening.
This dinner experience felt more like a challenge by Om, constantly trying to keep us on our toes. It was NOT like the typical dining experiences we’ve had there in the past, but left such a bad feeling with me and my fiancé that we probably wont go back — no matter how good their groupon/​living social/​eversave deal is. Sorry OM.

I liked this place as a cocktail lounge, but not as a restaurant.
For the former, the décor is cool, the atmosphere is chill, and the drinks are tasty and creative.
For the latter, the menu is understated in an interesting way. The food is tasty, but not as interesting as it could be, and it ends up not a terribly good value.

Meh. Overpriced and I wouldn’t come if I were paying for it myself. Not bad if you just want to come here to dance, but I most definitely wouldn’t come here for the primary purpose of enjoying a meal.
But I must say this: fusion food has its own merits. I think it’s unfair to compare fusion food with ‘authentic’ food because fusion is supposed to be about creating a completely new flavor by combining cuisines from different parts of the world.
It is a nice venue though.

Do NOT host large parties here!!!
I had worked with a manager at Om to plan a large dinner months in advance. We had even signed a contract. However, a later manager did not honor this agreement, and booked another group for the same space at the same time and left my group out to dry a mere week and a half before the event!
You cannot trust Om and its managers to be good on their word, or even on their written contracts. I was incredibly disappointed by this. While their food can be good (albeit vastly overpriced), it is not worth patronizing a restaurant that does not conduct its business ethically, or even with a semblance of decency and respect for its patrons.

BRUNCH:
good service,
limited but delicious menu options,
delicious bloodys and mimosas
delicious people watching on winthrop sq

I wanted to love this place, especially since I love the «fusion» style food… but OM you disappointed me.
When we walked in, I immediately liked the ambiance and décor. The open windows are great and the lounge area seemed nice. We were seated upstairs and got to sit along the windows and people watch over Harvard Sq. So everything started off well. Our waiter approached us and while he was nice, he seemed a bit stiff or nervous. Weird right? Anyways, we ordered the duck meatballs for an appetizer. These were delicious and well seasoned.
For our entrees, I ordered the lamb stir fry and my boyfriend got the «General Tso» style chicken. My stir fry was great. Lots of fresh vegetables, lamb was cooked well, and great seasonings. But oh, when my boyfriend cut into his chicken, what did he see looking back at him but bright pink flesh. Yes, you got it, his chicken was completely raw throughout. We were both shocked, I mean who can’t cook a piece of chicken? We brought it to the attention of our waiter who did take it away, but then brought it back once it was fully cooked. Not surprisingly, my boyfriend no longer had an appetite for this meal. This $ 25 chicken meal is still sitting in a box in our fridge 3 days later and most likely will be tossed.
Now the weirdest part of this whole experience was when the manager came up to our table. We presumably thought that he was checking on us because of what happened, but no, he was just doing his normal checks on the customer. When we told him that my boyfriend had a problem with his meal, he didn’t even inquire as to what happened, he only said «Well I hope you come back sometime» and walked away. Having worked in the restaurant business, my boyfriend thought it was very weird that he didn’t inquire as to what the problem was.
On a positive note, we did get free desserts. And I will admit that they were delicious! That is why this place gets two stars. I got poached pear with gingerbread cake and my boyfriend has the berry cobbler. Mmmm I love dessert! Even though my personal meal was quite good, I don’t think I could bring myself to go back to a place that cannot cook a piece of chicken properly.

OM, how disappointing are you? Let me count the ways. You’re a pretty date that I would never call back. When you open your mouth, I just wish you’d shut up your pretentious face. I could have gotten the same food in Chinatown for cheaper. Dumpings, ribs, and all that stuff. so much cheaper and better elsewhere. I didn’t even want to swallow. I finished out of mere courtesy (and because I goddamn paid for it).
There are rumors in the wind that things may be changing, but seriously. I don’t even want to go back. You ain’t that pretty.

We returned to OM last night for drinks and dessert, and we are glad we did! Tried the Lavender Cosmo, the Glacial Orange, the Rio Redux and the Om Southsider, all of which were unique and delicious (although we agreed the Glacial Orange was a little like «an orange Jolly Rancher» so if you’re not into sweet stuff, you might want to try something else instead!) — the Rio Redux was especially awesome, very refreshing.
The downstairs bar area was chill and comfortable — music not too loud, staff friendly and attentive.
For dessert we shared «The Square Root of Happiness» — a sweet potato poundcake with caramelized parsnip ice cream and almonds. I’m sure «caramelized parsnip ice cream» sounds pretty freaky, but it’s not. It’s not freaky. It’s absolutely delicious, and if you didn’t know what was in there, you would never guess parsnip in a million years. The ice cream is fluffy and creamy and not over-​frozen, and the poundcake itself is divine. I could have eaten ten more of these.
Go check out OM! If you’re looking for a cheeseburger, you won’t find it here. If you’re looking for a uniquely delicious dining experience, killer drinks and heavenly desserts, this is the place.

When it comes to OM, I’ve always scratched my head a little bit re: the location. It’s right in the middle of Harvard Square, across from The Garage, but sells itself as a high-​end establishment. The area just screams casual, so I just find it a bit odd that the owners chose this particular spot. It sort of feels like a woman in a little black dress and a pair of killer pumps standing in a crowd of people wearing plaid shirts, khakis, and Birkenstocks.
Drinks are ok here, nothing to rave about.

This place seems almost a little too upscale to be a door or two down from Charlie’s Beer Garden ha ha
I was waiting for my friends to meet me here and I swear about 15 people came up to look at the menu for this place, they probably saw the prices, and then they all turned around and went elsewhere. This place is pretty pricey, and even though we sat in the bar area, their lack of bar food options at decent prices for what you get was seriously lacking.
Their calamari was actually pretty good though, and not overly breaded, but they barely gave you any calamari with your order, and when there are three of you, it just doesn’t last very long. So then we ordered their momos (aka sorta like dumplings or potstickers) and since they feature this on Mondays we thought they had to be good! But pretty flavorless minus one of the sauces which made those momos much better.
If you are looking for a classy spot to grab a drink though, the ambiance inside is definitely that. There is a nice calming waterfall and it has overall a nicer asian sort of theme. Beers are about $ 6 and my wine was $ 8 a glass. Their entrees are way pricer and based on what I saw coming out to tables around us, I am glad we stuck with the bar menu… even though they didn’t have anything like fancy fries or onion strings or anything that was really too easy to share… They should work on that for their bar menu and I bet they would pull in more of the after work crowd then! Thank goodness I had a groupon to help pay for this outing!

This place has a lot of potential. A great location, patio seating, sexy cocktails, and good ambiance. But the most important thing, to me, that’s missing is service.
We wanted to enjoy the first day of spring and sat down on the patio. Several waiters passed us by before anyone helped us. The party next to us was also not helped.
The good thing is that when we finally did get our waitress, she was great and explained that she just started.
I will definitely go back because the place is at least worth another try.

I went here on a Thursday night to get drinks with my friend. They wouldn’t let us sit outside because we weren’t ordering food, but we sat near the window inside the lounge. The cocktail waitress was quick and I ordered the Lavender Mojito which was huge and came in a pint glass and he had some type of ginger cocktail. By the second round I was feeling the alcohol. They gave us free snacks which were nasty, but I was hungry. It was basically caramel popcorn leftover from Christmas time with a little salt and paprika sprinkled on top.
It was a nice environment to talk and get to know one another. Around 10, they took my friend’s seat so they could clear out the area so the DJ could set up and start spinning some house music. The crowd got very interesting, there were plenty of Harvard and MIT students who looked like they didn’t know where to begin with approaching a member of the opposite sex. We closed out our tab and left around this time. I didn’t see the bill exactly, but at my quick glance it looked like about $ 50 for the 4 drinks, so that’s not too bad.

Went here for restaurant week this past Thursday. I had the spring vegetable soup, the potato croquette stuffed with goat cheese, and the chocolate cake. The soup was tasty, but could have been hotter. The entrée was also good, but I was looking forward to the mushroom papardelle but it wasn’t available. :(The chocolate cake was good for the first half, but then I got overwhelmed with the coffee and the bits of salt in it.
My dinner companion had the spring vegetable soup, the salmon on swiss chard with polenta fries, and the carrot cake. He said the salmon was the best he’d ever had and I can say the polenta and the swiss chard was really good. The carrot cake was delicious and served with a cream cheese fluff and vanilla ice cream. He also had the wines.
Overall, it’s a cool restaurant, but not the most AMAAAZING food I’ve ever had. Thank goodness it was restaurant week so it wasn’t as expensive as it possibly could be.

This is a review for the bar downstairs as I have not been here to dine yet. This place is in Harvard Square and refreshingly nicer than Grendel’s, the Irish pub two doors down, etc.
I’d give this place 2.5 stars.
The bar area is okay… it looks mostly run down. I did like the bartender. he was nice, fast, and a lot better than the people I met that night. They were out of the purple rain as that is a seasonal item. The other drink I had was good. Miss Sassy I think. A little alcoholic when you start it. but at least it’s worth the $ 9 you pay for it. Yes. cocktails are about $ 10. Wines start at $ 8 and go to $ 11. Not a huge selection. so if you want that, you might want to try somewhere else… like Russell House.