I’ve heard great things about the contemporary Indian restaurant Baar Baar and have had it bookmarked for some time, and I finally got to try it! It is only open during dinner, so it definitely required more planning to try this restaurant.
Cocktail
When our party of 8 arrived, we started with ordering drinks. The drink menu was very unique – it was a cocktail booklet with a film theme. The drinks were organized by years based on the film, with the director, cast, and music listed as well as the drink inspiration. If you want to purchase the cocktail booklet, it’s $15! There were a few drinks I was debating between, but I decided to go with Lagaan, a film from 2001.
Lagaan – gin, honeydew melon, kale, Midori, and egg white. Drink Inspiration: Derived from the famous Gin Sour, that has seen many tweaks and variations through its rich history. – This drink came out with a bubble maker! The waitress pointed the bubble maker on top of the drink and out came a bubble. It popped really quickly though. The drink tasted good, but I learned that I was not a fan of the egg white smell. I held my breath every time I drank from the cup.
There were two menus our table had to decide between – the main menu where we could order a la carte, or the tasting menu for $55 per person, which everyone at the table will need to order. We decided on the tasting menu, but we would order something different so that we could all share and try everything!
Canapé
Dahi Puri – tamarind, yoghurt mousse, raspberry chaat masala – I really liked this dish. I wasn’t expecting much of it, but when I bit into it, it was so crispy I was amazed. I’d definitely get this again!
Small Plates
Avocado Bhel – green chickpea hummus, edamame, puffed black rice – My friend said she is not a fan of this, so I guess my expectations going into this dish were low. I thought it was quite enjoyable!
Cauliflower 65 – carrot pachadi, peanut chutney & thecha – The cauliflower was pretty flavorful. However, I was a bit bummed we only got one piece each because I would’ve wanted to try more of it. I feel like I wasn’t able to enjoy this dish as much because of the small bite.
Chicken Malai Tikka – amul cheese fondue, walnut khurchan – I liked this Chicken Malai Tikka. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but I did not think the portion would be this big and filling, since the other small plates were smaller. The chicken was not overcooked and the cheese fondue was delicious.
Lamb Keema Hyderabadi – potato mousse, green peas, buttered pao – The lamb was good! I wish we had more butter pao to enjoy the lamb with.
Kerala Duck (Birria) Taco – cilantro, red onion, cheddar cheese – I was honestly really looking forward to trying this duck taco, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It was not as crispy as I was expecting and the duck didn’t stand out too much to me.
Large Plates
Sides: saffron rice, garlic naan, traditional black diary dai – The garlic naan was my favorite!
Squash & Vegetable Kofta – saffron cashew korma, lotus root crisp
Seabass Pollichathu – banana leaf, shallots coconut masala – I would have to say the seabass was good, but nothing really special. It was a solid dish and probably had the most protein out of everything we ordered.
Beef Short Ribs – madras curry, marrow kurchan, baby vegetables – This dish was so small I was a bit (okay, maybe a lot) disappointed. Don’t be mistaken – that’s not two pieces of the short ribs, that’s one piece of short ribs and a piece of potato. I was absolutely shocked at how small the piece of short ribs was, but it was pretty tasty.
Traditional Butter Chicken – red pepper makhani, fenugreek – The sauce was really good and the chicken was not overcooked. Yummy. I’d definitely need more garlic naan for this!
Paneer Pinwheel – lababdar, red pepper chutney, pistachio – This was my first time having this dish and I was not sure what to expect. The curry was so creamy and the texture of the pinwheel tasted just like how it looks. I ended up loving it a lot – it was probably my favorite of the night!
Dessert
Gulab Jamun Cheesecake – saffron pistachio ice cream – Ordered this for the cheesecake, but ended up liking the ice cream more! The best part? It was not too sweet.
If you are looking for some spicy dishes, you won’t find it here – everything was not spicy at all. The food tasted good, but I definitely left still hungry. The small plates were honestly more filling than the large plates, even after cleaning the plates with the garlic naan and saffron rice. Since we were sharing the set menu with the whole table, we split everything evenly (except for the dessert – we all got our own) and got to try everything. This is probably the way to go if you’re going for the first time and with a larger group.
Have you been? What did you think?