When Baar Baar opened a couple of years ago, everybody wanted to try this Indian gastropub where Chef Sujan Sarkar proposed a menu composed of a modern interpretation of regional dishes. So it was time for me to try and we decided to try it on a Saturday evening, for an early dinner. Yes, I like early dinners: first, of course, I can roam around the place and take photos, but I also like the quiet. So I did my thing at Baar Baar and was quite happy to be able to because their decor is stunning, cozy with a beautiful mural next to the bar.

The menu is big and it was quite difficult to pick just few dishes as everything looked amazing. Here is what we had:

As a cocktail, i went for their chai negroni instead of their old fashioned that is typically what I would have picked (or at least any whisky cocktail), intrigued by the combination of chai and this bitter drink that was made with gin, masala chai concoction, Campari and sweet vermouth. Nicely bitter, I was expecting more chai flavor but it had a nice hint of cardamom. It came with a homemade bread stick that had nothing special and seems to be more for presentation purpose .

We then share the dahi puri. The small shells were filled with tamarind, avocado, yogurt mousse and raspberry chaat masala. I love that dish: it is a one bite as the filling is quite liquid and I love the explosion of flavor you get when eating it, with a delicious sweetness to it.

Next was the cauliflower 65, made with chili peanut chutney, curd rice mousse and podi masala. This dish from Chennai was a bit spicy, with the outside of the cauliflower being slightly crispy.

The lamb chops with hempseed chutney were superb: well cooked and a bit spicy. I also tried their Goan prawn balchao, served head on, that was delicious but spicy too.

For her main, Jodi got the tandoori mushroom that was served with a upma polenta, topped with parmesan and accompanied by pav, a soft bread roll. We also shared the black dairy dal with some naan that had a nice char. Dal is often something we get in Indian restaurants (dal makhni to be more specific) and this one was very good, creamy as I like it.

Although I was excited by the dinner menu, I was less so by the dessert one and we finally decided to order ice cream, just because we need to end the meal on a sweet note. We tried their toasted coconut as well as the saffron-pistachio: well, we were not disappointed. The ice cream was superb: dense, creamy and tasty. This, with a chai, was the perfect way to end a great meal.

Yes, overall it was delicious (the only negative is that all the plates came at once) and their menu having many small plates is a good way to try many things. Baar Baar delivered and it is not the last time I’ll be there.

Enjoy (I did)!

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Baar Baar - 13 E 1st St, New York, NY 10003

Baar Baar in NYC, NY

I Just Want To Eat!