Restaurant: Baar Baar
Location: 705 W 9th St, Los Angeles, CA 90015. (213) 266-8989
Date: August 9, 2023
Cuisine: Modern Indian
Rating: Very tasty
Erick and I haven’t seen each other in 2 months because we were both traveling (him longer than me). So when he got back we went out just the two of us to try this new downtown modern Indian located in the old Faith and Flower space.
Attractive modern space.
The menu.
Cauliflower 65. Carrot Pachadi, peanut theca, pickled kumquat, curry leaf. This is a Portugese influenced dish and was quite tasty.
Tuna Bhel. Passion Fruit Rassam, avocado, curry leaf oil, kappa chips. I really enjoyed this cumin forward, slightly sweet, slightly spicy take on the tuna tartare.
Wild Shrimp Ghee Roast. Byadgi Chili, Fennel, Pao bread. Very nice grilled prawn with a spicy butter.
Pao Bread. Looks like Hawaiian bread, but not sweet at all.
Lamb Keema Hyderabadi. Potato mousse, green peas, masala pao. Sort of the Indian Sheppard’s pie. Delicious spiced ground beef under the whipped potatos. Tasted like Indian-style Texas chili.
Here is the meat in view.
Pork Belly. Pomegranate BBQ, stone fruit, sping onion, masala cracklings. A bit sweet and full of flavor.
Chicken Malai Tikka. Amul Cheese Fondue, walnut khurchan, crispy garlic. Creamy and rich. Pretty mild.
Kashmiri Duck (Birria) Taco. Chilantro, red onion, cheddar, pickled radish. These tasted more like Mexican tacos actually, but were delicious with that very greasy, meat forward taco flavor.
“Consomme” for the tacos. Dipping this notched them up even further. Great dish.
Lamb Chop Burrah Kebab. Pickled red onion, hemp seeds chutney, red onion. Pretty delicious with the onions and the mint sauce.
Mint sauce.
Baar Baar Butter Chicken. Red pepper makhani, fenugreek. Very mild and super creamy this was a fabulous chicken curry. A nice char flavor as well. Really great.
Lamb Shank Roast. Nijari gravy, fresh ginger, mint, cilantro, rose. Like a sort of lamb curry osso bucco. Pretty tasty but not as good as the butter chicken.
Cheese & Jalapeno Naan. Cheesy and delicious.
Garlic Naan. Good, but not as good as the cheesy one.
The dessert menu.
Mango Ghewar. Malai kulfi, mascarpone mousse, mango jelly, pistachio. This was the winner. Super delicious, cool, refreshing mango.
Coconut Payasam Cassatta. Rhubarb compote, tender coconut granita. Subtle flavors. A bit like a coconut cheesecake with hints of rhubarb ice.
Really delicious new restaurant. Indian flavors but modern treatment. Super delicious. Very refined. It’ll be interesting to see what the masses think of Baar Baar. I happen to love strong Indian flavors and this was some of the best stuff I’ve had.