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“Barca 18-- CLOSED”


  Occasion: Cuisine: Area: Cost: Rating:
  Night Out Spanish Flatiron Moderate Good

and tomato flesh, and drizzled with olive oil and sea salt. It occurred to me that I might like to rub someone special in garlic and tomato flesh and drizzle him in sea salt and olive oil after eating that bread. It’s that good.

While working our way through a pitcher of sangria, served with frozen granita (Eben Klemm’s cocktails are sure to take the edge off any sorrow in your heart or anxiety in your head), we also nibbled on a bowl of olives and Marcona almonds topped with some lemon confit ($6) and a plate of the blistered pardon peppers, with sea salt and olive oil ($7) that were as addictive as potato chips. The Serrano and potato croquetas ($8), however, were more like fried mashed potato logs to me than croquetas. I could not taste the Serrano ham, all I got was potato (and no béchamel). Which would be fine if you wanted tater tots, but not if you want ham and potato croquetas. Just to make sure we had enough fried potatoes in our diet for the night (I am sure there’s got to be a study somewhere about how great fried potatoes are for you), we also had an order of patatas bravas ($5), which are an imitation of the ones at Tia Pol. While they are good—hot and crispy and doused in spicy mayo—they are not as good. Tia Pol’s chef Eder Montero knows his way around the bravas like no other chef in New York City because he worked at Bar Tomas, their place of origin in Spain. I am not going to give away Eder’s own secret ingredient, but it comes from his time working at Nobu. You’ll have to guess.

I went back for lunch later that week with my friend Kate, where we spied Hal Rubenstein from New York Magazine across the room from us. He rushed into the restaurant, New York Observer tucked under his arm, apparently late to meet his companion. But once he got settled, he seemed happy, and so were we. While the room is a bit bright during the day, and feels cavernous, the strange atmosphere did not affect the food, which was quite good. We had a truly exceptional bowl of almejas tiernas ($10)— sweet, plump, and briny baby clams bathed in a vibrant green seafood broth fired up with salsa verde. We also tore through a great octopus salad ($12), tender and chewy and smoky from the grill, tossed with olives, sweet pepper confit, lemon juice, and olive oil.

But I was afraid to try the Bacalao Coca—a salt cod pizza with Manchego and grilled peppers, red onions, and olives ($10). ... [more, click below]

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Other restaurants in Flatiron :
+ Suenos   + Amuse-- Closed   + Dos Caminos   + Lucy-- Closed   + Gramercy Taver   + Veritas   + Fleur De Sel   + Bolo -- CLosed   + City Bakery   + Shake Shack   + Kalustyan's Cafe   + Devi   + BLT Fish   + Sugarcane   + BLT Prime   + Barca 18-- CLOSED   + Beppe   + Barbounia   + Boqueria   + Eleven Madison   + Lonesome Dove-- CLOSED   + Hill Country   + Olana   + Wildwood   + Primehouse   + Allegretti   + Bar Breton   + Aldea   + SD26 by Bao Ong   + ABC Kitchen   + Ciano   + The NoMad   


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