Baru Bistro

Have you ever sat down in a restaurant and before even looking at the menu, say to yourself, "I like this place"? I had that precise reaction on my first visit to Baru Bistro back in May 2008. It's such a charming place - the building is a converted corner grocery with big windows looking out onto Magazine, diners bring their own wine, tables either line the sidewalks outside or tightly fit in the small dining room, the lighting is low, candles are everywhere, and the kitchen is so tiny you wonder how more than 2 people can stand in there let alone cook. All of these factors can easily cloud your judgment when it comes to the food, and I honestly can barely remember what I ate on that first visit. But almost 2 years later, I returned for my second visit to Baru and found that the ambience is still the same, the corkage fee is still $8, and the food should not be forgotten.

Truthfully, however, my second meal almost did not make it past the ordering stage. After being seated, our table of four told that the kitchen was serving a shortened menu because it was the night before Christmas Eve, a fact which the hostess had neglected to mention when we called 20 minutes earlier to see if they were open. Thankfully, The Folk Singer and Petite Sweet Brandi convinced Big Brutal Dave and I to stay for what ended up being a great meal. Just goes to show that were it not for the women in our lives, who knows what we would be missing out on.

As I said, the Latin-American menu was pared down to just 10 items. We began with the guacabello, a simple but remarkably delicious combination of grilled, chopped portobellos mixed with chunks of fresh avocado. The heat from the mushrooms melts the avocado and mixes with olive oil and lime juice to create a richness of flavor usually only found in dishes which incorporate copious amounts of butter or pork fat. Piled high on three toasted slices of bread, this is just a fantastic way to start your meal, especially for $8.

The regular menu at Baru is heavy on seafood, which was also the case on the abbreviated menu. While the flavors are unmistakably Latin, the kitchen has incorporated the bounty of our local waters as the base for most of the dishes. So you will find drum in the ceviche, gulf shrimp sauteed with garlic, and Louisiana oysters fried in cornmeal and topped with ailoli, caramelized onions, and a touch of chili sauce for heat. These big, meaty oysters were fried no less perfectly than the ones on the oyster loaf at Casamento's down the street.

But the unanimous winner for best dish of the night was actually not a dish at all: mofongo. Fried plantains are mashed to the consistency of oyster dressing and then mixed with crunchy bits of fried pork. I am a believer, so much so that we requested a side order because the serving underneath the sauteed shrimp was just not enough.

Baru Bistro - Birdie