Spanish Tapas & Paella at Barca

The boy and I had visited Plan B on Mulberry St a couple years ago, excited to try their snake sausage, however, they did not have any the time, had no clue when they would, and we stayed, and somehow ended up spending so much money on so little food that wasn't any good.  (The worst possible outcome to that short story, I know.)

And so Plan B's plan b came through, and Barca has since replaced the restaurant, maintaining the same space, but with a new chef behind the helm and an updated menu more focused on Spanish cuisine.

The rebranding seemed effective - the restaurant was jammed with lots of people nibbling at small plates, sipping sangrias and having a gay ol' time.

Compliments of the kitchen appealed to us immediately - fresh, young stalks of asparagus wrapped tightly with salty, serrano ham and a drop of herby, marscapone cheese.  A very good start to the meal.

We continued with the restaurant's namesake ahi tuna appetizer, with plenty of chunks of fresh tuna, but little seasoning and never enough bread for the likes of my fat face.

The braised brussel sprouts were barely bitter, just tender and deeply fragrant with thyme.

We deviated from the tapas menu to sample one of the four paellas on the menu: the arroz negro.  Arriving in the signature paella pan, the squid ink rice is speckled with bits of tomato and seafood.

And after the first, second and third bites of hard rice in my mouth, I wondered if maybe I don't know what paella is supposed to taste like.  Is the paella rice supposed to be as al dente as true Italian pasta?

The flavor of the paella was actually quite nice, but the rice was overwhelmingly undercooked, though the waitress expressed that you could have the chefs cook the rice longer, if needed, but yes, this is how it is supposed to be.  One day, I will go to Spain and confirm that, but  in the meantime, I do know that the shrimp was painfully overcooked, rubbery to the core, and the mussels a little too goopy (yes, a technical term!) so really, it's just a mishmash of unfortunate circumstances.

As was the tres leches cake that was somehow dry and also hard - as in hard texture and hard to eat.

And then we glanced down the stretch of tables and saw that most people stuck to tapas, and that maybe that's what we should have to and our experience would have been much different, because the asparagus was brilliant, the brussel sprouts enjoyable, and the drinks pretty healthy and strong.

Han's Nonsensical Rating:  Stick to the tapas if you must, or just skip altogether.

Barca
244 Mulberry St
New York, NY

Portland Part 3: Japanese Garden & Toro Bravo

One of Diana and my favorite parts of the Portland trip had to be the ***GORGEOUS*** Japanese garden, reknowned as one of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside of Japan.

The well manicured garden featured niches of moss, bamboo walls, small waterfalls, shade and sun.  It was nice to stroll around the 5.5 acres to walk off our meals while basking in all of the beauty.  

For anyone considering visiting Portland, the Japanese Garden is an absolute must.  The Rose Garden across the way is also a neat scene too.

For dinner, we enjoyed Spanish-style tapas at Toro Bravo.  We shared the following four plates:

Salt cod fritters with aioli.

These fritters are divine!  Nice, light crisp shell with a supersoft center.

Spanish anchovies fried with strips of fennel and lemon.  The anchovies were so fresh and not the least bit fishy.  I could not believe we were eating pieces of fried lemon - they were sliced so thinly and crisp!  The red sauce was a nice accent to the dish.

Griddled flatbread with truffle cheese and arugula.

This was good, oh-so-truffley, but if I had to pick again, I'd probably not order this for probably the wrong reason. The bread was a bit thick and filling - I'd rather save the stomach space and order two other dishes!  Like the next one below...

Squid ink pasta with hazelnuts, anchovy syrup, roasted red peppers and a raw egg.  This has to be my most favorite non-doughnut thing we ate during the whole trip.  That anchovy syrup is what I want to drink everyday !  Diana and I also liked popping the yolk and smothering its creaminess over the pitch black pasta.

For dessert, Diana and I could not pass on the fresh made churros and chocolate.

The presentation was on point, but the execution was a bit over-done.  The churros were super hard, unadorned with any cinnamon and sugar.  The melted chocolate was definitely the saving grace here.

Toro Bravo is definitely a must for any Portland visitor - the menu is expansive and great to share among great company!  Try to come at an off-peak period; the wait can be a bit long, although totally worth it.

Portland Japanese Garden

611 Southwest Kingston Avenue, Portland, OR 97205

(503) 223-1321

Toro Bravo

120 NE Russell St # A, Portland, OR 97212-3791

(503) 281-4464

Gorging with Greeshma: Kyochon Chicken, Brazilian Street Festival, Socarrat Paella Bar

Greeshma food continued!

We had dinner at my favorite Korean BBQ place, Don's Bogam, but Julian was still not satiated after eating three types of marinated beef, so we headed to Kyochon for a snack.

A slight misread had Julian ordering two types of potatoes plates as a snack, unfortunately.

Chicken croquettes which were basically fried Japanese style-mashed potato sticks with the barest hint of any sort of chicken.

Potato wedges.  Standard.

This was how we felt about the food there.  Total snoozefest.  Thanan later tells me the chicken is not even worth it either, so who knows what's going on in the otherwise cool sci-fi-esque eatery.

On Sunday, Greeshma checked out one of my top two favorite street festivals ever - the Brazilian Day Festival!

Greeshma shopping at the street fair, o' course.  Note the sweet shades we scored from the Brooklyn Flea.

Watching Greeshma shop made me thirsty for some mango lemonade.

Greeshma then had to immediately have this when we saw a sign for Brazilian fried cheese bread.

But she opted for this chocolate sprinkle-coated gooey caramel ball instead which she adored.

And then because everyone was holding one of these, Greeshma went hogwild and got one too!  Brazilian empanadas.

They come with either beef or cheese filling.  I also prefer the beef.  Naturally. :)

This year, instead of the empanada, I tried this gorgeous looking sausage on a crusty roll.  Tasted just as good as it looked.

But truthfully, my main reason for loving the Brazilian Day Festival is for one thing and one thing only:

Freshly made churros !!

Correction: freshly made dulce de leche filled churros to be exact.  Like a crispy, sugary, cinnamony, gooey dream in your hand.  Greeshma made good work of hers and ranked these churros right up there with her beloved fried oreos.  Now that's an honor!

For dinner that night, we headed to Greeshma's beloved paella spot: Socarrat.  The place is a cozy gem in Chelsea with exceptional waits (typically hour long) at all times, according to Greeshma.  It was my first time, and her favorite, so we endured over 1.5 hours before nabbing a table in the bar area.  Greeshma ordered us:

Mixed seafood paella with squid ink rice

I totally thought my teeth were going to be black after eating this, but phew, they didn't!  (Woulda been fun if they did though!)  This black rice is so fascinating right?  It didn't have a distinctive taste, and the seafood was standard fare.  I was hoping there'd be clams and mussels, but it just had bits of cod (?) fish, squid and shrimp.

Vegetarian paella filled with fat beans, artichokes and tomatoes. 

Rich and flavorful from the strong, fresh tomatoes.  I really liked this one over the squid ink!  Surprisingly!  I know!  Me liking a vegetarian dish (what is going on?!)

Some weird sauce that Greeshma swears by for the paella.  It tastes kind of like mayonnaise but looks like butter.  I tried a little bit, and thought it tasted good, but liked the paella plain also.

For some inexplicable reason, and a reason we did not question, we were given these mini chocolate beignets on the house!

The dark chocolate filling was sublime and a great nightcap to our Spanish feast.

All in all, Socarrat was a tasty, neat spot, but like Clinton St, the restaurant is a serious time investment.  I don't know if I'd have the patience to do it again, but it's definitely worth trying at least once (but maybe try one with meat! Oh the possibilities!).

Kyochon

319 5th Ave

New York, 10016

(212) 725-9292

Socarrat

259 West 19th Street

New York, NY 10011

(212) 462-1000