Ingenious and Acidic Flavour Combinations at Barbara

Beef tartare with cassis, pickled radish and crispy shallots

A foodie friend managed to snag a table at Michelin-starred Barbara in Chinatown and I did not want to pass up the opportunity as it's so hard to get a reservation here.

It's conveniently one block up from Kissa Tanto on East Pender and Gore in a new building. The space in Barbara is tight, but it's meant to keep the atmosphere intimate and allow guests to have interactions with the chef if you sit at the bar. He not only prepares the food in front of you, but also asks if you need another drink, and can pass you the check.

Steelhead roe with cucumber and crumble

Chef/owner Patrick Hennessy is in his element here, quickly preparing two different dishes, a starter here, a main there, while a sous chef at the back also helps out with other dishes, and even working the credit card machine for guests paying their checks.

The dinner is sort of a set menu, with three choices for two starters and main, while there is only one dessert, a granita of some kind; ours was a lovely lime. And if there are two of you and sharing, then you could ostensibly try two-thirds of the menu.

We started with the beef tartare that was seasoned with cassis -- something I had not encountered before. When I asked chef about this, he seemed taken aback by the question and just replied that he has a memory of flavours and thought it would be a good match. 

Paired with deep-fried chips, we liked this tartare though it was not heavily seasoned save for the fried shallots on top. 

Sweetbreads with turnip cake (middle)

I thoroughly enjoyed the smoked steelhead roe on a generous dollop of creme fraiche, next to some diced cucumbers topped with bagel crumble. We were instructed to eat the roe on its own to savour its delicate flavour before mixing the entire dish together. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but it was very refreshing and light. The smokiness of the roe was completely lost, but we liked the dish anyway.

A snack of thinly sliced fried eggplant lengthwise served with honey came next. This was another unexpected combination which was fun, but not for the oily fingers after -- a wet towel would have been appreciated. The diner next to me even cleaned his bowl of honey with his finger...

Onward with the second course of scallops with fried thinly sliced cauliflower with hazelnuts and lemon brown butter. The medium-sized scallops were not particularly impressive in sweetness or flavour, just a touch overcooked, but this is a minor quibble. 

However the sweetbreads were delicious, delicately fried and tender. They were accompanied with a turnip cake -- not the Chinese radish cake, but thinly shaved turnip that was then fried and served in a rectangle. I wasn't quite sure what to think of this turnip cake, a bit too oily and bland to stand up to the sweetbreads.

Arctic char with dill and mint on hummus

For the mains, we loved the artic char, perfectly cooked (ie slightly raw in the middle) with a heaping mound of dill and mint, on a bed of hummus and lemon brown butter again. We could have eaten two servings of that Omega-3 easily. 

But the other main of pork cheek was a disappointment. While the pork cheek was roasted and sliced for easy consumption, the accompanying fermented cabbage was extremely acidic. We wondered if it had not been fermented long enough for the acidity to calm down a few notches, or the wrong batch was served. It marred an otherwise interesting dish, where the fermented cabbage was meant to cut the richness of the pork cheek.

We finished with a small glass of lime granita that hit the spot, a good save to an otherwise wonky dinner.

Would I go back again? Not for a while. Hennessy was telling the couple next to us that he was going to Japan in the summer. We expect he'll get a lot of culinary inspiration from there and maybe that warrants another trip to Barbara in the fall?

Pork cheek with very acidic fermented cabbage

Barbara

305 East Pender Street

Vancouver

(no phone number)