Every year when restaurant week rolls around, I use it as an excuse to visit the different restaurants that I had been dying to try around the city. This year was a special treat because I live in NYC now, there are soooo many different restaurants to choose from. One of the restaurants I decided to try during this foodie holiday was Barraca.
Barraca is a tapas restaurant by chef Jesus Nunez and is known for having some of the best Sangria in NYC. Of course we had to test this theory out by ordering a round or two of our own and I can report back that title is well deseved. They have 8 (yes 8) different types of sangria and of course we couldn’t just stop at one flavor. I had the the Barcelona, a white wine sangria with guava and thyme, and the Mancha, another white sangria with passion fruit, clementines and lime rum. Robbie had the Penedes, yet another white wine sangria with peaches and lavender, and the Valencia, a red wine sangria with grapefruit, vodka and ginger. They were literally some of the best and most creative sangria’s we have ever had and if we weren’t trying to save room for our meals, I’m sure we could have tried them all. Did I mention that they have a Sangria lunch special, where a glass is only $5?? How can you beat that?
The quirky and interest decor is also another reason this West Village restaurant is so revered and though we decided to sit outside we were still able to appreciate said decor from cute window displays right next to our table.
Like most restaurants during restaurant week, Barraca had a prix fixe menu. To start, Robbie and I decided to get the shared cheese and meat plate. Being the self proclaimed haute foodie that I am, I have tried a charcuterie board or two in my day and this one gets a big thumbs up. Want to know my favorite part of this charcuterie plate?? The Guava cheese! I know you’re probably like, “what the heck is guava cheese”? They call it Pasta de Guayaba in Spanish but in the West Indies (more specifically Barbados) we call that red block of sweet guava goodness guava cheese. Guava Cheese is basically pureed guava, gelatin and sugar. It’s a refreshing sweet treat and has been one of my favorites since childhood. The flavors of the guava cheese mixed with creamy and tangy Manchego cheese and salty Chorizo set my palate a blaze and hit every taste bud with delight.
For the main attraction, we decided to go with the shared paella of the day. I promise you my intention was not to share everything with Robbie that day, but our taste buds were just in sync and we kept picking all of the same food. Any how, this was Robbie’s first time trying Paella and I was hoping it would have been as good as my first experience with it in Barcelona . Unfortunately, my expectations were not met but it was a pretty strong attempt and if I had never tried such and amazing paella from it’s place of origin, I’m sure this would have been my favorite. It was filled with all of the amazing meats , seafood and spices you would expect in a paella but it was a bit dry as if it was cooked too long.
By the time we got to the dessert, both Robbie and I were engorged with paella and sangria and could hardly eat anything else but we had a prix fixe meal and didn’t want the burden of walking around with left overs. There were only two options for dessert, Chocolate con Pasion, a chocolate mousse with passion fruit compote and Carajillo, a type of flan. We order one of each but were told that there was no flan that day. As a replacement we ordered the cheese cake. Both the cheese cake and mousse were really good desserts but I preferred the latter for its rich chocolaty goodness and exotic fruit flavor.
In summation, Barraca is a great restaurant with solid Spanish food and tapas and exceptional Sangria.
Food: B+, if it wasn’t for the dry paella, I would have given it an A
Service: A , our waiter was great, very attentive
Decor: A, quirky and cute
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