Restaurant Review: Baru Latino
Last night my wife and I went out to Baru Latino (warning, audio) as part of Dine Out Vancouver. Inspired by Jen’s recent review of Watermark, I figured I’d share my thoughts on the experience.
Our reservation was at 7:00, and the restaurant still had a few seats open when we got there. I’ve passed by this restaurant literally hundreds of times but hadn’t realized how small it was – it really only consists of one room, with an open kitchen near the bar. That said, they manage to squeeze in a lot of seating (room for 50, by my wife’s count, plus a dozen or so seats at the bar) by using narrow tables. The tables were rather close together, but the music, a mix of Latin beats, was at just the right volume to allow easy conversation between those sharing a table while preventing others nearby from overhearing.
You know that feeling you get when you walk into a restaurant, look at the menu, and want to eat one of everything? It can sometimes be quite difficult to narrow down the options. Luckily for me, my choice at Baru Latino was effectively made for me. The Dine Out menu had 3 choices each for appetizers and mains, but most of the courses contained seafood (which I don’t eat). I could have ordered off the regular menu, but the remaining dishes on the Dine Out menu looked so tasty (and cheap!) that I decided to stick with it.
For my appetizer, I went with the Latin Empanadas, described as “Two corn flour turnovers one filled with cheese and the other beef served with our special smokey salsa.” I’ve made empanadas before, so I was interested seeing how they would taste when made by someone who know what they were doing. They turned out to be really good – the cheese was was just stringy enough to be fun without being annoying, and the beef well-spiced without being overwhelming. Both were surrounded by a tasty pastry shell and were even better when combined with the smokey salsa. A long, thin crisped tortilla chip helped me scoop up any leftover beef, cheese, and salsa.
Although I’m usually not much of a beef eater, I chose the Costillas de Res (“Slow braised boneless beef short ribs over cilantro rice finished with Guava mojo“) as my main. The presentation was beautiful – two large portions of beef, arranged over a small tower of cilantro rice, covered in spicy red mojo, and topped with fried julienned yams. The yams were delicious, especially when dipped in mojo, and I always love cilantro rice, but I was blown away by the beef. Easily shreddable with just a fork, it was moist and tender without being mushy. It was almost reminiscent of pulled pork. The refreshing cilantro in the rice served to offset the richness of the beef and sauce, and in the end I was left with an empty plate, a full belly, and a smile.
For dessert, the only option offered was an Orange Blossom Latin Flan. The flan itself had a very nice texture and paired well with the blackberry coulis it was served with. It wasn’t a heavily flavoured dish, but this was actually a good thing after the Latin overload of the rest of the meal. Dessert was also served with a tasty late-harvest white (not sure of the grape), which was a great way to cap off the evening. My wife and I both had a flight of wines that paired with the meal, but it was only the last wine that really captured my attention. Someone with more oenophilic tendencies than myself would be better equipped to critique the wine selection, but everything was quite drinkable.
I would recommend Baru Latino to my friends, and to anyone who enjoys Carribean / South American food. Fortunately for me, I live close by, so I think I’ll be heading back sometime in the next few months to sample the regular menu.
