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Barroco: Celebrating "Local" for Four Years

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

in restaurant, market, spanish, old montreal, trendy, <$60

Barroco outside

the pitch

Tonight we revisited Barroco for its fourth year anniversary celebration. For the occasion, there were to be only two dinner services (6PM & 9PM), something we're not very fond of, but are getting accustomed to as more and more restaurants seem to be doing nowadays. The dagger, however, is when they actually make you wait for your table upon arrival for the latter service (2nd time this happens to us here). Our party did get a round of cocktails on the house, so that lightened up the mood a bit...

tagged: the wait

the mood

Barroco boasts one of our favorite interiors in the city. Its Baroque furnishings, "hunter's lodge" accessories and paintings of Spanish aristocrats make for a very unique and contradictory setting; rustic yet trendy.

tagged: see & be seen

the food

Barroco 4th anniversary menu

For tonight's occasion, chef Benjamin Léonard created a special "Farmer's Market" menu; all the ingredients were sourced from a select group of local farmers. The four-course menu, priced at $75, showcased Quebec duck, lamb and cheese. We liked how the menu was presented; it was rolled and tied with a thin cord, almost like a pirate's treasure map.

amuse-bouche

Huître et foie gras

rating: miss

starter

Foie gras poêlé

rating: hit

"Purée de topinambour, sauté de girolles, pied de moutons et chanterelles en tube, gastrique de citron vert"

main

Duo d'agneau

rating: hit

"Gigot d'agneau cuisiné comme un navarin et légumes d'automne. Côtelette rôtie, chimichurri, purée de racine de cerfeuil, pomme de terre confites"

digestif

Fromages

rating: so-so

"Le pont blanc, le gré des champs, le d'Îberville, le manoir, servi avec nos accompagnement maison"

tagged: tasting menu

the verdict

While the food tonight did have its misses, they were more than outweighed by its hits. The special menu's theme, creativity and execution definitely turn Barroco into a "chef-run" restaurant in our books, not just another trendy spot trying to bank in on Old Montreal's tourists and yuppie crowd.

tagged: solid 4

price per person: $57.50