Barbao

Doc Nut and I met up for our monthly dinner date. This time, it was my turn to choose. So I opted for Barbao because I wanted some Asian food but with a modern twist.

We arrive to a nearly empty restaurant with just one other table filled. No one at the bar and hardly anyone at the tables. Hmm, weird even for a Thursday night. We sat and ordered anyway.

We started with some nem nuong ($10) which are pork meatballs in a lettuce wrap. The sauce tasted like vinegar and fish sauce. This was just okay. The price was hefty for the size of this dish.

Here is a closer look at the pork meatballs. Not your normal Italian meatball at all. The texture was springy and the taste was similar to Vietnamese flavors but not overly so.

Next up, sizzling cuttlefish ($11) which was too chewy. I wouldn't order this again.

To balance out the meal, we ordered a green papaya salad ($8) which was just okay. It certainly was refreshing but I've had better.

The shrimp summer rolls were very disappointing ($7). They weren't wrapped very well and was void of any good flavors. Definitely avoid.

The pan fried radish cake ($11) was the only dish that we actually kind of enjoyed mainly because the little cubes of radish cake reminded us of the daikon cake we get at dim sum. The flavors were savory and rich. The runny egg was overcooked and didn't coat the rest of the ingredients well. And the duck confit was very skimpy.

The braised pork belly ($12) was a complete disappointment. The meat wasn't braised for very long so it wasn't soft enough. It still had a chewy texture and the flavor was a miss. My excitement for the egg underneath was quickly snuffed due to its overdoness.

The Chilean sea bass ($18) was just okay. The fish was definitely overcooked and the flavors of the broth was too strong. It didn't go well with this type of fish.

And lastly, the shaking beef filet mignon ($17) was the most disappointing. The meat was severely overcooked making this lean piece of beef pretty much inedible. I was chewing it for a really long time. The beans next to it were also very overcooked. We were both unhappy with this dish.

We finished the meal with lots of leftovers. We obviously over ordered. However, neither one of us really wanted to take the leftovers home. We were that dissatisfied with the food. Doc Nut finally agreed to take it but begrudgingly.

Barbao's service was nice and attentive. But we were also the only people in the restaurant when we were eating. The other people had left. However, the food was so dissapointing and poorly executed that I would not go back here.

BarBao
115 St Marks
New York, NY 10009
(212) 228-2500