Barbalu Restaurant
“So I just settled on a general area — South Street Seaport — and figured we'd find a restaurant from there.”
“Before Hurricane Sandy, this place was actually called "Barbarini" and was already great, but had a different vibe.”
“We followed this with the spinach and ricotta ravioli dish and the trofie with spring beans and pesto.”
Barbalu Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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The South Street Seaport is where New York turns into a backlot. There are seldom any people as you walk north of the three ships, especially on a cold night in mid-January.
Yet behind the facades there are actually facades. Who eats here? Who even comes here?
My colleague and I have wound up here, walking from the overcrowded Dead Rabbit Pub. I see there are three trattorias within two blocks. This place has the highest ratings, so I snuck between two cars encased in snow to the dining.
It's quite large for New York. There's one other diner, slowly twirling his fork around the remainder of his bowl of spaghetti.
We each get a plate of pasta, chattering around the annoyances of the day and week that has just passed. It's enjoyable. He has two glasses of wine, I just have one. I have a bowl of cream pasta, spicy sausage and noodles. It's filling, unexceptional perhaps, but very much what is on the menu.
We want the night to continue, but this place too quiet, too odd to be the setting. We head closer to the subway, where there are people and more atmosphere. It feels more real there.
Great spot for Italian food near the South Street Seaport. The ambience here is so cute and homey – we were seated in the greenhouse space at the back. One thing to be noted is that it gets very warm. Thankfully, I was in the shade (though still sweating), however many people were in the direct sunlight… I can easily see this being unbearable on a hot summer day.
Service is a little slow but very friendly. They have a sizable menu and drinks list with several daily specials. I opted for one of those specials, the squid ink gnocchi with shrimp in tomato sauce. We also got the appetizer special of the day, mussels in spicy marinara. The mussels were very fragrant and flavorful, plus it was a huge portion which was easily shared amongst a table of 5.
The entrees came out shortly after, also with generous portion sizes. The texture of the gnocchi was perfect and I could tell that it had been freshly made. It paired really well with the grilled shrimp and tomato sauce.
Would definitely come back, though maybe for dinner instead of lunch.
Came here for Valentine's Day with my Valentine.
We had reservations, we were able to modify at the last minute.
The ambiance was low light and rustic modern.
We ate from the special Valentine's Day menu:
Pickled baby beets, pistacchio and frisee salad: it was good, but there were too many beets. We ate all the frisee and ate beets towards the end.
lobster ravioli with zucchini, shrimp & thyme. They made the ravioli heart shaped. That was a great idea. It was also very tasty.
filet mignon with peppercorn sauce: the steak was good. Well prepared. The peppercorn sauce was good too.
strawberry and lime semifreddo: I enjoyed it.
Sangria: pretty potent. Couldn't finish it.
Overall: I enjoyed the menu and the food. I'd recommend it and I'd go back.
I didn't stumble across this hidden gem of delicious Italian eats in the Financial District. My BFF noticed Barbalu on her way home from work one day; being my best friend she knows all too well to check Yelp before entering. I've taught her very well and she has come a long way in now finding places for us to have a date night after a long hard work week. For the first time, I didn't check Yelp before our meet up; I had full confidence in my BFF. She hit the goldmine with this modern spacious restaurant. Their ambience and modern design had me sold as I entered; now all they had to do was win me over with some fantastic food.
Before I get to the food I should point out that we came here because Yelp stated "$19.95 Prix-Fix 3 Course Dinner Mon-Thurs 4-7pm" Yeah, that wasn't the case when we looked over the menu. I was like "Where's the Prix-Fix menu?" I got a hold of our waiter to inquire, he didn't know anything about it and went to ask someone else. When he returned to our table he informed us it only in the winter time (Yelp offer should be reworded). Ok, no big deal; wasn't a deal breaker for me anyway. We took a look over the wine menu and picked out what we fancied.
Here's what we went with:
Spinach Fettuccine with Mushrooms $18.00 and the Roasted Chicken with Pancetta, Sage and Mashed Potatoes. The food was delicious and before leaving I had already decided that I would return to try something else on their menu. So if you're thinking of trying this spot out for yourself, go ahead and run on over and leap yourself through the door and indulge yourself in amazing food, ambience and service. This place is also great for a romantic date night. No loud music, relaxing environment, fantastic food, good wine selection and good service. I'm sure you'll get brownie points if you take a date here.
Loved this place. Very rustic yet modern decor that almost transports you into someone's home where you're about to have a meal. It's dimly lit with a romantic ambiance; it's fairly quiet and intimate. The bar had quite a few creative drinks on the menu. The old fashioned "with a twist" was bold, with hints of orange and vanilla. The service was superb; didn't have to wait long at all to be seated after arriving and the waiter was very friendly. There was a pre-fix menu that evening so the menu was not hard to navigate. I opted for the filet mignon as my entree which came with a decent portion of fingerling potatoes.
I didn't try the pasta here but I was told from other diners it's really good. It's made in house, fresh daily. Barbalu is owned and operated by a husband and wife that I did have the pleasure of meeting. Their friendly, engaging conversation is one of the reasons I'll come back for a second visit… Oh and to try the pasta of course.
Barbalu was adorable. The decor when you first enter draws you in and sets the stage for a cozy Italian meal. The menu is relatively small, with some salads, pastas and a few meat/fish entrees, and while they have a full bar, the drink menu is mainly wine and beer with a few speciality cocktails.
My choice for dinner and everyone at my table was pasta, and I went with the ravioli which was a spinach and ricotta stuffed pasta with butter sage and tomato, and it was done really well. The pastas are homemade and mine was very nicely al dente.
Our service was decent, the waiters and bartenders were very nice, and overall I would recommend coming here for a quiet date night or with a small group.
You wouldn't expect this unassuming little Italian place to be as good as it is, but it is. Considering the dearth of good restaurants in Fidi, this one is kind of a gem! It's easy to walk right past it since the storefront has the rustic look down so well, but once you head in you realize just how charming of a place it is.
Service is amiable and decor is pleasingly variegated (this review has suddenly turned into an English paper), and there's a very cozy, relaxed feeling about the place. I was in a bit of a hurry so I just had a prosciutto, goat cheese, and arugula sandwich with a fig spread – maybe not the most adventurous selection, but the ingredients were incredibly fresh and flavorful and I devoured the entire thing in less time than it took for my waiter to prep my table. Would definitely return, especially since I hear the pasta is awesome.
Favorite spot in the seaport area. A must go for a good and tasty Italian dinner. The pastas and the filet mignon are very tasty and have a special blend of flavors that your mouth will enjoy. They always have specials and different plates outside the menu which are very appetitive.