La Baraka Restaurant
“The restaurant is very quaint and homey, Lucette and Jean-Luc really make you feel like family.”
“For appetizers I had the soup sampler -potato leek, minestrone & French onion, the latter being my favorite.”
“What we found upon entering was one of the most charming decors I've seen in a long time.”
La Baraka Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
4 reviews
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La Baraka is the definition of charming. It doesn't look like much from the outside. But, don't judge a book by it's cover. The service and food both surpassed my expectations.
My brother and I took my mother here for Mother's Day. I let my brother choose the place. When we arrived, and I noticed their shabby, somewhat rundown looking storefront, I kicked myself for not visiting the place earlier to give it my own stamp of approval. But upon entering, I was pleasantly surprised. I don't use this term much, but it applies perfectly in this scenario: The restaurant itself is absolutely 'darling'. More quaint than fancy and more traditional than modern, La Baraka makes you feel as though you've been transported back in time, and into some fabulous sort of old French film.
It being Mother's Day, only a pre-fixe menu was available. Normally, I'd abhor not being offered an a la carte menu, but in this case it was just fine. The salads they started us with were bright and crisp. The bread, warm and doughy just as it should be. My mom and I both ordered the mussels and were surprised to see that they prepared them in the same manner that they prepared the escargot we ordered — broiled, and covered in butter, garlic and parsley. As expected, both dishes were divine. My brother ordered the goose liver mousse, and it arrived in an extremely large portion considering how rich it was. Each bite felt like I was chewing on a stick of butter mixed with liver. Tasty, but NOT for the faint of heart.
For entrees, my brother and my Mom both ordered the lamb chops. I ordered the sole and shrimp cooked in puff pastry. All of our dishes were served with wild rice and a very interesting roasted red pepper and tomato mousse. And, all of our dishes were to die for. Classic French preparation without an ounce of pretension, and executed perfectly. Visually, everything was beautiful. And it all tasted as good as it looked.
I won't go into the desserts save to say that we each ordered something different, and we enjoyed them all. I'd like to note that it seemed as though we were the only table of first time diners. It seems that the owners have developed a very loyal following of customers who've been returning to them for years. And, I'm not surprised. They're very hands on people who have their hands in everything. If they weren't coming to the table and inquiring about how each course was (they came and asked us at least three times), then they were chit chatting with their regulars, kidding around with their staff or assisting their chef in the kitchen. It's hard to find owners like that nowadays.
I'd highly recommend La Baraka if you're looking for something new, because it truly is a very unique experience.
I read great reviews and was suprised that I lived blocks away and never tried it. The outside is pretty crummy, but the inside has a bit of a old school feel and I enjoy the Parisian poster. I don't see how they get away with charge $14 for a croque monseir during lunch hours, so we went with the buffet.
The potato and leek soup was probably the best part of meal. The penne was dried because it had been sitting out too long. The chicken was either dry for the same reason or mushy because it had been sitting in it's sauce for a while. The mussels were shrunken and dried up. Even if it's a seafood option for a buffet, it doesn't make up for most of the shells missing the mussel and the mussels being tasteless. The veal stew was actually pretty decent because that sits well as buffet food.
The only other redeeming part of the meal was the goat cheese and some other cheese on the cheese plate, but that's not really the restaurant's cooking. You get a tea or coffee at the end of the meal.
In the end, they're charging $14 for a lunch buffet. There are so many great lunch special options in the area. This unfortunately was pricey and really bad.
So possibly I have to return to each off the of a la carte, but the buffet is something to stay away from.
I have been driving past this place forever. This place is old school all the way. From the paintings on the wall to the coral napkins that adorn the tables, it beings you back about 20 years.
The Twilight & Chef Selection Menus are both an excellent value. The food is classic and well made.
Appetizers: The pate is made in house and a nice balance of creamy and richness. Served along with some toasted bread and gherkins. The potato leek soup was silky and divine.
Entrees: Boeuf Bourguignon was fork tender, very flavorful and decadent. The Duck ala Orange plated a half duck and had a wonderful duck flavor without being overly gamy. The orange sauce gave the perfect balance of sweetness against the richness of the duck.
Dessert was equally delicious, the fruit tart was perfect with a lovely almond filling.
The owners were so friendly that I almost felt like I was dining in someone's home. Mrs. owner was so sweet and nice to chat with.
A lovely place that brings you back in time with it's food and ambiance that is definitely worth the experience.
The owners of this restaurant are the best. The restaurant is very quaint and homey, Lucette and Jean-Luc really make you feel like family.
My husband's family are Tunisian, and both Lucette and Jean-Luc answered all of his questions regarding French/North African food. They were so patient and pleasant while doing so too.They genuinely seemed excited to teach us more about their food and culture.
Onto the food, for appetizers we had the soup trio: lentil, carrot, and french onion. The portions of each are a little bit smaller than a cup size. The carrot does not have any dairy, it was really good, but my favorite was the lentil soup. It had a fantastic mix of spices. We also had the merguez (sausage), which is served over some ratatouille. Wow, I would come back JUST to eat a couple of servings of this! It had more spice then I am used to, but I still could not stop eating it.
For our main dishes, I had the broiled salmon with dill sauce, vegetables and rice. The salmon lacked a little seasoning, but it was cooked perfectly, and a little salt remedied the seasoning issue.
My husband had the lamb chops and he said the chops and the sauce they came in were amazing.It was served with these tiny round potato bites and those I sampled, they were great.
We were too stuffed to have dessert, and were late for a comedy show, so we could not linger longer and enjoy the owners company. But we will DEFINITELY be back.