New Orleans Eats: Baru

On Saturday, while looking for a place Uptown, we were starving, and decided that as soon as we found a parking spot on Magazine, we would stop and find lunch.  Baru's menu looked tasty and we could people watch outside, so we decided to take a seat.  We decided that the best plan would be to pick a primary for each of us and one to split.

Starting with empanadas:

These golden fried with a thick cornmeal crust.  The beef mixture inside was spicy/smoky, with lots of cumin, and when you dipped them in the oil infused with garlic and herbs, it was delicious.  This was Patrick's favorite dish.

Patrick ordered the Chicharrones al Mojo de Ajo:

Fried pork belly with a garlic, cilantro and shallot mojo.  Maybe we're spoiled, but this was disappointing.  I was expecting pork belly with a nice crunch on the outside, but still juicy inside.  This was dried out and stringy, with very little flavor.  The mojo was the best part of this dish.

I decided to try the Chuzos con Chimichuri:

Front to back: Beef, Shrimp, Chorizo

First was a skewer with beef and red onion, probably my favorite.  It was grilled well, and heavily seasoned and was delicious with the chimichurri.  Also, the polenta was a nice touch, although nothing special flavor-wise.

The shrimp was large and had a nice cherry tomato in its center.  It was nice and briny with a thick peppery crust.  The acidity from the lemon really helped to set these flavors off.

Finally, the Chorizo.  Spicy with a heavy hand of garlic.  Definitely a nice complement to the shrimp and beef. 

Overall, it was ok.  Not great, not terrible just somewhere right in the middle for us.  With all the options available in New Orleans, I don't know that I would return, but I wouldn't rule it out.