“This place has been on my list since June,” said my cousin Sunil when planning a quick pre New Year’s eve meetup. With him being one of the most passionate foodies we know, and having wanted to see him and Dips before the end of the year, Summer and I were onboard in a jiffy. We looked up “Baar Baar LA” online and were particularly excited about the bar menu which showed cocktails named after popular Indian movies. The website mentioned that it’s “A brilliant, evolved play on Indian cuisine and culture, tailored to the taste & sensibilities of Los Angeles.” We were naturally intrigued.
The drive from Studio City to downtown (usually 15 mins) took around 40 minutes on account of Friday night traffic. While Baar Baar had its own valet for $15, it was difficult to pull in with a couple of cars waiting, so we decided to park in the public parking down the alley next to the restaurant. We then walked in through the huge front door where the doorman greeted us with a smile.
The place had a cute lobby with the bar to the left of the reception. I was instantly impressed by the elegant decor and lighting design of the place. I had not expected it to be this huge. A lady escorted Summer and me to a table once I mentioned to her that the reservation was under “Sunil”. We were surprised to find a lady already seated at a table that was clearly reserved for a big group. We sat down anyway thinking that may be Sunil has invited some others to this feast. After a few moments of awkward silence, the lady at the table asked us, “Are you here for Sumi?”. That’s when I realized that the receptionist probably heard the name wrong. So we went back to the lobby, laughing about the mixup and explaining it to the receptionist. This is when I met Mr. Kushal, the man behind the restaurant. It’s also when Sunil and Dips walked in and we started chatting with Mr. Kushal as we waited for our actual table. I was also happy to learn that Mr. Kushal happened to be a fellow Mumbaikar who grew up in the Matunga region of Mumbai and has been in LA for 25-odd years. We spoke about our favourite eateries in Matunga and his frequent annual visits to India. He credited his wife for the excellent location of the restaurant and I got a moment to congratulate her before we were escorted to our spacious table.
We started with the cocktails which were all named after popular movies and had an interesting mix of ingredients. Dips noticed that we could buy the fancy cocktail book for $15. This made sense as the cocktail menu book had movie pictures and fun facts about the movies the cocktails were named after. Drinks arrived soon and Sunil’s ‘Lagaan’ got a special fancy bubble on top while being served. We had a hearty catch-up while sipping our drinks as we were meeting up after a while. It looked like the restaurant was fully booked as we did not see an empty seat anywhere. The chatter sounded mostly happy and I saw smiles all around whenever I looked.
The food order had to all be placed in together (appetizers and main course) so we spent some discussing what we would like. After some deliberation, we chose the ‘Green Pea Kulcha’, ‘Dahi puri’, and ‘Chicken Malai Tikka’ as small plates. With some help from one of the waitresses, we understood the right portion and sized our order accordingly. We ordered the ‘Grain & vegetable biryani’, ‘Whole seabass’, and ‘Paneer pinwheel’ for large plates.
A chef brought out every dish explaining its ingredients and preparation. Personally, I enjoyed the seabass and kulcha the most. My drink, ‘Munnabhai MBBS’, turned out to be pretty neat! The ‘dahi puri’ didn’t hit the spot for me – perhaps my expectations were different having grown up on Mumbai chat 😉 I was happy that none of the dishes were too spicy for Summer, whose spice tolerance is growing with every passing day.
All in all – it was a fun evening at a cool new restaurant in the heart of downtown LA. Baar Baar’s ambiance was noteworthy and it was great chatting with the couple behind the elegant setup. While it’s not easy on the pocket (4-people meal and drinks cost around $300 with a 4% service charge included and suggested tips start at 20%), it does make for a different experience. The food was good enough for us to plan another visit. Mostly, it felt great to be with loved ones for one last social dinner before the end of the year.