The brilliance of simplicity at Barra
Ask anyone for their Berlin restaurant recommendations and Barra is sure to be one of them. Loved by locals and visitors alike, it’s no wonder that bookings can be hard to secure. When it came to making my reservation a couple of weeks in advance, I was in luck to see one last Friday evening slot left.
Approaching the restaurant that Friday evening, there was no sign declaring its name outside in an if you know you know kind of way. The giveaway, though, was a glimpse through the window at the tables of fashionable folk sipping their low intervention wines over small plates.
Once inside and shown to our table – with a view of the part-open kitchen – we took a few moments to browse the dinner menu. Built around simple dishes done well, Barra puts a focus on comforting flavours and combinations. The menu changes regularly to suit the seasons, but there are staples you’ll always find, like oysters to start, a fresh salad, pasta, a fish course and its meat counterpart.
Our waitress soon came over to give us our drinks, as well as a more detailed run down of the menu. Asking for her suggestions, I was pleased that we were mostly aligned. I was even more pleased that she brought our attention to the celery salad – which wasn’t one of our original choices – as it turned out to be my favourite dish. So, onto the food…
With the inevitable pang of 9pm peckishness (is that a word?) after exploring the city all day, there was only one way to start the meal – with some freshly-baked focaccia and olive oil. Springy doesn’t do the bread justice. I could’ve devoured an entire loaf. Suitably carbed and very content, next up came some grilled sweetcorn with hazelnut butter and marjoram that was so succulent, I’m still drooling over it weeks later.
Time, now, to reintroduce the wondrous salad, which was made up of chopped celery, apple, hazelnut and Colten Basset blue cheese. Crunchy but delicate. Sweet but tart. Rich but refreshing. I’ve never known a dish full of so many contradictions to work so collaboratively. Next came an amberjack ceviche layered with sliced red pepper and shiso leaves. A sophisticated dish that brought delicately balanced heat to the table.
Onto a real indulgence, in the form of ricotta gnudi with brown butter and sage. Our waitress had raved about this dish, describing it as almost dessert-like in taste. Rich and sweet from being doused in a buttery sauce, she couldn’t have been more right. The final dish was monkfish with squid and cucumber which brought a blend of fresh, floral and citrus notes. I wasn’t as blown away by this as some of the earlier dishes, but the flavours were interesting and worked smoothly together.
In a restaurant as good as Barra had proven itself to be, dessert couldn’t be passed up. It presented a hard decision nonetheless, with both options sounding as tempting as one another. After some serious toing and froing, I was swayed towards the Sicilian mango with yoghurt ice cream and rice pudding, topped with a drizzle of vanilla oil. Refreshing with the comforting embrace of the rice pudding, it was a wonderful way to wrap things up.
