Baris: The newest entrant in the Mediterranean cuisine

Baris opens its gates in Mazjid Moth, near GK2 and we are super excited. FINALLY a joint doing justice to authentic Mediterranean cuisine.

ABOUT THE INTERIORS OF THE PLACE

I personally feel interiors play a major role when dinning. If the ambiance is lovely, you definitely enjoy your food more and Baris has made sure everyone enjoys their food to the maximum! The Interior Designer has done a marvelous job in blending the Turkish architecture with the contemporary techniques. I personally found the roof top lovely, its quiet cozy and feels like dining under the stars.

The luminous candles, the calmness of beige colour and the majestic chandelier blend together with the walls and wonted middle-eastern musical beats to establish a placid atmosphere and make you self-possessed. Baris is a Turkish word for peace and the designer has done a spot on job to recreate a little “piece of peace“. Kudos to the team! With jazz blaring on the speakers, I began my tasting session at Baris.

We started with the palate cleanser which was a Turkish version of Beetroot “Kanji”.  I tried a lot of dishes but I am only going to talk about the ones that were my favorites.

 

MY TOP PICKS FROM THE BARIS MENU

1. Chilled Mezzes– I tried two mezzes Acili Ezme (i.e. Crushed tomatoes with Turkish smoked chillies, fresh herbs, olive oil and pomo glaze) and Labneh with Avocado (i.e. Mashed avocado with diced tomato, cilantro, red onion and pomegranate relish). I personally enjoy avocado a lot, so I quiet enjoyed the dip. It is very subtle in flavor and compliments the Turkish breads beautifully. The Acili has a stronger flavor and tomatoes with fresh herbs in the Delhi heat worked really well.

 

2. Hot Mezze– I quiet enjoyed the Cigar Borek (i.e. crispy cigar rolls with feta cheese, caramelized onions & parsley served with cacik sauce) and the Spinach Fatayer (i.e. Oven baked triangle pastry filled with spinach, feta cheese & pine nuts served with cacik sauce).

Borek is a family of baked filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough. What I absolutely loved about the dish was that the flavors were subtle and in each bite I was discovering something new. The gooeyness of caramelized onions with the crispness of the borek served with the cacik sauce was such a beautiful symphony of flavors.

Stuffed with spinach or cheese such as Feta, Fatayer is a Middle Eastern meat pie. The Baris version of Fatayer had both spinach and cheese which was such a lovely combination. The spinach was able to cut the heaviness of cheese beautifully and the pine nuts added the necessary crunch in the dish. Absolutely loved it!

 

3. Kebabs– Sebze Kebab i.e. ground veggies with potatoes, herbs & Turkish spices served with cacik sauce & pickles. What I absolutely loved about the dish was the combination of delicate kebabs with fried pieces of Turkish breads (the best way to describe the bread would be a breadcrumb).  Soft kebabs with the crunchy bread was a beautiful play of textures on my taste buds and I totally recommend Baris kebabs to all.

 

4. Kuzu inzik i.e. Lamb Shank- If looks could kill, this dish would have definitely left some victims during the tasting (:p). PRESENTATION- spot on! QUANTITY- spot on! TASTE- spot on! Do not miss out this dish- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

 

5. In the desserts, I would recommend the Baklawa. It’s a Mediterranean specialty and the meal would be incomplete without it. The one dessert which really stole my heart was Pumpkin Catalana. The pumpkin puree was caramel braised and with a blow torch was given a burnt sugar crust. Absolutely loved the softness of pumpkin with the crunchy sugar crust. Do give this one a try!