Barbounia has been around for years, but, each time I was planning to go, I changed plans. Not sure why, because this place, that serves Mediterranean cuisine proposes some fantastic food. It was so good that, after going for brunch, we decided to go back for dinner. Here is what we had:

Let’s start with the brunch. To start we got their fire-roasted eggplant that was sitting on green tahini, and topped with marinated Japanese eggplant and zchug, a cilantro sauce that is a common Middle-Eastern condiment. It came with their flatbread that was phenomenal, so good, that I could not stop eating it, keeping a bit for the main I ordered that was shashouka merguez. Every family has its own version of shashouka, some with just tomatoes like at Barbounia, my family with tomatoes and peppers, and sometimes, it can also be spicy (it was the case there). I appreciated the fact that there were 3 baked eggs on it, but wish they put one more homemade lamb sausage (merguez). Still, this was a delicious dish. Jodi on her side got their Greek salad and added some falafel that were very good, not dry and deliciously crispy. I should mention that it was a bit pricey as the salad was $22 and the falafel added $10, so, $32 for a salad is a bit much…

We finished our meal with some coffee, tea and a dessert called a Lebanese Osmalieh that was made with semolina custard, covered with a crispy kataifi, orange blossom syrup and served pistachio ice cream. Simply superb.

So, after such lunch, we decided to go back for dinner. I started off with a cocktail, the Portokali that was made with scotch, orange marmalade, lemon and rose water. quite refreshing on a sunny evening. We then shared the Crispy Moroccan spinach cigar. I admit that I was not sure what we would get as I am not always a fan of spinach in a dish, but this was delicious, very tasty with hints of mint in it.

For her entree, Jodi chose their Wild mushroom flatbread that was made with lots of cheese, namely Taleggio and fresh Mozzarella, as well as basil, and a perfect amount of black truffle-labneh sauce. On my side, it was hard to pick as they had so many mouth watering dishes. I finally decided to try their Lamb Kofta Kebab "Terracotta" that was ground lamb full of flavor as blended with spices, cooked in a flatbread dome with tomato confit, charred red onions, tahini and pine nuts. The presentation was outstanding and the first bite divine! I could simply not stop eating it, using the charred flatbread as a vehicle to grab both the meat and the sauce. This is a must have.

Of course we could not leave without dessert! We chose the warm ricotta beignets that were sublime, soft, airy and crispy on the outside, served with berries and milk chocolate sauce. I admit that I did not care much about the sauces as these beignets stood on their own.

Warm ricotta beignets at Barbounia in NYC, NY

Overall, our meals at Barbounia were amazing and I just cannot wait to go back there! If you love Mediterranean cuisine, this is definitely a place to try.

Enjoy (I really did)!

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Barbounia - 250 Park Ave S, New York, NY 10003

I Just Want To Eat!