Barça Restaurant & Tapas Bar: User Reviews

If you haven't been, you should definitely head over to Barca in the Design Center in Hartford. Great food, atmosphere & drink. The huge windows and loft like space are just what you need as the colder months approach - the light streams in everywhere. To meet the chef and another look at Barca, check out:
http://www.ctcottageindustries.com/2008/07/restaurant-design.html

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I was brought to Barca by a friend who has visited it herself a few times, and who was convinced I'd love it if I'd only bring myself to drop the safe staples of the Elbow Room, and the myriad Max's restaurants (Oyster Bar, Trumbull Kitchen, etc.) that I find myself constantly going to. I owe her a bouquet of something floral: Barca is everything she said it was.

Located on the ground level of the Design Center, the restaurant borrows from the minimalist structure surrounding it. Unfinished concrete and metalworks, mosaics and old warehouse skids reformatted as bar tables, simple but fun tableware, and a staff that brilliantly walks that fine line between "Professional" and honestly friendly. The folks at Barca seem actually happy to see not just the devoted who have been around since opening night but any newcomer who happens to wise up and visit.

The food is impressive. Artfully conceived and knowingly rendered, the tapas are so good I actually had to order repeats of two of them (we shared a 4 tapa combination including a Moroccan chicken lollipop, a Spanish variation on shrimp scampi, quail, and salmon that had a light tempura batter that evoked a deep-fried sushi kind of effect). The salmon and Moroccan chicken were amazing. I'm not knocking the other two tapas, but I could eat the Moroccan chicken lollipop every day. We decided to order more of those as well as the pork dumplings with clams. Having a meal of just tapas might seem a bit silly, but if the appetizers are any hint of what the entrees will be, I'll never be in danger of a bored palate here.

Bravo! I will most certainly be back very soon.

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