This travel blog wasn’t made to exclusively chat about far-away lands; you don’t need to scour every corner of the earth to find a gem of a place when you can often find the best right in your backyard. I currently reside in metro Detroit and have been finding so much pleasure this summer visiting new eateries – I’m a huge foodie so today’s post is all about (you guessed it) a restaurant right here in Detroit that will make your mouth water.
BARDA Detroit is the first and only authentic Argentinian Restaurant in Detroit. Their open-fire cooking technique is the soul of the restaurant’s dining experience and a spectacle, as their kitchen has an open concept for all to watch. As a hedonist at heart, I personally can’t resist the restaurant’s ambiance – the open floor plan allows you to gaze at all the meals that are being enveloped in flames in the kitchen, you’re wrapped in the restaurant’s low red lighting, and the bar is uniquely positioned as the centerpiece of the restaurant with a descending ramp for bartenders. This leaves you almost face-to-face with your bartender as you’re seated, and you’re eye-level with their fantastic pours. As soon as you walk in, your senses are engaged (and we haven’t even started talking about the food)!
I’m Latin-American, but I didn’t know what to expect from Detroit’s first-ever Argentian eatery because I had never been exposed to it. In true foodie fashion, I over-indulged and ordered a bit of everything. For the appetizer I ordered their beets shaped beautifully into a rose (this is a surprising, must-try menu item), the roasted fennel, and the ceviche with tiger’s milk. Every single one of these dishes had its own flavor profile, and the ingredients were refreshing, bursting with flavor. Simple ingredients, yet bold, memorable dishes. You better believe I ate half of each of those three dishes (only because I was sharing with my boyfriend… he’s lucky I didn’t scrupulously make sure to add an extra scoop of each to my plate, but I digress).
Next up was the entree portion of our meal. We ordered the chicken in mustard sauce, bife with chimichurri butter, and brown-buttered trout. Now, I know what you’re saying – “This lady’s crazy.” In the words of every woman in my family, “You wanna see crazy?” because that wasn’t all; we also ordered the tira de asado (short rib with coriander crust) and I’m telling you, the only ‘words’ my boyfriend and I muttered back and forth to each other was “mmm” while making stuffed-cheek facial expressions that only a mother could love. I could tell they made a thoughtful wine list for the dishes on the menu, and we wanted to enjoy the full experience, so we had our bartender make some wine-pairing recommendations. Skin-contact wine has been rising in popularity for the past several years, and BARDA has tasty options for this category. Alternatively, we also really enjoyed their “El Enemigo” Cabernet Franc – I (clearly) couldn’t get enough.
Oh, you thought that was all? You must be new around here. For dessert, we had to try the burnt alaska with meringue, lit aflame right in front of you, and the broken pavlova served with citrus mousse, strawberry, and salmon roe. I’m a self-certified experienced eater, but I really have to hand it to the chefs at BARDA because, for the amount of food that we ordered and the various dishes we ate, there was not one thing that we didn’t like, let alone didn’t care for on the menu. Between the ambiance, attentive service, and the mere memory of the ingredients in their dishes making me salivate as I write this, BARDA is the sexiest restaurant in Detroit right now, hands down.
If you read this to the end and want to get a glimpse of our dining experience, check out this cheeky video I made right here.
