Barrique Venice — Restaurant in Los Angeles

SENSATIONAL DINNER ! My wife and I were up in L.A on Wednesday staying at the Marina del Rey Marriott close to Venice Beach. After checking in around 3pm we sat in our hotel room looking online for a special place to have dinner later on. I swear we compared 50 restaurants within a few miles and only one restaurant really stood out....Barrique in Venice. My wife immediately booked a table online for 6.30pm. Being only vaguely familiar with the Venice area we took a Lyft ( just 2 miles ) to the restaurant and arrived around 6.15pm. The cute 2 story YELLOW HOUSE looked very welcoming and so was Emily the lovely hostess. We were offered a choice of the charming outdoor courtyard downstairs or the top floor dining room in the YELLOW HOUSE...we chose inside ! As soon as we entered we ran into Antonio...the co-owner & Michelin Star Executive Chef ( of 3 restaurants ) who welcomed us with open arms. As usual we beat the rush and there was no one else in the top floor dining room when we sat at our table ( we were offered seating anywhere incl the cute outdoor deck upstairs. Glasses of iced water plus an assortment of fresh Artisan Bread & Olive Oil appeared on our table courtesy of Luis the food runner & Jacob the busser. Miguel our very talented server for the evening brought all the appropriate menus for our perusal. I saw they had an incredulous selection of fine wine ( we don't drink wine ) but no beer on their drinks menu. I asked Miguel about what beer was available when he returned to take our dinner order and his reply was PERONI...better than nothing I thought so I grabbed one. A steady sprinkling of dinner patrons started to fill the dining room while we thought about our dinner order. In the end we ordered the Pan Seared Scallops Parmesan Fondue Shaved Black Truffle Appetizer to share and for entrees...my wife chose the Home-Made Black Ink Linguine Lobster Wild Mushrooms while I decided ( after consulting with our helpful server Miguel ) on the Tagliata di Manzo con Rucola Parmigiano e Balsamic Antico - Medium Rare Plus ( 12 oz Grilled Dry Aged Rib-Eye Arugula Shaved Parmesan Aged Balsamic Dressing ). Our Pan Seared Scallops Parmesan Fondue Shaved Black Truffle Appetizer ( just 2 scallops ) tasted exceptional. The dining room was filling up fast while I enjoyed my ice cold Peroni beer. And before we knew it our dinner orders arrived together and looked amazing. My wife thoroughly enjoyed her delicate Home-Made Black Ink Linguine Lobster Wild Mushrooms while my 12 oz Rib-Eye with a nice side salad tasted very good....a perfect medium rare plus ! DESSERT TIME...we both liked something different on the dessert menu so we ordered one of each....1 x Tronchetto ( Layered White and Dark Chocolate Mousse on a Hazelnut Cookie Crisp ) and 1 x Crema ( Vanilla Pot De Creme layers with Fito and Caramel ). Our delectable looking desserts arrived together and tasted outstanding....what a lovely sweet finale to an incredible evening. We had a nice chat with Antonio the chef / co-owner while we waited for our Lyft to take us back to our hotel. ONE OF OUR MOST TREASURED DINNER...

What a disappointment! After reading all of the reviews I was expecting something special, but all this place offered was a ho hum selection of standard Italian fare, mediocre presentation and a bickering wait staff that was unable to keep their backroom drama out of the dining room.

I lived in Italy for over fifteen years, so I have had my share of various Italian cuisines. The items on the menu here run the gamut of the standards that you'd find in any trattoria in Italy.

We went with mostly the specials of the evening, with the exception of the octopus, which is on the standard appetizer menu. I always get octopus when it's on the menu, because it is a tricky thing to get right, and if the octopus is done well it's likely everything else will be amazing.

Sadly, the octopus, while not chewy, lacked any texture. Served mundanely with cherry tomatoes and green beans, this dish did not impress.

The rest of the dinner was pretty much the same. We tried a pasta dish, a veal entree and the foie gras appetizer. You could see in each an attempt to be something special, but the execution was just not there. The presentation was old fashioned, with rosemary sprigs stuck into mashed potatoes and drizzles of things in vertical patterns across the plate.

Our waiter was taciturn and rude. We had brought our own bottle of wine, a delicious Australian red that had been given to us as a wedding gift. It is not a cheap wine by any means, and it being a special occasion,we decided to have it with the dinner. The waiter quibbled with my wife about whether this red deserved a decanter or not. As decanting a red is a matter of opinion and personal taste ,a good waiter should just do as the patron requests. Instead, our guy examined the label of the wine and hemmed and hawed before begrudgingly going off to fetch a decanter.

Later I would hear him cursing in Italian to other staff members about something happening behind the scenes. Clearly not a good night for the poor fellow, but still, as the face of the restaurant to the diners, a good waiter should be more personable.

All in all, I found the restaurant over priced...

Barrique…what can I say…EXCELLENT! let’s start with the establishment, love how cute & unassuming the restaurant is on the outside but when you walk in the atmosphere meets you with an air of romance and homeyness. The smells coming from the kitchen draw you in and the subtle dinner music is the perfect touch.

we were met first by Emily, who was a lovely manager and host. This was my first time visiting and she made sure she we had the best experience and the best table in the house. We sat outside on the patio with a nice quaint street view. With a jacket & the heater’s going we were fine for dining.

For an appetizer, we had the scallops with truffle. Perfectly cooked with the most perfect bite of truffle on top. For my main course I had the beet linguine w/ quail. I will tell you…I am not a huge fan of beets but Emily recommended it and assured me that the dish would NOT taste like beets and she was right. It was the perfect balance of earthiness from the beets mixed fresh pasta & house made brown sauce…and the quail was seasoned perfectly!

Alesandro also helped to make the experience fantastic. He is an extremely knowledgeable sommelier who offered the most perfect glasses of wine to accompany our dishes. AMAZING recommendations; some of the best wines I’ve ever tasted and the way it married with my food almost brought me to tears.

Lastly, the dessert. Miguel (I believe was his name) suggested we have the mousse. So delicate. So decadent. So perfect. A couple next to us saw us eating the dessert and immediately asked their waiter to bring them an order because of of yummy we made it look while eating it 😂

All in all I had the most amazing experience at Barrique. When I visit the Venice area again, I will be sure to make this restaurant a necessary stop. 10/10...