LA BARRIQUE — Restaurant in San Jose

Gotta say, the decor of this place is a little random. There's huge "desk lamps" outside, there's "French-inspired" art inside, and a huge TV. Huge. The menu is kind French, kinda American steak house. It can't decide whether to be a fine dining restaurant or a sports bar.

That said, the food exceeded our expectations. Blew them out of the park!

We started with fries and the charred octopus. The fries were hot and crunchy and stayed crunchy throughout our meal. Once I cut into the octopus, I had a strong feeling it was going to be good. Octopus is one of those things that's easy to overcook, yet this was soft like butter and was savory, like pork belly. Truthfully, it was a little overseasoned, however, if you ate a piece of the octopus along with a bit of the jicama and other vegetables, it all works out. Fantastic.

The Mrs ordered the duck 2 ways (confit leg and seared breast) with root veggies. The confit leg was delicious and well prepared but she really enjoyed the breast. It was meaty but not greasy. Great texture and cooked a little pink in the middle. She was particularly impressed with the root veggies - all flavorful and soft yet retaining a firm texture.

The lamb shank... delicious! The texture was firm, yet the meat was easily separated from the bone. The connective tissue was all but cooked down but not at the expense of the meat. Like the octopus, thus is a cut of meat that can be tough if prepared incorrectly, but this was excellently prepared. Well done! The accompanying green beans and eggplant were also well cooked and flavorful, with the green beans retaining some firmness to contrast against the buttery soft eggplant.

The service was satisfactory, however if the restaurant wants to consider itself "fine dining" they're going to have to step it up a bit. Don't get me wrong, their waitstaff wasn't horrible. If anything they're a bit above the average Vietnam Town experience, but they've a bit to go before I can consider them fine dining.

The only thing stopping me from giving this place 5 stars is that it's trying to be everything to everyone. If they're trying to be a fine dining establishment, they can't have the huge TV playing sports. It's HUGE and distracts from the dining experience. Also, the place tends to echo. It's still covid-ish crowds (not too crowded) and I felt the restaurant was already too loud. They should maybe consider installing those sound dampening tiles on the high ceilings.

We'll definitely be back! If this initial meal is any indicator of the quality of the kitchen staff's skills, I'm looking forward to my next meal. The pork belly and steaks are calling my name, and I'll be sure to leave room...

Management scolding me for speaking my truth.

Thanks for for the smarty response. The food was not, it was not that hot, it was nice 72 degrees. The advertise 30% is not ridiculous, I don't know how Helen knows I love instant noodles, have been drinking Heineken beer since I was a four years old in Saigon, Vietnam. I don't know why I would celebrate my birthday for three days in a row. I can barely handle the first day.

It was my friend’s birthday and we wanted to check out a new Happy Hour @LaBarriqueSanJose that I seen advertised on Facebook. It was advertised as $7 with 30%. We started off with drinks, the Saigon tonic and Mango margarita. So we ordered all the bar food from the HH menu, Roast Beef Banh Mi sliders, Basil Wings, Two Lamb chops, Viet loaded fries, and the Pork Belley skewers. To be honest, everything was hella mediocre and bland. Nothing was tasty or flavorful at all. The "roasted" peanuts in the fries were hella burnt and black. The only thing was decent was the Lamb chops. With the amount of money we spent, I will not be returning here. I recommend you don’t eat here unless you want bland, mediocre food which is over priced. The restaurant was hella empty when we left at 7 PM. @LaBarriqueSanJose

My friend made the mistake of ordering the Roasted Bone Marrow with hella burnt bread and bitter toast. He was super disappointed and I felt bad for him. I tried to warn him not to order it. I got the Escargot Persillade, which was meh. The dish was boring, dull, and uninspiring. It was just the meat of the snail and some butter with spices. I don't why they took the snail meat out the shell. That's why it was ordinary and so-so. @LaBarriqueSanJose

False advertisement! If you look at this post, it clearly saids 30% off of $7 for appetizers and drinks. Once you get the bill, the server and owner tries to tell you it’s originally $10 and with the 30% it’s now $7. Horrible advertisement and the good old bait and switch. If the owner honored it,I would have been fine with it. But she was rude to my friend and me. She would not budge and said we had to pay the full bill with tip. Horrendous experience and I will not be returning here. I recommend you don’t come here either unless you want to be rip off like me. No wonder why the restaurant was hella empty, even at 7 pm when it's prime...

Brand new restaurant, French & Vietnamese fusion, in house bread, good drinks, brunch or diner, big screens, and sports. Does all that sound like an appealing combination? Ya…. I don’t know yet. I’ll start with a few things that made a good impression. Place is nice, clean,and spacious. Staff is super friendly and know their menu. Prices where fair and portions reasonable. They nailed the description on food and drinks, it tastes and looks as described. We started with bread and pate which I didn’t find anything special, but if it’s your first time you be the judge. As for the bacon…. Crunchy, sweet, salty, fatty, I just wished it would have been thicker. Next time I’ll probably get a few orders. Then we had the madame, and Vietnamese steak and eggs( I don’t remember the exact name) both tasted great and exactly as they should. Steak and eggs will probably take the award for now, madame was more like a deliciously deconstructed breakfast sandwich. Drinks for us where - all signature cocktails-lychee frozee,high times, and old Barrique( loved the touch of brown sugar on the old barrique). Frozee and high times where sweet and represent their ingredients very adequately, both felt very unique to the restaurant and did not disappoint. I like the art on the walls, and I love the huge screen with sports on. Although this is where I become a bit confused and can’t decide if that’s why I visited Labarrique- or will continue to visit- it’s definitely a combination of many things and I can’t decide whether I love it or hate it. Obviously at this point I’m more towards love it. I think I get the experience they’re trying to curate. Seems like they’re going for a casual hang out, and nothings says casual hangout more then sports on a big screen, while still providing captivating,above average plates of food and drink. I need to come back a couple more times and then update my rating. As for now you be...