| rev:text
| - I am so excited that I finally had the opportunity to try Bar Cento. It was pretty much everything I hoped it would be.
The ambiance in the entry area of Bar Cento/Bier Markt is really nice. It's romantic and trendy without being obnoxious. If you're luck enough to get a table in this area, it's quiet and intimate. If you're seating inside of Bar Cento itself, it's still cute but noisier and more hectic. It doesn't take away from the dining experience at all, but if you want to have a quiet dinner, request a table in the front.
Our waiter was quite attentive, even though he was obviously quite busy. It took us a while to decide what we wanted, but he was patient and helpful.
For drinks, I ordered the Moscato, which made me want to give Bar Cento 5 stars at first sip. Best wine I have ever had, period. I love sweet, fruity whites, but ti's sometimes hard to find one that's real and not just crap loaded with sugar. I was quite impressed. My boyfriend sampled a couple of the beers and loved one but didn't like the other. Both the beer and wine selections are pretty extensive, so you should be able to find something you like.
The food. Oh, the food.
I began with the house salad which was oh-so-simple and oh-so-delicious. Fresh mixed greens plus Parmesan cheese plus house vinegar apparently equal magic. Great start to the meal. My boyfriend started with the Belgian Frites with dipping sauces. The fries are seasoned with rosemary, which I love on potatoes, and served with 4 dipping sauces (we had ketchup, garlic, chili, and curry). My boyfriend loved the sauces but they didn't overly impress me- I preferred the fries solo. After a while though, the rosemary became a bit overwhelming.
For main courses, my boyfriend ordered the Squid Ink Spaghetti and I had the Potato Pizza. I give the spaghetti 5 stars, hands down. Perfect portion size and even more perfect taste. The only flaw I could find was that there was a tad too much oil (this place is really oil happy...just watch them prepare the dishes). The flavors in the spaghetti were complex with a bit of heat and a tiny bit of sweetness. The calamari were cooked to perfection- not at all rubbery. As a side he ordered the Saffron Risotto. He gave it a 5, I gave it a 3. For me, I think the texture bothered me more than anything. I'm picky with food textures. The flavor was pleasant.
The potato pizza was good. I ordered it because it's different than what you typically find...basically the only familiar component is the thin crust. In addition to potatoes, this pizza had prosciutto and Provolone instead of mozzarella. And rosemary. Lots and lots of rosemary. Like I said before, I love rosemary, but it's also very easy to overuse it...and I felt like they were too heavy-handed with my pizza. I didn't taste provolone. I didn't taste prosciutto. I didn't taste potato. All I tasted was rosemary and salt. It wasn't bad, but I wish it was more balanced. Perhaps if they only seasoned the potatoes with rosemary instead of the whole pie, it would have worked better. However, I should say that my boyfriend didn't agree with me. He said he could taste everything. Perhaps my tastebuds are discerning enough.
For dessert we ordered the Jeni's ice cream sampler. I've never had Jeni's before but I've heard nothing but rave reviews. Those reviews are accurate. Our sampler included 4 flavors: dark chocolate peppermint, pistachio, black coffee, and brown butter almond brittle. All delicious. So much better than regular ice cream. Itty bitty portions, though (about a tablespoon of each) for $9. My boyfriend's favorite was the dark chocolate peppermint and mine was the brown butter almond brittle. But really, they were all good.
With 4 drinks, 2 appetizers, 2 meals, and 1 dessert our bill was nearly $80. That hurt our wallet, but satisfied our stomachs well. It's definitely possible to spend $30 for two here so long as you have self control.
I can't wait to go back and try something else on the menu!
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)