great post. we never felt that flavors at Baroo were muted but they were definitely not bold. I think “restraint” is the right term, and maybe that is the reason we enjoyed every time.
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Gotcha. Did not get to try that iteration of Baroo.
I was thinking/referring to Baroo Canteen, the pop-up, at the Union Swapmeet. I’ll go correct my post. =)
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What is the concept called? What do they sell?
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What is the concept called? What do they sell?
BBQ + Rice: https://www.bbqrice.com/. It’s not similar to Baroo. Much more in the comfort food space, good for delivery. They have a few locations and were quite popular last time I checked.
Edit: I should note that Matthew Kim is great and was a meaningul part of why my wife and I frequented Baroo 1.0 so regularly. Obviously the food was fantastic and inventive, but it was also nice chatting with Matthew during meals. It makes me a bit sad that he seems to have been written out of the Baroo story. People forget that Baroo was originally Kwang + Matthew, not Kwang + Mina.
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I like that the food at Baroo is its own thing. It reminds me of Meteora in that regard.
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including the former needle space.
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When I ate there, my impressions were amazing plating precision and composition, Korean themes (like wrapping food, boiled bitter vegetables, raw meat, multiple items served at once like banchan) and ingredients and some formats, French / fine dining precision and techniques, some international influences, some less conventional flavors like pine and herbal and biterness and astringency or more bland or subtleness but also some distinctly sweet and salty things. For the sours, more vinegar and less lactic tang than I’m used to in Korean food, but idk if I tasted that exactly. The salted aged tofu reminds of Chinese and Taiwanese tofu blocks but could also be Korean or pan Asian. Overall, less savory and mouth watering than what I’m used to in a meal but I see the cost and effort, and I’m happy they have an audience. The food and eating almost felt like a museum experience. There’s Korean language information on the web and books that talk a bit more about what Korean cuisine is/was/is evolving into too for the more curious.
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I always considered current Baroo version to be Korean (Asian) influenced with French/Fine Dining techniques.
There is a restaurant in Paris, called Perception, reminded me of Baroo a lot.
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I did not know that was bbq and rice!
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Yeah, I had the same impressions on the most part. But while I knew what I was getting into - I’d done a bit of homework on Kwang’s cooking, rifled through Jeong Kwan’s cookbook, sniffed around koreantk (awesome resource), and pirated an academic book or two - and I appreciate the technique and what they’re exploring, what came on each plate was just a little bit too removed from tasty for me. It was interesting to pick at each of the components but nothing quite came together. Enjoyment of these things lies on a spectrum, though.
Still hope to one day enjoy a meal there, whether by broadening my perspective or being lucky enough to have them nudge their food a bit more towards my tastes.
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100% Re: Matthew
As much as I enjoy the current evolution of Baroo, there was a more frenetic, creative, daring quality during 1.0. with the post El Bulli & Noma stints. Matthew used to tell people when they’ve ordered too much and it was refreshing to see that customers weren’t always right.
What I miss the most is their rose kombucha. Unapologetically sour, it was a drink that got your attention.
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