Baru Latino

Yesterday, I was having a bit of a bad day (work), and to cheer me up, Chris suggested we go out for a drink later. (We’ve both been working well into the evening most days lately.) Then we found out we had a new nephew, and so had something to celebrate! We decided that bubbles were definitely in order for the evening. Nothing elaborate, just a quick pre-dinner drink and maybe a nibble or two. (Dinner was already in the works - Malaysian-style short ribs.)

Baru Latino (www.baru.ca/index2.php) was selected as the destination. It’s close by so an easy place to pop in and out of. We were immediately greeted at the door, and selected our own seats at the bar. (I’m happy to say that they have different seats at the bar than they used to. Before they looked good, but were hard to sit in for long. Much improved!) We pretty much knew what we wanted and so were ready to order quite quickly. The server was right on top of things, and was there to take our order very promtly. The host/server/bartender was alone that evening, but very efficient (at least we found him so) despite doing everything himself.

I’ve always found their wine list to be a little lackluster, but they did have what we wanted this time. We each had a glass of cava (Spanish bubbly), and shared an order of the Hunduarian Coconut Ceviche. I am not a cava connoisseur and so can’t say whether the cava on their list is a good one or not. (Cava connoisseurs are out there - just ask my friend Craig.) But we were perfectly happy with it; it was exactly what we wanted that evening.

The Hunduarian Coconut Ceviche is not what one typically thinks of when one thinks of ceviche. It’s a little creamy and lacking the typical acid-cooked aspect of many ceviches. We knew this, having ordered it before. I did think that it needed a pinch more salt and a bit more acid this time, although Chris disagrees. (This may have been a result of my long run that evening, leaving me a little dehydrated and so craving salt.) In general, the ceviches are our favorite items on the menu. They are always good. (The others are more familiar in style.) The fish is always really high quality and fresh. I like the Latin Chips too. The rest of the menu has highs and lows, or more accurately, good days and bad (i.e. it is inconsistent). Again, the ingredients are always fresh, but sometimes the combinations are not quite as good as they could or should be. Although Chris says it has improved recently. (He sometimes eats there when I’m away.)

Summary: Great place for ceviche, OK place for dinner. I wouldn’t cross town for dinner here, but if you’re nearby, or just want an evening of drinks and nibbles, then it’s a fine place. (Clearly we like it enough that we've been more than once.)

2 thumbs.

FYI: They have live music on Tuesdays, something we hadn’t realized before going. It made selecting a seat tricky. One end of the bar was too close to the door, which was open with a little bit of a draft, and the other was too close to the musician, which made it a little loud (there was already someone in the middle of the bar). We went with loud, which turned out to be fine. The guy who played the third set of the evening (the second we saw) was actually quite pleasant to listen to.