It sounds a bit counter-intuitive, but the former Pieter Baan Center is an incredibly suitable place to take children. Not only does Bar Barak’s menu include chicken satay with fries and red sauce pasta, you also feel really welcome as a parent. The service thinks along with the parents: should we just put that pasta on the table as quickly as possible? And with the children: ‘I put an extra piece of candy with mom’s coffee, so you each have one.’ And there is polite laughter at jokes that only six-year-old boys and 43-year-old fathers like: “Waiter, what kind of fish is this?” “Louder.” “WATER, WHAT KIND OF FISH IS THIS?!?”
Good hospitality is a great asset. This applies not only to star tents, but also to a provisionally converted observation clinic with a five-year anti-squatting contract, unfinished corridors and self-sawn tables. The warmth with which host and co-owner Menno Koot receives us and the visible pleasure he takes in making us happy are rare.
One thing doesn’t go well: none of the dishes are announced at the table. Or in plain Dutch: nothing was explained when serving. We don’t know more than what is on the menu (a description in two to four ingredients). Is that bad? Well, if there is an unannounced raw scallop in your shrimp ceviche. A raw scallop is of course delicious. But if you think you are eating a shrimp, which is a much firmer animal, then it suddenly becomes unpleasantly mushy and you mainly think: this is no longer good. That’s quite a shock. Should have just mentioned it. Anyway.
The menu is a collection of attractive dishes for between 9 and 15 euros, and three ‘main courses’ for more than 20 euros. There may be some criticism for these kinds of refreshing prices every now and then. There is that here and there, but the most important thing is that the plates also radiate a certain pleasure.
The stewed leek is certainly not overcooked, even a little bit squishybut not stringy (because it is cut nicely perpendicular to the fiber). Roasted hazelnuts on top, underneath is a sesame-miso cream, with chili and Sichuan pepper. That is very pleasant – think: tahina with miso and crispy chili oil (really good idea for home too!).
The hollandaise with the cauliflower is a bit curdled and is actually not sour enough. But it is very tasty, because it is made with hay butter. This produces a wonderfully warm straw perfume, which goes very well with the earthy flavors of the (somewhat clumsy) shiitake-almond tapenade and the meatiness of the roasted cauliflower. It could all have been a bit tighter. But they’re onto something: the flavors are right.
Bon. The Zeeland mussels are mega-satisfying with a generous amount of spicy ‘nduja and sobrasada (see inset). Why both? Because, according to the originally Cuban chef, the latter is slightly milder and sweeter and therefore better suits the somewhat untrained Dutch taste. The loose sausage meat and fatty, salty sauce can be scooped with a shell or mopped up with a piece of toasted bread. Simple and good.
The brisket is none low and slow barbecued beef brisket, more like thick slices of slightly dry roast beef. But the chicken liver cream with it is incredibly good. Sweet, boozylivery, creamy and fatty. Very nice with the crunch of the sweet and sour pickled red cabbage. Only the chicharrón (puffed rind) quickly becomes a bit tough due to the adhering liquid of the dish. The wild boar meatball is beautifully roasted, its bacon jacket is a bit tough and the syrup gravy is very sweet. But hey: syrup and bacon, what’s not to like? And those strong flavors match perfectly with that wild pig taste. Only the red carrot puree is weak and somewhat bitter.
The fries, chicken satay and red sauce pasta have also been approved. The al dente fennel on the chicken and the Thai basil leaves on the pasta can of course be stolen by the children – but points for trying.
There is a wide range of special beers and (natural) wines. Like a nice drinkable ‘white’ Spätburgunder from the Palatinate by the glass: light pink from a bit of skin softening, not too complicated, ripe pear with enough mineral freshness to remain interesting. But also, for example, a more unusual, very light red wine from the Loire, made from Gamay and Pinot Noir, fruity like a Beaujolais, but slightly stronger and earthier with a slight hint of nature. Sour cherries with a tea bag in the distance. An incredibly interesting and pleasant bottle for five bucks.
Barak has only been open for four months, so they have been forgiven for some minor flaws – such as throwing nasturtiums on almost everything as a garnish. The menu is nice, the food more than fine for the price. With very limited resources (given the temporary nature of the project) they have already managed to erect an incredibly nice, vibrant tent in a building with such a heavy history and bars on the windows, where you can enjoy a very pleasant evening between the fruit trees (or if you are lucky in the loveseat in a sawn-through Dafje) on the terrace or inside the former workshop. With a bakery café in the gatehouse since last week and soon a pop-up taqueria in the two pink-painted, connected isolation cells. The medical director and founder of the first psychiatric observation clinic, Pieter Baan, could probably never have imagined this.
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