Barley & Swine

I really wanted to love this place after checking out their menu and reading the reviews on Yelp. Sadly, Barley & Swine fell below my expectations. It pains me to write a not so stellar review for a new spot but hopefully my criticism will be taken constructively and lead them to improve what I feel are amateur mistakes. First, the positives: nice spot, beautifully decorated, open kitchen, nice bar, cute details like the piggy salt & pepper shakers. They were also quite accomodating since we had our baby with us and found us a spot to park our stroller.

 

Amen!

Pic stolen from Barley & Swine's website - nice crowd, chill vibe.



The food wasn't all terrible - the fried oysters were amazing. The batter was tasty and the side of pimento aioli was delish. This was our favorite dish and being the first thing we tried we got ahead of ourselves with excitement.

Fried Oysters

The black truffle patatas weren't terrible either. They were bathed in a thick (a little too thick) parmesan cream sauce that went quite well with the truffle. I enjoyed them. My husband wasn't a fan.

Black Truffle Patatas

The serrano ham & manchego cheese croquettes were also quite good. The guava sauce was phenomenal and paired deliciously with the saltiness of the ham & cheese. I found the batter to be a little crusty for croquettes but overall they were pretty tasty.

Croquettes

 

My entree was the pork rib tips with a fried egg, sriracha, sweet potato bacon hash and bourbon maple sauce. My pork was dry and flavorless. The hash wasn't seasoned (thick chunks of bacon were good though) and seemed like an afterthought. I don't remember tasting the maple since the sriracha (which I normally love) was way too freaking spicy and stole all the thunder in the dish. This dish sounds nice on paper but once you taste it it doesn't make any sense.

Pork Rib Tips

  

Although I tried to convince him to order their Latin Burger (I had it once at the owners' now defunct old spot, The Joint, and it was ridiculously good), he refused to honor and obey thy sacred wife and ordered their catch of the day -  yellow tail on top of a fried green tomato. We took one bite and summoned our very sweet waitress to send it back. It was inedibly salty. The thought makes me pucker my face in an unttractive fashion that reminds me I should be due for some Botox soon. Serves him right for ordering fish at a pig joint. Since we sent that sucker back we opted out of trying dessert. Damn.

Catch of the Day

We also ordered their daily mac and cheese (pic is missing, nothing to cry about.) Saturday's special is lobster and mascarpone. Apparently they have a mac of the day, which is a pretty cool concept for mac and cheese lovers like myself. This mac and cheese left a lot to be desired. The pasta was a little under cooked, and the lobster was MIA. The cheese sauce was tasty and creamy, it had the actual flavor of lobster but very tiny bits. I guess they spruce up their stuff with lobster stock to boost the flavor. I was expecting the delicious chunks I saw on their Deco Drive segments. When I order lobster mac I expect chunks, you do not toy with my emotions when it comes to mac n cheese. I guess I was spoiled by the best lobster mac I ever had last year in the Keys. By this point I was too aggravated to complain so I just ate a few bites and gave up on life.

Overall our meal was just OK. Service was excellent. Beer selection looks interesting as do other items on the menu. I will probably go back in a few weeks and hope to have a better experience. Kendall really needs a spot like this in the area. We truly do not have a gastropub type of place 'round these parts. The place definitely has potential and I hope they stick around long enough to prove it.


Barley & Swine
9059 Southwest 73rd Court
South Miami, FL 33156
(305) 397-8678