Sunday
Jun262011
Brunch @ Bartaco in Port Chester
Thanks to Bartaco, your brunch options just got a whole lot more interesting. Lazy weekends, newsprint-stained hands, Bloody Marys and now tacos are firmly in the domain of this weekend morning ritual.
The popular Port Chester taco joint owned by the Barcelona Group, has recently unleashed a brunch menu for Saturdays and Sundays that is a fitting extension of the brand’s signature breezy Mexican beach food. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this scene, think Mexican street food influenced by the tides (and an enviable location on the Byram River) with a backdrop fit for a Hampton's weekend of beach-going and people watching minus the traffic on the LIE.
Bartaco’s new executive chef Dudley Nieto is the man behind the simple yet satisfying five-item brunch menu and its three signature cocktails but owner Sasa Mahr-Batuz is its inspiration. “The restaurant really lends itself to daytime dining, so it was only a matter of time before we opened our doors for brunch, “ says Mahr-Batuz. “It has always been one of my favorite meals of the day.”
Brunch portions are similarly scaled to the shared plates and trays you find during lunch and dinner at Bartaco. Small and inexpensive, they range from $3 to $7 each, so you could easily order the entire menu to share among a small group with sides and tacos to supplement.
Starting with libations, the Bloody Maria, Rosemary Bellini and a Michelada are reminiscent of traditional brunch cocktails with a decidedly Mexican spin. The Bloody Maria is a combination of Herradura Tequila, housemade sangria, lime juice and pickled pepper. A Rosemary Bellini is Gruet Blanc de Noirs, pear nectar and muddled rosemary. The Michelada is a combination of Pacifico beer with lime juice and house made Sangrita with a bit of Cayenne salt. At about $8 each, these drinks are a perfect way to nurse a hangover or get started on a new one.
The first item on the brunch menu is something you can’t and won’t want to share. The Shrimp Shot is a briny take on a Bloody Mary sans alcohol. This amuse bouche sits in a shot glass filled with a roasted tomato and ancho chipotle sauce, some pico de gallo and a single diced shrimp tucked among those spicy riches. You could just add vodka and call it a day.
But that would be no fun because you wouldn’t get to experience the Griddled Egg with Corn and Chorizo, a deconstructed south-of-the-border take on a morning breakfast sandwich. Order this and pair this with a Michelada and guard it with your life. Although I encourage sharing, this dish may test your generosity.
The omelet, practically a required brunch dish, has its own Bartaco’s interpretation, which involves jalapeno, cilantro and seasonal vegetables such as zucchini and some green onion. A solid dish, but not as compelling as the Griddled Egg with Chorizo or the sweet surprise of Bartaco’s French Toast.
If you’re not feeling the savory dishes, the Mexican French Toast is a sweet must. The toast is fluffy with lightly crisped edges, and a subtly spiced syrupy finish. That syrup, like many of their sauces throughout the regular menu, is a nicely balanced construction of flavors that I begged to know the ingredients, which are: agave wine, sugar cane, orange peel, cinnamon and anise seeds.
The last item on the brunch menu is a good way to begin or end your meal. A palate cleanser of seasonal fruit, which consisted of chunky slivers of melon dusted with the kick of cayenne and a bright spritz of lime. A nice respite from the saltiness of the savory dishes and the sweetness of the Toast. This is not a throwaway dish, it’s a pleasant and calculated way to ease out of the multiple layers of flavors from any of the menu’s dishes.
In addition to the brunch menu, do venture over to the tacos and sides from the regular menu which are always available. A few new tacos, such as a lobster, duck and lamb barbeque, are now available but venture further for the real reward. I'd recommend the Chopped Salad with its enviable cilantro jalapeno dressing, a spicy chicken tamale, or the grilled corn.
If you have to end on a sweet note, look no further than the decadent chocolate tamale, which Nieto calls "a ticket to heaven." A warm velvety chocolate interior, a combination of sweet and grainy Mexican chocolate counterbalanced with Belgian semi-sweet, is nestled beside a small scoop of vanilla ice cream meant to accompany each bite. This decadent dish is not nearly as sweet as it looks.
The new Bartaco brunch menu succeeds as a thoughtful selection of food that can help you recover from or extend the revelry of this spirited Mexican small-plate mecca. The Bartaco brand itself, a unique blend of high and low, has great potential. Small plates of Mexican-inspired comfort food, clean and simple flavors and a menu that can now take you from breakfast to late night snack.
Bartaco is open from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. daily, and food is served continuously. Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Bartaco is located at Willett Avenue in Port Chester, NY. A second location will be opening in Stamford at 222 Summer Street this year. Twitter: @bartacoPC For more information, visit www.bartaco.com.
tagged 
Brunch, Mexican, Port Chester, breakfast
Brunch, Mexican, Port Chester, breakfast
Reader Comments (7)
This menu is a perfect way to start a weekend--since tasting it, I believe I've told everyone I've met about Bartaco's brunch. Thank you for this great reminder that I have to return--soon!
We tried Bartaco for the first time last Saturday. It was a beautiful setting for a Saturday lunch. The food was delicious, particularly the duck and lamb barbacoa tacos and the chocolate tamale. One quibble is that the tacos (especially the messier ones) would have benefited from a second tortilla, as is common in authentic Mexican taco places.
However, the service leaves plenty to be desired. Their system of placing a card in a holder to signify that you would like service meant that we had one person seat us, another take our drink order, another take our food order, and yet another deliver our food. Yet none of them seemed to be responsible for refilling water glasses. Even worse, the server had little idea as to which taco was which. The whole table's order arrives on one tray, but the server couldn't tell which ones were duck, or tripe or lamb. This was shocking, since it seemed as though only 2 people had the task of carrying food from the kitchen to the table - it would seem that one of them should be well trained in knowing what he was serving.
On the other hand, with enough of the well-crafted cocktails, one might overlook the service foibles.
The food... sub bar. The service... atrocious. That's all you need to read. Bad food, worse service. Did I mention how bad the service was?
I actually thought the food was very good...particularly the tamarind beef tacos. I don't recall having any issues with the service either, perhaps it was atrocious in your case because the food was beneath the bar.
stop hatin' "boycotbartaco"...learn to spell you hump.
Ok food. Not great
Did not try the drinks due to a lunch hour meal.
Terrible service. We asked for the check, and 15 minutes later were still waiting. We had to get up and walk to the door in order to finally communicate our intent to leave.
The food is disgusting. We ordered chicken tacos for our kids and they came out literally as one piece of chicken which looked like it had been boiled and stuck in the middle of a soft taco with no cheese, no lettuce - no nothing! We were all laughing. The same thing with the beef tacos. The service was horrible, things seemed dirty and then to top it off, we had a child vomit up the food when we returned home. The drinks are fine but that's about it. The ordering system of writing down your order and then hoping your server comes to get it or even remembers is a recipe for disaster. The decor is fine but perhaps the Dept of Health should go do a surprise inspection. Every time we received food they seemed to be missing quantities we ordered. Skip this place!