El Barco

I think El Barco is one of those treasures of the city that often gets overlooked by this board. Folks are always espousing Ambassador Cafe, Borinquen, Taqueria Puebla, Nuevo Leon etc....but not much on this humble little restaurant that looks like a teak wood tourist barge.

I'd guess maybe it has something to do with the restaurant not having a signature dish, like say a cemita or jibarito. Rather they just all around kick ass in the fresh seafood department.

That being said, my wife and I made it out to El Barco this afternoon, and shared some fish ceviche and Shrimp empanadas. The ceviche was limey and refreshing.

The deep fried corn goodness of the empanada evoked summer days past when the elotes guy shaves some fresh hot corn and sprinkles it with lime, salt, and butter. Topped with a bit of guac and sour cream, the shells were filled with plump shrimp and green olives.

The salsas of the day were their typical ancho chili/oil, and a very spicy tomato based puree with roasted poblanos, onions, and jalapenos.

We split a deep fried whole snapper al mojo de ajo stye (Garlic, White Wine, and Cilantro sauce). Crispy on the outside, flakey on the inside.

The star of the day, and maybe el barco's signature dish:



The snapper was accompanied by some smoky grilled carrots with a sweet glaze that were pretty tasty.

We washed it all down with one of El Barcos big Coronatas and we called it a day.

El Barco
1035 N. Ashland Ave.
773-486-6850

I've generally been very happy with El Barco. Glutton that I am, I like those mixed grill thingee's. I think El Barco suffers a bit like Nhu Hoa in another thread, a kinda been there, chatted about it already ennui.

I think the solution, which I have pressed on others at times (you know who you are) is to post more. Don't fear that you cannot do MikeG justice to your dinner or that La Quebrada's been well covered. For one thing, your tried and true may be a discovery to someone. For another, you are adding to the knowledgebase; perhaps steering people away from certain bad dishes (say the Northern style items at Udupi), but more importantly, just helping people know how to order better (I bet more than a few diners are off to Sticky Rice this week to eat what Erik pictured). Finally, even the biggest fresser have room for only 4 or 5 meals per day. What we cannot put in our gullet, we can put in our brain. I mean after all those Moto reports I felt like I *almost* ate there.

So, everyone, do not worry about great exposition or even artful pictures. Just do the best you can. Post, post, post. It's appreciated and it helps.

Rob
(spoken as a voracious reader of LTHForum.com only)

Part of the problem is, in a way, that it's old news. Quite a lot was said about El Barco back when it opened. My experience was so inconsistent, I gave up on it. And believe me, I want to love it because the Mexican seafooder is among my favorite types of restaurants. When it was good, it was very good. And I like the quirks: the beach-side nautical theme hard by a gritty urban street, the huge (physically) menus, the fetching Uruguayan servers. But in my experience, Islas Marias, any branch, is better.

Now, I don't mean to suggest that there should be one place for a particular style of food. Far from it. I just haven't had great experiences at El Barco, from marathon waits after ordering, to an obvious focus (in my view) on the bar scene to the exclusion of diners, to sporadically less-fresh mariscos, to really over-fried snapper.

Tell me that you go there regularly, and it is consistently very good, and I will eagerly give it another shot. Because my experience is stale, and should be considered in that context alone. Until then, I will have to travel farther from home to LIM, La Oaxaquena, la Cazuela, even Palmar for my Mxican seafood fix.

PS, Ambassador is closed, looks like forever.

I'd say I make it to El Barco once a month and have never been disappointed. I wouldn't disagree that occasionally service is a bit slow, but the food has been spot on. Also they removed the big bar in the front to make room for more tables, so indeed the restaurant has shifted its focus to the diners and away from the bar culture you have spoken of.

I am on record saying, essentially, the very same things as JeffB. Only, JeffB has been much, much more gentle in his assessment.

And, I echo Jeff's sentiments concerning repeated positive reports on the place. I have no intention of returning until such a time.*

Las Islas Marias is where I am getting in on, these days.


Regards,
Erik M.


* In-season softshells, notwithstanding.

MJN,

I'm in the I like El Barco camp, no equivocation, though a bit of qualification. As has been said in the thread El Barco can be inconsistent, both service and food wise, though I have never had a really bad example of either at El Barco, just mildly off nights.

The whole fried fish, nice picture by the way, as you point out, is quite good, in general seafood is an El Barco strength. They even have a nice version of fried smelts on the menu.

El Barco Smelt


I'm also a fan of El Barco's table chili, though I think it may be pasilla and/or a mix, not straight ancho.


Ambiance wise El Barco is a few steps up from Las Islas Marias or La Cazuela and we have a few friends who simply do not view the more casual atmosphere of Las Islas Marias or La Cazuela as an evening out. (Oh, come on, we all have friends like that. )

Prices are quite reasonable, last time I took note a whole fried Tilapia at El Barco was $11.98. Both La Cazuela and Las Islas Marias are reasonably priced as well. Three of us dined like Kings of the Deep Sea at the Clark street Las Islas Marias last evening, including an incredible butterflied, then grilled, whole Red Snapper, for $75 inc. tax.

Enjoy,
Gary

El Barco
1035 N Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
773-486-6850

La Cazuela
6922 N Clark
Chicago
773 338 5425

Las Islas Marias
4770 W. Grand Avenue
Chicago, IL
773-637-8233

Las Islas Marias
6635 N Clark St
Chicago, Il
773-973-4752

One advantage El Barco has over Las Islas Marias is that it's open till midnight daily. We were there recently at 11 p.m. and the place was bustling. Our ceviche combination, whole steamed red snapper and crab legs with garlic were delicious.

The service was excellent, with the exception of forgotten crab crackers, quickly rectified by another observant server.

I've yet to visit Las Islas, partly because they don't operate on our time schedule.

My brother was in Chicago for a few days last week. On Thursday, his last night, he wanted a restaurant suggestion walking distance from his hotel(Omni on Michigan). He'd been driving a lot that day and traffic was miserable. We both love mexican seafood. He turned me on to my 1st ostiones cocktail and snapper mojo al ajo. However, our favorite places had closed years ago and it's been sometime since he's enjoyed that cuisine.

Anyways, I suggested El Barco. GWIV turned me on to El Barco and I'll never forgive him because it was a few days before I moved here to Lake Tahoe. What took him so damn long! My brother says he's been dying for something like that but just doesn't want to drive. I suggested he log on to LTH and check out a picture of the snapper submitted by MJN, and then make a decision. 45 minutes later he calls and says there is an incredible snapper sitting in front of him. He loved the snapper, and loved El Barco. Isn't it great how LTH Forum can enrich a person's life!

RevrendAndy wrote:My brother was in Chicago for a few days last week. On Thursday, his last night, he wanted a restaurant suggestion walking distance from his hotel(Omni on Michigan). He'd been driving a lot that day and traffic was miserable. We both love mexican seafood. He turned me on to my 1st ostiones cocktail and snapper mojo al ajo. However, our favorite places had closed years ago and it's been sometime since he's enjoyed that cuisine.

Anyways, I suggested El Barco. GWIV turned me on to El Barco and I'll never forgive him because it was a few days before I moved here to Lake Tahoe. What took him so damn long! My brother says he's been dying for something like that but just doesn't want to drive. I suggested he log on to LTH and check out a picture of the snapper submitted by MJN, and then make a decision. 45 minutes later he calls and says there is an incredible snapper sitting in front of him. He loved the snapper, and loved El Barco. Isn't it great how LTH Forum can enrich a person's life!

(nice story!)