La Vara

So Good. Every. Single. Time. I’ll stop there, since it’s become so hard to get a table at a decent hour.

I must say that I had good good food at La Vara. The place is unique, cozy and welcoming. Everything we had was delicious (Maybe just a little greasy in one or two dishes, but not enough to damage the experience of dinning here). With good wine, you will enjoy here.
Many interesting dishes to select from, and the starters are as good as the place. We took the waiter recommendation (Excellent service), and everything went smooth, delicious and enjoyable. I could tell that they do a lot so each person who visit here will leave happy, and I can say that IO left happy, and I will return happy.

LOVE this place! By far one of my favorite restaurants the world over. They’ve earned Michelin stars yet it’s still a casual vibe so that whether you are passing by for a casual bite or planning a special dinner, it always feels right.
all of their waitstaff treats you like family yet they have the knowledge and expertise of true professionals, the delicious menu is absolutely singular.

Good food but really «brooklyn style» amazing service!
We ordered a couple appetizers — all of which were very good — the blue cheese flat bread, and the fried chick peas were especially good.
Was a tad bit unhappy with the suckling pig– too salty in my opinion.
The highlight of the meal was the dessert however which was amazing. A shout-​out to the wait staff who noticed that we weren’t to happy with the rosemary and grapefruit custard and brought us the churros with dulce de la leche — on the house; and it was spectacular!
Would def come back– want to try the lamb w cumin sauce next…

I had dinner here with my parents and my boyfriend when my parents were visiting NYC. It’s not cheap, so it’s a great place to go when your parents are treating you! :) I made us a reservation about a week in advance, which I would recommend since the place is small. There are two booths by the windows in the front-​perfect for larger groups. There is also seating at the bar, and then one table that seats probably 10 people, and then a small number of 2 person tables behind that. We sat at the 10 person table (be prepared to sit close to other parties!) The hostess and our waiter were both very welcoming and patient. The food came out at a good pace and our waiter even offered to chill our bottle of wine to my dad’s liking.
The space felt clean and simple in the best way. The exposed brick, the lighting, the minimalist décor, and the white furniture were all perfect.
Now for the food! We had:
–spiced fried chickpeas — We loved these! They had a lot of flavor – cumin, I think? They were so simple but super flavorful and addicting.
–cucumber and grain salad — Also really yummy! Again, super simple but flavorful and refreshing. A nice contrast to the salty and fried dishes.
–noodle paella — Not my favorite. Didn’t have much flavor.
–Catalan sausage — This was good except that I was expecting one large sausage. This was a skinny sausage wound around a few times.
–Spanish red shrimp — Really good! Each plate comes with 2 large shrimp-​lots of flavor. Expensive though.
–duck special — Delicious! This was done perfectly.
I only wish we’d ordered the suckling pig! We meant to but forgot by the end of the meal.
For dessert we had tres leches flavored custard. This is was okay but I would probably get the ice cream or almond cake next time.
Tapas style places are nice because they draw out the meal and allow people to just sit, relax, and talk. No one is in a rush or busy scarfing down their meal because each plate comes out as it’s ready, and everyone just eats a little of each one. We had a really wonderful dinner here! My only complaint is that it does get loud, so don’t go with anyone who is hard of hearing!

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I WILDLY enjoyed my first experience at La Vara, about a month after they opened. It was a birthday dinner there (for myself) and the meal was delicious and memorable in all the best ways. Exquisite execution of unique dishes and ingredients. A quality meal and great service. I very much looked forward to returning.
Fast-​forward to NYE 2014. I tried to book La Vara for a NYE dinner, about two months in advance of the date. They accepted my reservation. I sat smug and looked forward to the meal. About a week later, they left me a voicemail saying they decided not to be open that night, and, oh well… sorry! Admittedly, I landed on my feet with a reservation at Brooklyn Fare for NYE, but still, why take orders for a special dining night and then decide to close? That was a head scratcher.
Fast-​forward to last week. My fiancé and I are moving out of the neighborhood and I had been telling him about my amazing La Vara meal for so long I thought I should treat him to a dinner there before we upped sticks entirely. The meal was ‘meh’ for both of us. The portions have become ridiculously small for the price. We ordered three smaller plates and two larger, and then ordered a third larger dish to try and achieve that happy-​full feeling. Of the smaller plates, the fried artichokes stood out, but mainly because nothing else did. The biggest offender was the anchovy dish that arrived with 4 slivers of anchovy and 3 pieces of bread to eat them with. For a table of 2. I mean, come on La Vara. You couldn’t have sprung for that 4^th disc of baguette? Pitiful. Our third smaller plate was the anchovy dish which looked like a puddle of watery tomato and a few headless fish drowning in it’s lifeless waters.
At this point I was hoping for a miracle with the other dishes, but it never happened.
For larger plates, we ordered the rabbit loin (which was tender, but the accompanying compote/​salad was overly sweet). The Red Spanish prawns (TWO PRAWNS. TWO. ONE — TWO. THAT’S IT.) were delicious, but there were TWO. And, the pasta paella. They use a matchstick shape of pasta that looked (and tasted) a bit like Lipton Cup O’Soup. Not that I think they use this there, but you could basically get the same mouth feel and flavor sensation buying a packet of the soup and added a couple of chewy clams and the teeniest sliver of calamari.
We did not stay for dessert as most of the options were dull and predictable. We saw one of the fig cakes being brought out to a neighboring table, but it looked like little more than a big Fig Newton with a splodge of cream on it.
Five stars for our server, who was exceedingly friendly and pleasant. 2 stars for the food.

I’ve been to la vara many times, and really liked this place. I went back again looking forward to it, knowing that it will probably be a good experience. It wasn’t. To be fair, the drinks were good and the staff nice, yet not engaging.
I am writing this review for the owner/​chef who I know is amazing and probably isn’t there as much to pay attention for small details in the kitchen which have made the food go downhill.
After ordering, we were presented with a small amuse bouche of carrot juice and cumin in a sherry glass. This alone started the meal off poorly, the opposite of the amuse point. It was flavorless and cold. We wish it just didn’t come out at all. We started with the fried eggplant with honey and cheese which was one of my favorites previously. There was too much cheese, the eggplant was not crispy and not sweet enough. The chicken hearts were good but it was a very small bite more of a snack than an appetizer and not worth $ 13. The migas (also one we raved about in past visits) had too much paprika and not enough grapes; it was not exciting. The croquettes of the day which were described as Serrano ham were actually some bland potato/​cheese fried mush. Not distinguishable and definitely no ham involved. The last dish, Lingua special was the worst of all. Arrived after 45 min sitting and wasn’t sure it was even the right cut. It tasted like regular beef and was very chewy. The carrots were undercooked as well. Also small for the price, $ 18 for a tiny stew.
We really like this place in the neighborhood and this review is not to put la vara down but as a push to make it better and like how it was before.

I wanted to love this place, but just didn’t.
The chickpeas were salty and I just felt like the food was meh. It was good but nothing super special.
Most dishes have egg in them (which I don’t eat) and made it difficult for me.
The staff was soooo sooo sooo nice though and accomodating.
It was a really pleasant experience though.

Love the food here, it was nothing like anything I have ever tasted. The flavors really complimented each other. The service was great.
The eggplant dish was my favorite. The suckling pig was okay. I don’t usually come back to the same resturant since NYC has so many places to try out but I will definitely come back to this place.

Loved everything about this place. Cozy, warm ambiance, chill vibe, delicious food, small plates for sharing, nice wine selection. The crispy pork was amazing — fabulous cucumber salad — loved the eggplant, too. Another standout was the olive oil ice cream desert. Make reservations well in advance or be prepared to wait. We got lucky and scored seats at the bar within 30 mins.

La Vara has been in my to-​try list for more than a year before I finally got to check it out last night. And it did not disappoint!
The restaurant is located on a quiet, tree lined street in Cobble Hill BK. I already felt welcome the moment I stepped inside. This is my fav neighborhood in BK in terms of food — you got Battersby, Dover, Bergen Hill and many others around court street and smith! And unlike popular restaurants in Manhattan, the acclaimed restaurants in this hood are less hustle bustle, more tranquil and neighborly charm.
Once I seated at the bar, the friendly bar tender promptly passed me the wine and food menu. Too bad I forgot to ask her name :/​she’s so lovely and gave good recommendations for food — can’t ask for better services!
Onto the food. I am especially liking that there are quite a few daily specials to choose from, in addition to the many options on the stable menu. I opted for the house salted cod salad and the beef tongue stew that was special of the day. Both are excellent!
The cod salad was light yet pack of flavors! I adore the nutty smokey flavors from the pistachio oil drizzle over the salad — it goes hand in hand with the fresh citrus and sweet pomegranate that accompany the cod, it’s magical! I can’t describe it but I can def taste and enjoy it immensely :)
Now the beef tongue. It brings me back all the good memories of Barcelona! The soft beef tongue are chopped in small chunks, dotted in a hearty caper tomato sauce decorated with carrots and sweet pea. It reminds me of the beef stew in Dublin which is considered peasant food but it delivers such a heart-​warming effect especially in a chill autumn night. I paired it with a Spanish Grenache and they work quite well together.
The only regret I had was that I went by myself and I could only tried two dishes while every item on the menu looked amazing! I shall come back soon!

La Vara might just be one of my new favorite spots. It’s a lovely little restaurant on a charming street in Cobble Hill… cozy and warm inside and not a table was open on a Saturday night. Bad timing brought the health inspector right during our meal, which meant the kitchen was temporarily shut for a little bit but the staff was friendly and gracious and brought out delicious crispy spiced chickpeas for all the tables to nibble on while we waited.
We opted to share a bunch of plates between three people. Highlights included the fried artichokes with anchovy aioli (so perfectly lightly fried), the cumin lamb, and the house made Catalan sausage (don’t miss this dish!). Oh, and the shrimp! Quite pricey at $ 10.50 per shrimp but these are the jumbo kind, head and shell on, cooked in preserved lemon, and dripping with juices when you pull the head off. Totally messy and delicious. The dessert, too, was sublime and I highly recommend the almond cake and the olive oil sea salt ice cream — they went perfectly together! Looking forward to returning and trying more dinner items and their famous brunch.

As many people probably already mentioned, La Vara was definitely not some place where you get high end delicate food with marvelous decoration; however this special cute place did offer me a feeling of relaxation on a sunny Saturday morning, the exact feeling I was looking for after a long tired week.
My friend and I were sharing many small dishes. Carajillo, the donut bathed in coffee was for sure my favorite. For entrees, I went with others’ selection and chose the local squid and scrambled cod (so tender!!). All courses were fantastic and fed me well!
Service was also adding extra credit. As a Michelin-​starred restaurant, I think La Vara did a very good job in terms of presenting decent local food, rather than focusing on presentation.

We came here for a private event where there was passed plates and a set bar drink menu. Very impressive. To me, the fried skate was the best. Fried perfectly, seasoned well, and quality fish. the fideua was good, not the best I’ve had, but still had a good flavor. I had some mimosas which were heavy on the champagne in a good way.
The best thing about the place was the service. Very pleasant and kept our large group very full with food and drink.
I would definitely go back for dinner.

La Vara is Michelin Starred? Damn!
And I thought I was cool, checking out this Jewish/​Spanish fusion in Cobble Hill… but apparently I’m way behind.
Went to La Vara mid-​week with a group of friends, and had no problem getting seated right away at a beautiful round table by the window. The place is tiny, but bright, and I spotted a back garden for brunching outside.
Our waitress was tremendously helpful and very attentive — excellent service. We tried everything on the menu — the fried chickpeas, artichokes, sobrasada con miel (pork with honey bruschetta,) the fiduea (noodle paella,) eggplant, deviled eggs, foie gras, some kind of caramelized onion flatbread, and octopus. Like any self-​respecting blogger, I tried everything.
My favorite was actually the pork with honey bruschetta — the foamed honey was really surprising and sweet. Artichokes with anchovy butter were a surprising winner too. We ordered duplicates of some dishes, wine, sangria, and I started sweating — «Guys, this bill is going to be, like, $ 600!» Not the case. It was even affordable (by NYC standards.)
Check it out with a small group or a date. The townhouses around that area are enviable as well.

KenScale: 8.5÷10
La Vara has long been on my hit list of Brooklyn restaurants. Helmed by chef Alex Raij and her husband Eder Montero (whose other restaurant El Quinto Pino I visited last year and enjoyed my meal), it has been gaining acclaim for its reinterpretation of Spanish cuisine with Moorish and Jewish touch. On my recent dinner, I couldn’t quite pinpoint how different influences were all coming together, but didn’t really care because the food at La Vara is generally outstanding.
The dinner menu consists of mostly shareable tapas plates. Spiced fried chickpeas would be a great snack anywhere at a Spanish restaurant, and the crispy eggplant with honey and melted cheese was also wonderful with its rich complexity of flavor within a single bite. Migas aragonesas, a dish of hand torn bread and chorizo, grapes, rosemary and pastured egg, was another winner. I was deeply impressed with how the different ingredients were coming together yet the dish itself wasn’t that heavy but rather delightful and fun. Fideua, a noodle style paella that came with shrimp, squid and clams, also had a nice touch, although I wish the portion were slightly larger. Spanish red shrimp a la plancha was rather small compared to the somewhat hefty price ($ 21 per two on my last visit), but the crunchy texture of the shrimp was still memorable and I probably could’ve had at least 5 more of those. On the other hand, pollo asado, a giant half chicken roasted over spiced onions and cumin, was more satisfying in portion and I did like the spicy kick of the otherwise nicely cooked chicken. The winner of the meal on my visit, however, cumin roasted lamb breast. I was absolutely in love with the juicy texture of the meat with great balance of flavor thanks to simple preserved lemon-​date condiment. All of the dessert dishes that my dining party tried were great as well. None of them were overly sweet; from homemade olive oil ice cream to Galician almond cake. The best of the bunch was this dish called Egipcio that consisted of orange blossom scented date walnut tart, lemon curd and sweet cream. It was absolutely delicious and I couldn’t stop digging it!
The restaurant, located on a quiet corner of Carroll Gardens, has that cozy neighborhood vibe of a typical restaurant in Brooklyn that I love so much about. Getting a reservation wasn’t that difficult, although the restaurant became quickly packed by the start of my meal. There is extensive Spanish wine selection (unfortunately I don’t know much about Spanish wine, but the bottle of white that we was crisp and worked well with various dishes). La Vara is one of those places that I would love to come back either for full dinner or even quick wine and snack time. The cooking here is serious and elegant, especially in easily shareable format where you can get a taste of a large number of dishes to explore the culinary beauty of Spain.

Been wanting to try this place out for a long time. Finally, I get my chance, and what do I do? Eat brunch here. Ugh, I’m still shaking my head over that one.
Go to a tapas place, eat tapas. Not the same brunch eggs that every other restaurant in Brooklyn will be serving on a Saturday afternoon. Although to be fair, their egg dishes are way more interesting.
Oh well. So we started off Bloody Mary’s which were great. We ordered a few dishes to share: patatas bravas, Huevos con Migas Aragonesa, and Tortellita de Gambas. The patatas bravas were solid, but a little overcooked and overall kind of unmemorable. The Huevos con Migas Aragonesa was a dish of fried eggs, chorizo, bread crumbs, seared grapes, and sweet onion, which to me sounds like the best stuffing ever, topped with eggs. It was quite delicious despite that the chorizo made the dish a tad salty. The Tortellita was also pretty yummy, with eggs, a chickpea «wafer» and dried shrimp.
Service was great and the experience was enjoyable despite the presence of screaming babies, but the true experience will be when I come back for dinner!

I went to La Vara for brunch (hold your groans) because they didn’t have any other reservations available for a Saturday (call/​reserve early and often!).
The space is cute, and very nondescript (especially for a Michelin starred restaurant), but that’s part of the charm. There’s exposed brick, tiled ceilings and a cute bar.
Anyway, since it was brunch time, had to start out with Bloody Mary’s (not on the menu, but basically half the patrons were sipping on them). They were delicious (and SPICY).
For food, started out with the patatas bravas. They were fried well but too heavy. Maybe skip this one if you’re not ravenous.
For mains, they have a lot of egg dishes and variations. Shared two of them. The Tortellita de Gambas (Andalucian shrimp and a chickpea wafer with a fried egg on top) was definitely Spanish-​inspired and unique. If you don’t get freaked out by crispy tiny shrimp, then this is a great dish. It was over a chickpea wafer, which added a lot of texture and was a nice detour from standard toast or crostini.
Also had the Huevos con Migas Aragonesas (poached eggs with chorizo and bread crumbs). Eggs were poached well, and the salty chorizo chunks and sweet roasted grapes were a good contrast.
Service was great, and I would definitely come back to try their dinner menu (which everyone tells me I should’ve done originally). Oh well, a guy’s gotta eat.

Yeah… This place is cute as hell and concur with my fellow Unilocalers.
This is not the mission I’m on, My mission, if you will is to drink a cocktail after the Yankees lost with my buds. (Go Yankees!)
I pass this place and there’s a bar. Bar=Beer right? Also, I like a front of the house hipster hostess. With hipster hostesses, anything goes and no one is judgmental. The older uptight folks are being replaced with this younger mind set.
This is not the case with La Vara. We walk in and everyone is eating and enjoying the food. We slide to the back of the bar and this old, frog face manager tells us we need to move to the front of the bar. He’s all eyes on us. I can sense his Sith Hatred. We’re not tattoos bikers and we’re not loud. What gives dummy?
The bartender is ignoring us and this dude is watching us like a hawk. Now I wanna grab the guy and take a picture with him. (Singing — Why ya gotta be so rude.)
We had three cocktail, left a tip and split. If I was a 15 years younger, I would have grabbed this guy and kissed him on his stupid bald head while my buddies laughed and snapped a picture. They didn’t have cell phone cameras back then.
La Vara, Nice place to not grab a drink with your buddies, especially the one wearing a Mets Jersey.

I don’t know if it was La Vara’s fault or mine that I didn’t enjoy my first experience with them two years ago, right when they opened. But life is about second chances. I believe it was the poet laureate Two Chainz who said that: «My whole story is just about me having a second chance.”*
This whole story is about La Vara having a second chance. And in my past few visits, they’ve killed it. Since their inception, the space itself has become more inviting (I love their garden immensely), and the service more welcoming. Most importantly, the consistency of the food has improved considerably.
The menu changes often, and it’s entirely likely that you could make a meal out of the intriguing specials available. Some of my favorite items have been seasonally available, such as the summer squash fritters or the torn bread served with chorizo oil and grapes. I’ve never seen more gorgeous deviled eggs than the ones La Vara served with green sauce, and the daily croquetas are never a bad decision.
One item that tends to be a staple is the fried artichokes. I’m never sad about dipping into this salty, fatty bomb of flavor, and the bacon paprika stew is a similarly solid choice.
Regardless of what you order, however, you are virtually guaranteed a meal of intensely flavorful, beautifully presented small plates. And although you may want more of any given dish, it’s just as well that they are tiny portions. Not merely because almost everything is quite rich, but also because this affords you the opportunity to taste more items coming out of this kitchen, and that’s a good thing.
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*He also said, «My wrist deserve a shout out, I’m like, ‘What up wrist?’ My stove deserve a shout out, I’m like, ‘What up stove?’» Less relevant to this review, although now that I think about it, La Vara’s stove deserves a shout out. I’m like, ‘What up La Vara’s stove?’