Barbary Fig

720 Grand Ave
St. Paul, MN
651-290-2085

Category: Mediterranean, Middle Eastern

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 5
Service: 8
Ambience: 6

Recommendation: Average. We were so looking forward to this meal, only to be disappointed by subdued flavors that remind us of anything but North Africa.

When we think of Morocco we envision colorful spice markets, vendors selling dried fruits, and culture and history that is as old as civilization itself. Barbary Fig tries to capture the essence of Morocco and share it with the locals half a world away. The restaurant is located in a converted house on Grand Ave. There is a large patio that is quite popular in the summer. Unfortunately, as you enter the restaurant, you’re looking into the guts of the kitchen and nothing is hidden from you (it’s too literal an interpretation of the open kitchen concept and I don’t think it was designed with that in mind). All the seating is on the 2nd floor and you’re led up a staircase to a cozy room with no more than 8 tables. The red-orange faux finish walls are a nice touch, albeit the restaurant could use a few decorative accents to spruce up the interior.

The menu is tempting but limited – the appetizers consist of a soup, a couple of salads, and bread/olive plates, while the entrees mostly consist of different preparations of Couscous and Tagines with 2-3 daily specials. We were surprised at the prices – most entrees were $10-$12, cheap by any standard. The warm French Bread and Warm Olives got us started. We were impressed with the Puree of Artichoke and Goat Cheese Salad – with a multitude of ingredients (greens, eggplant, tomatoes, olives, walnuts, etc) it was hard to decipher individual flavors, but the combination was spot on. One of the daily specials was the Bastilla (chicken wrapped in phyllo dough with sautéed /grilled veggies and an apricot/fig chutney), one of the most popular dishes in Morocco. It wasn’t memorable in the least and except for the sweet chutney, it was hard to distinguish any other distinct flavors. The Rabbit Special with roasted veggies, prunes, and orzo was one of the better entrees. Both the Tagine of Chicken and the Merguez Couscous could have been spectacular but were bland, a far cry from the spice markets of Morocco. Finally, the Leg of Lamb with porcini mushrooms and white bean puree suffered from the same lack of flavor as the other dishes and the meat was a little tough. Oh, and we figured out the reason for the cheap prices…it’s the small portions. The portion sizes would have been appropriate as part of a multi-course meal…if we had known we would leave hungry, we would each have ordered an appetizer to ourselves! Service was prompt and friendly.

$$. Most entrees are less than $12 (with daily specials around $15).