LA Locals Love: Barton G. Hollywood Review

A few months ago as I was scrolling through my Instagram, a ridiculous photo caught my eye. It was this enormous cotton candy concoction placed pretty on a white glass bust of a woman. I immediately saw that it was my former employee and DM-ed him for the details. It looked fascinating and I had to know everything; where, what, who, why and how I can get my hands on it.

He immediately texted back and said, “Barton G in WeHo (West Hollywood)! You’ve never heard of it? You MUST go“.

I looked it up as fast as I could and made reservations for my fiance’s birthday dinner. I didn’t even look at the price (although in hindsight I perhaps should have) but knew Barton G would be an exciting way to celebrate since we were going to be staycationing in downtown Los Angeles anyway.

Appetizers: 

Holy Smokes Popcorn – “Bacon & White Truffle nitro popcorn with fresh black truffles, grated parmesan and fresh herbs” – $19.00

This was my favorite dish of the entire dinner at Barton G. I’m a popcorn lover, sure, but it was scrumptious and fun to eat. After the waiter confirmed my love for Harry Potter, he told me to cast a spell (wingardium leviosa!) and he took the seasoning out of a lantern and concocted the popcorn. The nitrogen was blowing out of our mouths as we ate. So fun!

Lobster Pop Tarts –“Maine Lobster, gruyere and Pernod mornay sauce baked in flakey phyllo pastry, Tabasco Hollandaise, tarragon aioli” – $26.00 

As adorable as the presentation was – I mean it came in a toaster for goodness sake – the actual taste wasn’t my favorite. The combination of the sauce and gruyere was way too potent for my liking and ended up letting my fiance eat both of it. I do have to give it to them though, they were fairly generous with the amount of lobster in the pop tarts!

Drinks:

Moscow Mule –“Grey Goose Vodka, fresh squeezed lime juice, ginger syrup, fresh ginger and lime wedge” – $18.00

I admit, this was the most disappointing thing ordered at Barton G. If they’re not going to do anything special with the Moscow Mule presentation other than put a “G” lamp on a plate with the classic drink, don’t charge $18 for it! Also, it wasn’t even that good of a Moscow Mule.

Buddhalicious –“Pear infused Vodka, lychee and cranberry juice with a nitrogenized pop of Pear Vodka” – $22.00

Unlike the sad Moscow Mule, the Buddhalicious was so much fun! The presentation was adorable and the drink was STRONG. The white stick you see in the martini glass is nitrogenized vodka, so as it melts, the drink gets even stronger! Definitely worth it.

Entrees: 

Samurai Swordfish – “Char grilled longline California Swordfish Steak with sake-ginger glaze, sprouting broccoli, sweet onion soubise, charred scallion and country ham fizz” – $33.00

Other than the life-sized samurai sword, it’s a fairly normal dish of swordfish. Although props to Barton G, swordfish isn’t the easiest fish to cook right but they succeeded! Yum!

Kobe’s Giant Wiener – Approximately $33.00

Unfortunately I couldn’t locate the Barton G menu description or the exact price but as you can tell on the photo, it’s basically a hotdog entree. The hotdog is topped with bright green relish and truffle slices. It comes with BBQ chips and an adorable wiener dog in a hot dog costume! The hotdog was a foot long and no, I couldn’t finish it! Imagine eating a fancy, high quality hotdog….and paying $33 for it, haha.

Dessert:

Dolla Dolla Bills Y’all!!! – “Mega rich chocolate ganache tart with dulce de leche and soft meringue, under a gold brick shell. Graham cracker crust, chocolate-feuilletine golden nuggets.” – $36.00

Of all the ridiculous dishes at Barton G, this dessert truly took the cake! The Dolla Dolla Bills Y’all (yes, that’s what it’s called) is absolutely insane. The waiter brings this enormous display along with a mask and torch burner. He then starts blowing the torch at the ‘gold brick’ as it melts to expose a chocolate tart. The performance doesn’t end there! See the gold blob to the right? They start stabbing that with a huge knife until it cracks open; it’s vanilla ice cream with a thick, hard white chocolate shell painted with gold. I know, so bougie! As much as I wanted to order 2 desserts for content sake, there was no way we could. We didn’t even finish half this dish! The tart was so delicious and it was fun eating the chocolate coins, parts of the gold bar and the ice cream.

Tips & Overall Thoughts:

• Overall Thoughts –Barton G is truly the most ridiculous, extravagant, bizarre and outrageous experience I have ever had in dining. When I try to explain it to others, I tell them it’s almost the complete opposite of my time at Opaque, a dining experience completely in the dark. It overwhelms your senses in an exciting way and they don’t cheap out on the quality of food. I was impressed by the flavor and quality, as well as the friendly service of the staff. They treat you and the dishes like it’s the first time they’ve served it, which I so appreciate! Every table looked like they were celebrating a special occasion and I can understand that, since it’s not somewhere I would go just for dinner. Plus, it’s a bit of a splurge. 
• Tips –Make reservations! They’re still very much popular and getting reservations can be tricky. I made reservations 2 months in advance and couldn’t get a ‘normal’ dinner time. The earliest I could get one was at 8:45PM. The entire time, all the way up to 11:00PM when we left, the place was packed! 

Information:
Address: 861 N Lacienega Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90069
Phone: 310-388-1888
Website: http://www.bartong.com
Parking: Valet
Other Locations: Barton G – Miami, Florida

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Menu description credit: OpenTable