BarFry

I only have a few things to say about this place.
1. Everything is fried
2. very cute, inside and out.
3. Everything is fried
4. OUT OF BUSINESS

BarFry combines two great words together. I arrived excited after skimming the menu and decided, yes, it was going to be a very good night indeed.
It definitely started out on a good note. Since I was early, I perched myself on, what else, but the bar and decided to have a go at the wine list. The Rioja was decent and service was attentive and friendly. To make things better, a few amuse bouches were brought out courtesy of the chef. First up was a seaweed wrapped veggie roll with rice and what I guess was horseradish or some type of pickled vegetable. It was tasty but nothing mind blowing.
If you look at the menu, there isn’t rhyme nor reason to it. Where do 36 hours braised short ribs have any correlation with po boys or tempura? That’s the only consistent thing about the menu. However, whatever the kitchen produces happens to be consistently good. The wasabi infused pickles were so pickly and just the way I like them. Beef tartare was tasty and tangy, served with the same pickles from our other side dish. The tempura is what is featured here but I found it to be the most uninteresting items on the menu. We ordered it for kicks. While anything panko incrusted anything can’t be bad, it just seems too simple to just panko crust anything. Perhaps that’s why there were 4 sauces to accompany the 3 fried scallops. Unfortunately, for various sauces provided, there wasn’t nearly enough scallops! The front runner of the night was the pork cutlet po boy, hands down. With kimchee incorporated into the sandwich of lightly battered pork, it was a success from the get go. The flavors weren’t too potent to mask each other but delicious. The crunchiness of the panko added that crunchiness that is lacking in most sandwiches.
The service at BarFry was mostly great from beginning to end. It did get busy during rush hour but the food was still brought out timely and the waiter was conscious of when our glasses and plates were empty. The executive chef, Josh even served us one of our plates and came out from the kitchen to greet tables. Environmentally, it is casual and reminiscent of a New England fish bar with dim lighting and bar tops and stools with a slight retro feel to it.
On the downside, I didn’t leave thinking it was the best new restaurant but that the most consistent aspect was it’s inconsistency. From previous Unilocal reviews, the green tea cupcake was supposed to be the greatest thing next to buttered slice bread. While it was good, it definitely wasn’t worth the $ 5 it cost! I’ll take the buttered bread.

It’s fried, so it’s good.
One thing that was a big favorite but taken off the menu was the beef beignet, which was a fried donut stuffed with braised short rib. Yum.
This is a better place for drinking and eating, rather sitting for a full fried meal. Unless you’re me. I like fried foods better than those with more delicate constitutions. So I can really layer on a meal of various tempuras of vegetables, meats, and croquettes.
One disappointment was the oyster po’boy, whose batter slipped too easily off and there was just too much unflavourful slaw.
The service is attentive and friendly and there is plenty of room for those in wheelchairs.
The sesame, bay leaf, and green tea ice creams are a nice flavor-​packed change from chocolate or vanilla.

Stopped by here on a lazy Saturday afternoon between brunch and dinner. Bar Fry is perfect for portion control, but the food was so good, we couldn’t really stop ourselves anyways. The tempura is perfectly cooked. Fried, but greaseless. The vegetable tempura was actually better than the fish. Beautiful avocado and pumpkin.
Service was fantastic. Very friendly and attentive. This is perfect for a snack or a full-​out meal.

What’s not like about avocado tempura? Had a great meal here with some friends here on Sunday night. The highlights were the avocado and pumpkin tempura and the tuna tartar dish. The desserts are not to miss. The green tea cupcake was amazing, as was the black sesame and green tea ice cream. The staff was really friendly and helpful. I was surprised that there weren’t more people in there that night.

I don’t know that I’d classify this place as Japanese, there seems to be a multitude of cultural influences since there are Po Boys and kim chee infused choices. We asked our server for recommendations, he said the Pork Cutlet Po Boy, the Chicken Fried Steak Po Boy, the Short Ribs, and the Fluke. There were 3 of us, 2 got the CFSPB (with the fried egg on top) and I got the PCPB. I can’t say that I eat food this heavy very often but once in awhile I get inspired especially since I LOVE sandwiches. Mine was delicious. The pork cutlet was thin and I believe it was breaded in panko so there was that light crunchiness but then there was also kim chee which added a sweet and hot flavor as well as a bit of juice to soften up the whole sandwich. I recommend it with hot sauce. My friends both seemed to love their sandwiches and while I needed a walk afterwards I’d say it was well worth it. The service was awesome, the staff there are all fairly chipper, it’s almost like they’re a group of guys excited to be serving good, macho fried food to the carb-​starved masses of NY. I wouldn’t get the Tempranillo here though, it’s a bit too sweet and fruity. The Green Tea cupcake sounded intriguing but I couldn’t do it, perhaps next time!

Green tea cupcake. Hands down automatically gets 5 stars. My friend and I had the tempura scallops. Good texture and light. The dipping sauces also gave the scallops a good kick.

Cool place, I hope it survives. We went on a Friday night around seven and it wasn’t too busy. Long marble bar, huge blackboard on the back wall and blackboards in the bathrooms so you can write a note/​poem/​graffiti, you get the idea, pretty original in my book.
Service was very nice, the food was paced out so nothing was got stacked up one course to the next.
The cocktails were good, I had a samurai sling, which was some beer, grapefruit juice, gin & something else, it was light, pretty good. My wife had a julep something made with bourbon & pomegranate juice, which was tasty. Also had a pale ale made specifically for Bar Fry which (no surprise custom made) went perfectly with the food.
Ah, the food. Hits all around. Started with wasabi & olive oil pickles, very good and a nice bite to cut through the tempura and a good tuna sashimi. Then tried a couple of tempura dishes, green beans & pumpkin. They were served with four different sauces, a spicy yazu sauce, a jalapeo soy sauce and sweet miso sauce and another mayo like sauce which I was told went well w/​seafood, but didn’t have any seafood tempura, so didn’t use much of it past a bite. The tempura batter is quite good, light, tasty, you have a lot of options of what to get fried. I liked both the green beans & the pumpkin.
For a main course, we split a shrimp po’ boy. Best dish of the night, but all were good. You do need to load up on dishes to fill up, so it can get expensive. I will be going back, probably to have a drink at the bar w/​a few tempura snacks (and down the road another full on dinner).
I would recommend it, and have my fingers crossed this place can last.

We were pleasantly entertained by the tempura parade at the beginning of our meal: scallops, pork dumpling, pork cutlets, shiitake mushrooms, onion rings. dipped in four different sauces (i recall a jalapeño-​soy, a sweet miso, some sort of wasabi remoulade, and some crazy spicy red sauce). We also sampled a little bowl of their riff on wasabi peas, which were crisp, cold snow peas, slathered in wasabi and sea salt. Delicious, really.
The downside came when we received our entrees. I had the pork cutlet po’boy (drawn to it solely because of the kimchee topping), my friends had the shrimp po’boy and the Barfry burger. The po’boys came on these monstrosities of French bread, far too much hard, molar-​grinding white bread than we would have preferred for the rather mild flavors. I think the kimchee on my sandwich helped moisten and flavor up the bread a bit, but my buddy ended up giving up and just picking out the shrimp from its doughy grave. My other buddy only got a couple bites into his burger before the bun completely disintegrated, and he too had to pick at his meat with a fork (I helped).
We were all very underwhelmed by our sandwiches — maybe the entrees would be better. But if we were to return, we’d probably just load up on the various tempura bar snacks, repeatedly, until we were finally full.

5 star cocktails (especially the passionfruit basil martini — unexpectedly fresh fruit taste rather than syrupy artificial sweetness) and 5 star food and service. Josh and his staff do a fantastic job with this cozy, yet slick dining spot. White walls, chalkboard-​rustic aesthetic, tiny wired lights all make for a charming backdrop for a wonderful meal.
Tip: select the Bar Flight for your meal. Chef Josh will prepare whatever fresh sashimi options and tempura and other delectables for your neverending dinner. It is supposed to be five courses but ends up being somewhere like seven or eight. The most memorable part was a surprisingly stunning SALAD of tempura fried egg (!) with soft center over arugula, pickled turnips, walnuts… it was so well balanced and delicious. Unbelievable. The tempura was the least impressive and most forgettable part of the meal, although the shiitake mushroom tempura was quite good. I would recommend NOT ordering tempura and focusing on the fresh fish dishes.
I had a great time there, but definitely make reservations before you go!

Wha, wha. This place closed. I’m sorry for Josh, but can’t wait to see what he does next because he is an awesome chef (and person) and I believe in him. xoxo.
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I am a BIG fan of Josh DeChellis. I loved Sumile and could never understand why it never caught on. Josh is cutting-​edge. Barfry is totally his style.
I must admit, I’m not really a fan of Tempura. However, his was ever so slightly fried and his daily specials and sides are NOT Tempuraized, so balance is achieved.
A great resto to go with friends who like to share. That way, you can have your Tempura and not gain an extra ass.

At first glance it looks like a hair salon with the mirrors and white walls/​tables. Pretty much everything is tempura, except for a few specials on the chalkboard which are pretty much ignored since this is a first visit for most people and they would rather just have fried stuff, or burgers. Drinks are pushed, but even with tap water, your bottle and glasses will be topped off quickly and without you even noticing. Watch the prices though, you can easily drop $ 40 per person (or raise your cholesterol 40 points from fried-​ness).
The Wasabi/​olive oil pickles are very good, crisp and cold, but the wasabi presence was weak, nothing sinus –clearing. Tempura items are served by weight, meaning 3 pieces of shrimp or scallops vs one big piece of cod. 3 tempuras or 2 with a side are the equal to a po’ boy in price and food-​ness. The crab cakes are excellent on texture and flavor, not just cheap ‘krab’ with old bay on them. Sauces were quite good, and though only the chili citrus gave any noticeable heat, they all became favorites as we dipped the string beans in. I left full, but predictably queasy, which stuck with me for a few hours afterward. Not a good way to leave off.
The music was god-​awful and loud; Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam? «Smells like Teen Spirit» was skipped after a few seconds, but the feeling like someone bought up all the old CD’s I sold 5 years ago, burned them on an iPod and set it to ‘totally random’, gave bad vibes, and in no way fit in with the décor, food or clientele. I’d skip going back just on the music, seriously.

Tempura is the name of the game here. My friend and I split the wasabi peas (delicious and not too overpowering), tempura pumpkin (a little mealy, maybe?) and the tempura crab cake (can’t complain). Interesting beer list but a bit overpriced. I had a bottle of Samuel Smith oatmeal stout for $ 7. I felt like that should have been on tap instead of the Blue Point blueberry — who wants a fruity beer in December? The special was $ 3 PBR cans — a little weird for this nice-​ish restaurant. Very clean-​lined, white-​tiled décor: calming but a little boring. Seems like a fine spot to grab a bite if you’re in the neighborhood.

It’s prolly closer to a 2 overall but I enjoyed the Steak Tartare dish alot so I’ll round up instead of down. We ordered 3 tempura dishes, the Pumpkin, Chicken Fried Steak, and the Pork Cutlet. The pumpkin was pretty bland, not so sweet, the Steak, which I though would be a thicker piece (based on a photo I had seen) was very thin and really a disgrace to chicken fried steaks.(Not really sure why it was different then what I had seen my friend eating but perhaps it was a cost issue) The Pork cutlet was my favorite but was nothing spectacular either. Other than that we supplemented with the Seafood Gumbo and the aforementioned Steak Tartare. The gumbo was good but fairly small and the Tartare was my favorite of the night. All this and a beer each cost us 80 bucks total and we needed to go to Joe’s to get a slice to fill up…

I really wanted to like this place, I mean, who doesn’t like FRIED FOOD? My friends and I who work only a few blocks away have been waiting to try this place. The fact that’s there an entire restaurant based around tempura is awesome, but the experience as well as the food falls short of anything I would consider awesome.
The menu looks tasty and appetizing and most of it was good, but not for the prices. My friend ordered the avocado tempura. You get ONE sliver of avocado for $ 5.
I ordered scallops tempura and crab cake tempura. The scallops were delicious, the crab cake tasted like air — no taste whatsoever. If I’m eating a crab cake, I want it to taste like there’s crab in it. Or else what’s the point? A friend and I also split the county fried steak po ‘boy, which was really yummy but there was just too much going on for me to really enjoy it.
The dipping sauces they give you are pretty good, my favorite was the wasabi remoulade… what better to go with fried food than something creamy? Am I right?! This is not the place to go if you’re watching your weight!
Drinks — I order a «darky mark» which the menu listed as Maker’s Mark, pomegranate juice and bitters. To the lush inside of me, this sounded delicious. When the drink arrived in front of my face the thing was swimming with mint leaves, (funny, I didn’t see that on the menu) more mint leaves than one would find in a mojito. I couldn’t drink it, the mint overpowered the simplicity of anything else that was in the drink.
Dessert, who doesn’t love dessert. They had four ice cream flavors. Green tea, black sesame, chamomile and bay leaf. You could choose three scoops for $ 9. My boyfriend and I chose the green tea, black sesame and chamomile. The green tea ice cream didn’t taste anything like green tea. The black sesame, you only got a taste of sesame at the very end. The chamomile hits your tongue like High School Musical on Ice and you’re asking your self, «why is this in my mouth it’s taking over my soul!!!» — but I’m not really a fan of chamomile tea to begin with, so maybe I’m biased. Although, the chamomile is a good stomach settler after all the grease you just stuffed your face with.
My boyfriend also had one of their «green tea cupcakes» — the green tea flavor was there, I wish the green tea ice cream had that much flavor. The texture was terrible, it was dry and crumbly and overall mediocre — i. e, not worth the $ 5 or $ 6 it cost for one.
After a BarFry experience your wallet and stomach will be hating you for exposing them to such things. So be prepared.
The only redeeming qualities of this place are the wait staff who were extremely friendly and helpful (a HARD thing to come by in NYC), the blackboard walls in the bathroom (!!!), and the fact that when we were leaving they gave us a «20% off lunch» card — but I’ll be giving that away to someone else.

Bar Fry is excellent! The people who work there are super friendly, the food is delicious (eat it quick before it gets cold, though… that last string bean was not nearly as good as the first) they have a pretty big menu of fried stuff, and their fresh wasabi peas were good, too.
BONUS: if you go before they get their liquor license, you can bring your own beer, wine, or liquor. There is a liquor and wine store very close by. All if not lost once they have their license, though, as their drinks menu looked pretty good, too!
ADDITIONAL BONUS: They don’t put salt on things, but give you salt to put on yourself. (well, you put the salt on the food, not on yourself, but you know what I mean) Great if you are concerned about your health. If you are actually concerned about your health, maybe a restaurant that is all about the fried food might be a questionable choice, even if they do use a very light batter on things.
Bottom line: if you like tempura, you will probably like this place, they fry up some good food at decent prices.

BarFry is FINALLY open. I’ve been watching them remodel and build this place for the past 2 months. It looks great. I haven’t gotten a chance to eat here yet but the menu of this West Village Japanese tempura bar looks amazing.
Deep Fried seafood (scallops, crab cakes), veggies (shiitake, pumpkin), and meat (pork dumplings, chicken fried steak) with dipping sauces. And they also have po’boys, beef beignets, bar sides, cocktails, and desserts…
I’ll update my review as soon as I get a chance to eat here… YUM!