Bar Vlaha - Review - Brookline - Boston - The Infatuation

"Bar Vlaha fills a particular niche in Boston’s ever-growing Greek scene. Vlach food is rustic shepherd food, from the nomadic Vlach people of northern Greece, and this Brookline restaurant specializes in it. Walking in the door here is like entering a tent hot-boxed with lamb, with heavy smoke from pork and fennel sausage, wild boar, and fish. If you’re lucky, you’ll get seated in the small section of the dining room separated from the kitchen with glass walls, where you can watch what looks like a fire show at a circus arts party in a warehouse. Order a bottle from the wine list stocked with rarely seen selections from northern and central Greece, and start with three or six of the spreads—the taramosalata is particularly good—before moving on to the spit-roasted lamb leg. photo credit: Joe St. Pierre photo credit: Joe St. Pierre photo credit: Joe St. Pierre Pause Unmute Bar Vlaha is the rare restaurant that just might introduce you to flavors you’ve never experienced before, through familiar ingredients cooked in unfamiliar ways. This is one of the toughest reservations to get in town for good reason, so unless you show up right at 5pm on a Wednesday (and even that’s iffy), force your friends, family, or strangers on the street to commit to a night out roughly a month in the future so you can try it all. Food Rundown Taramosalata This carp roe spread tastes like a fishy mayonnaise and is served with warm housemade sourdough bread. Lemon gives it a nice brightness, but this is one for the real fish heads out there. Loukaniko Served as a mezze, we could make a whole meal out of this Greek sausage. There’s tons of fennel in here too, and you’ll want to dredge the slices in the tangy mustard. Arni Stin Souvla We’re unapologetic lamb leg fans, but we’re not lucky enough to get it roasted on a spit all that often. That’s changed with Bar Vlaha. It’s all about the tender meat in this dish, roasted to smoky perfection with a heady dose of garlic. Kolokithokeftedes (Zucchini Fritters) These fritters are made with zucchini, brackish feta, and handfuls of herbs. Dunk them liberally in the makalo pepper and garlic dipping sauce." - Tanya Edwards