Baranis - I'll take you to the South of France

Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge, describes Pétanque as "a form of boules where the goal is, while standing inside a starting circle with both feet on the ground, to throw hollow metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet (literally "piglet") or jack."

Sounds fun, right? It conjures up images of the South of France, wine, sunshine, beaches... ahh. Oh wait, it’s February. Its cold. It’s London. But fear not, if you think a taste of the South of France is what you need in these depressing months, Baranis will help you out.

( Sorry, random people in this photo. I wasn't aiming for you)

I really hate February, as I have described in previous posts. My credit card statement is a testimony to this. As the only way I find to get me through this month is internet shopping. I mean, think about it. January, there are new presents to play with and resolutions to keep. March, it’s almost April and April has Easter, which means more sunshine and a potential holidays. May is practically Summer.  June/July/August/September its warm enough to justify drinking outside so what could be bad? October, I spend a lot of time winter wardrobe shopping so that’s not so bad. November is leading up to Christmas and December has Christmas.

Basically, my visit to Baranis could not have come at a better time. Baranis is a relatively new addition to the scene, arriving around Christmas time to the outskirts of Bankerland. It’s the bar of Cigalon (the life changing-ly good restaurant I visited last month). I had high hopes. No pressure or anything, Baranis. Anyway, back to Petanque. They have a court here. In fact, they have the only indoor court in the UK. (Please note – Petanque is not a sport for heels unless you’re particularly apt at walking on gravel in those Louboutins)

Baranis is located beneath Cigalon, in the basement area. The décor is adorable. Arches everywhere, little nooks and crannies, lime green pillars, you might as well be in the South of France. There is low lighting and mismatching chairs. It’s gorgeous. Even the waitresses are in cute and nautical, white and blue striped tops. It's weird - there is something about the atmosphere that seems to make all troubles melt away. Even better, The Boyfriend's blackberry didnt get reception so our meal went uninterupted by world collapsing/phonecalls/emails etc.

Starving, The Boyfriend and I started with a Charcuterie plate for £9.50.  I had an issue with the presentation. Maybe its my OCD/love of organization but I kind of wanted to take this, and line up all the different dried meats in columns, instead of having to poke around to find them. I liked the charcuterie but didn’t love it – I think the one at Comptoir Gascon (the Piggy Treats) is actually better and it pales in comparison to the one at Tom’s Kitchen, although it is half the price.  

We also had Bread for £1.50, which is a bargain for what we received. Normally, I don’t think you should have to pay for bread in a restaurant, but as this is really a bar/wine bar this was more than reasonable, especially when you consider how wonderful the bread was. It was warm and the lovely butter they served with it just melted away into it.

We then moved on to a selection of cheeses, which were artfully presented and another good bargain at £8.00. The cheeses were lovely and organized from mildest to strongest. The first 4 I adored, but the last 2 I found too strong. Overall? Lovely.

We then moved on to our only hot dish of the evening a squid dish with caponata for £8.00. It was again, great. The squid was perfectly cook and melded well with the aubergine and roasted peppers. Perhaps, there could have been more squid but that was my only complaint.

I have to say at this point, I normally love short menus. I hate too much choice but with Baranis I kind of felt the menu was a bit too short. Perhaps this really isn’t meant to be used as a dinner alternative, which would be a waste if that were the case. Or maybe i'm just being too picky.

We moved on to dessert where we had a citrus crème brulee for £3.00, which was perfect. Nice crunchy top, lovely smooth texture underneath and cute candied limes on top.

I didn’t love the dessert wines we had with this, which says something if I actually manage to pick up on something about the wine.  We tried 2 and I found them too bitter and aggressive to work well with the Crème Brulee but oh well. The wine list itself is pretty good. They have and impressively large section of wines from Southern France and prices start at £3.50 for a glass and £19 for a bottle. Another bargain. The cocktails also looked good.

There’s one major problem with this place however. You know when your holiday is coming to an end and you have to start packing/ hoarding the free toiletries and you start talking about what time you need to be at the airport and how you’re going to get there and suddenly you’re heart just sinks because its suddenly hits you - its over. It wasn’t real life, it was fantasy. At the risk of sounding over the top, I kind of felt like that leaving Baranis.

But eventually, we had to leave as it closes at 11. At least, my credit card issues maybe saved. It came to £60.00 most of which was booze related. Not only was this pretty good value but the experience left me so happy I probably won't be online shopping for at least a week. Its truly a wonderful place. I can't wait to come back. I just hope they like me as much as I like them, because I intend to make Baranis my every Thursday place.

115 Chancery Lane,

WC2A PP

London