Barley Swine’s summer tasting menu just might be the best meal I’ve ever had. If you do one thing this summer, experience this seasonal menu.
It’s a tradition for <3M and I to go to Barley Swine on Christmas Eve for their tasting menu. But lately, we’ve both been working a lot — him taking late-night calls with his team oversea, and me, who continues working even when I get home which has limited our quality time together.
So, as a way for us to take a break from the grind, I made a surprise reserdation for us to celebrate Christmas in July at Barley Swine (it was also our engagement anniversary, which is why you see ‘happy anniversary’ on the menu below).
We started the evening with a round of cocktails. A Day at the Races with tequila, rhubarb, jasmine, orange blossom, and lemon for me and Aces are High with bourbon, pasubio vino amaro, rosemary, and peychauds for <3M. If you’re not up for a cocktail, Barley Swine also has a few tempting mocktail options to try on their new summer menu. Let me know how they are!
Going into the meal, I was a bit hesitant looking at our tasting menu. I was nervous more so for <3M because while we are foodies, we have very specific and different tastes. For him: no mushrooms, celery, or ‘animals with fins’ and for me: nothing with four feet. This usually means we end up with slightly different menus but mostly the same.
Here’s a look at our meal highlights, though to be honest, every dish was STELLAR.
To start was this blue crab, marigold, green bean course. This was like a savory panna cotta and the blue grab was light and fresh. The perfect way to kick-off the meal.
Up next was the shishito pepper tamale. This reminded me of an inside out tamale or a chile rellano with the masa on the inside and a perfectly light, crispy crunch on the outside.
The tomato, blueberry, grains green chile mousse dish was our third course at Barley Swine. I loved the hint of green chile in the foam, the crunch of the grain, and the surprise sweetness from the blueberries. It was definitely in the running for my favorite dish.
However, I believe the shrimp dumpling, hot sauce, fried bun, herbs was both mine and <3M’s favorite dish of the evening. The bun was crispy but fluffy in the center. We sandwiched it with succulent shrimp, a house hot sauce, and fresh herbs for a bit of brightness. It was full of flavor. I want to come back to Barley Swine just to eat these from dinner one night.
While my menu says goat above, I asked this dish to be switched out for a vegetarian option. The chef surprised me with this roasted carrot, vegetarian chorizo, house feta, and corn course. This was a vegetarian’s dream. The carrot was smokey, the feta salty, and the crunchy corn added texture. Banger’s should tap Barley Swine for this recipe because it was the perfect ‘mock sausage.’
Summer tasting menu desserts
We wrapped our meal with two desserts. Celery sorbet, peanut, chamomile served as a palate cleanser. At first, I was baffled with this combination but thinking about it now, it’s a modern, refined take on the traditional ants on a log from my childhood. Even <3M, who dispises celery, enjoyed this dish enough to finish it entirely.
Our final dish of the evening was one <3M said he loved the most, corn mochi, coriander, blackberry, cojeta. I was amazed by the subtle sweet corn flavor throughout, the chewiness of the mochi, and the meringue twigs. It was a texture lover’s dream. And, best yet, during Swine Hour (Barley Swine’s happy hour) desserts are half off so if you want to give this dish a taste, hit it up then with a bottle of wine for 25% off!
We left this meal in the happiest of food comas and couldn’t stop raving about the dishes. It was the BEST experience we’ve had in a very long time (even better than past Christmas Eve tastings!).
If you’re interested in the summer tasting menu, you can grab the summer Barley Swine tasting at a steal for $65 if you visit Sunday-Thursday between 5-6pm (normally $95). I highly recommend reservations.
Have you had the Barley Swine summer tasting menu yet? What’s some of your favorite seasonal menus in Austin this year?
