Deagan's, What Bar Food Should Be

It can be hard to get my husband to a bar sometimes. He's not a bar dude. He doesn't enjoy chicken fingers, Bud Light or ESPN. I don't enjoy those things either so I can't complain, but I like to get my drink on from time to time. Finding Deagan's Kitchen & Bar in Lakewood was eye opening for us. It was everything we wanted in a bar. The beautiful wood decor has soaked up loads of stories and laughs that bring me comfort as soon as I sit down. We ordered a few cocktails to kick off our visit. I love to order a Pimm's Cup. Its a refreshing vintage cocktail with the right amount of sweet. My husband always enjoys a White Russian in blistery weather.

I enjoy little plates and Deagan's is a great place to load up on sharing little plates. First, we ordered from the Bar Snacks. The Deviled Eggs Sampler was delicious! Goat Cheese, Pork Belly and Crab were the varieties that night. All excellent. Very rich and filling.

The #1 reason we love Deagan's so much and feel they are what bar food should be is their vegetable dishes. They can make a vegetable the star of your meal. They don't even have to batter and deep fry your veggies to make them something you'll crave. I can't think of many bars that pull that off.  The Shaved Brussels Sprouts with bacon, walnuts, smoked blue cheese is something I crave. It's an amazing bar food loaded with flavor.

Another great love I have at Deagan's is the Cured Meats & Cheese Boards. You can get a big board of everything or pick and choose. It comes with a little sweet and a little savory. Fresh warm bread, honey, jam and nuts. We got the salami tartufo with the 18-month beemster and red dragon. They were all amazing, but the red dragon was one of the best cheeses I've ever had. It's the mustard-like textured one at the top. It was the right amount of creamy.

To close out the meal I ordered a Wired Irishmen with Guiness & Van Gogh’s Espresso Vodka. You can't find beer cocktails everywhere so I order them when I see them. This was a good kick in the pants at the end of the meal.

Being able to pick at cheese boards and small plates leaves plenty of room for dessert. The Apple Peanut Butter Créme Brulée was incredibly rich. It had a bit of a pb&j flavor going on and resembled nothing like the creme brulee you conger in your mind, but was every bit delicious and amazingly creative.  Not your average bar dessert.

If you haven't been to Deagan's please check it out! They have some great specials like Wednesday Vegan's night and Taco Tuesday.

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Addiction Worthy Barroco Grill

You know when you are so into eating your meal that you completely forget to interact with your dining companions? That is addiction worthy food and Barroco Grill has that kind of food. Before I ever had a bite of Barroco's food, I fell hard for the atmosphere. Strings of lights, including lightup spiders and skeletons, glittery painted mural on the wall, unique touches are everywhere.

The place (Lakewood Location) was packed last night for the BYOB + Live Painting session with local artist, Anthony Martino. I picked up a few of his paintings that he gave me a 2 for deal on.

I still have a lot to try on the Barroco grill, but I already have some dishes I love so much that I can't not get them!

If I am up for an appetizer, it's got to be the cheesy corn. Dip arepa fries (fried polenta triangles) into cheesy corn. The chicken inside is just a bonus and the bacon is the the cherry on top. I have to admit that a ate a few bitefulls straight from the spork.

You can't go wrong ordering an arepa, but there are other gems on the menu as well. I adore the Sandwich Cubano and I am not the only one. Momocho chef, Eric Williams, loves them and always orders two.

What makes this place such a dream to me though is the sauces. They always bring out this carrier with five different sauces on it. Not only is it fun to try each sauce each time, it makes each bite of food more interesting. I love mixing the hot sauce with the big mac style sauce to dip french fries. I really dig the pineapple sauce on the Cubano. I am a sauce junkie!

My dinner companion ordered the Bistec a Caballo! Sexy, right? It was. A 12 oz. strip in a tomato and onion sauce with a poached egg on top. When I finally looked over to ask how it was it was almost gone, but it went something like this - "How is it?" "The only thing that could make this steak better is you being topless." There was just enough left over to take home and use for Sunday morning breakfast in bed omelet fillings.

I haven't had the pleasure of visiting the downtown location yet. If you've checked it out let me know what you tried.

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