Neighbourhood Spanish cooking at Barrio

NEW RESTAURANT Barrio by Kulto 73 Hillcrest Road Singapore 288945 Tel: 8328-7467 Open for lunch and dinner Tues to Sun: 12 pm to 2.30 pm; 5 pm to 11.30 pm. All day on Sat and Sun: 11 am to 10.30 pm

WELCOME to the neighbourhood. Or so you think is the concept behind Barrio – Spanish for neighbourhood, namely the Greenwood Avenue enclave at Hillcrest. We envision warm, rustic vibes. Mediterranean hospitality. Convivial hosts who can’t wait to ply you with the hearty food and wine of their motherland. Until we step foot into this Barrio, whose server looks at us like a neighbour whose self-claimed parking spot we just pulled into by mistake.

Never mind. Wearing a T-shirt that says “We Love Paella” but clearly omitting the words “I Hate People” on the other side, our prickly host nonetheless leads us to a rather nice roomy table against a wall lined with potted flowers like those colourful planter boxes ubiquitous in tiny Spanish villages. Except that here, some of the flower petals look so uncannily withered like our Chinese New Year pom-pom arrangement on its last legs, we blurt out, “Are these real?” to Mr Personality before we can stop ourselves. He shuts us down without even looking up from pouring our sparkling water: “No.”