Eating at Mi Barrio Hitchin in The George Pub

Dann and I love adventures and fun, one-off events, so when we saw The George Pub in Hitchin was running a Street Art festival for one day, we wanted to see exactly what that meant! This festival ran from midday until dinnertime, so we stopped by in the middle of the time, to see how everything was set up and to try some of the food served by Mi Barrio Hitchin in The George Pub. This is a bit of an interesting one; Mi Barrio Hitchin basically rents the pub’s kitchen, creating their own South American Tapas that can be purchased and eaten within the pub. Let’s get into the food.

The menu for Mi Barrio Hitchin is on the smaller side, all of which are tapas. We tried roughly half the menu, eating one out of three of the smallest bites, two of the tree meat bites, three of the four vegetable bites, and zero of the two fish bites. We do feel the smaller size menu makes a lot of sense when it comes to this sort of renting a kitchen type deal, and all of the plates themselves were really delicious! As these were tapas, Dann and I shared them all.

Chimichurri Verde Olives and Padrons Del Jefe

Starting off very green, we got the chimichurri verde olives, which are green olives with pits, covered in a chimichurri and in some oil. They were really fresh and full of flavor – it’s clear the chimichurri was made recently, as it packed a bit of a punch. Often, olives as a starter can be a bit of a extra charge without much flavor, but these really did feel fantastic. The Padrons Del Jefe are a type of pepper we often get, as they are roasted and delicious. I did very much like the seasoning on these, which was different from classic salt. On the side, it came with a coriander sour cream, which was way more liquid than a sour cream is to me. We didn’t get big dips of this, due to the oil on the peppers making most of the sauce drip off, but the amount we did get on did add a creamy, delicious taste.

Tostones Rellenos and Chicharron con Suero Costeno

Dann and I each picked a meat dish, with him selecting the Tostones Rellenos. This was a fried plantain bowl, filled with 10 hour, slow roasted beef brisket, topped with guacamole and salsa. It was really flavorful, with the guacamole clearly being very fresh. The bowl itself was a little messy to eat, but was such a fun and interesting thing! The meat was falling a part tender. I really loved this! The pork, which our server at Mi Barrio Hitchin said was her favorite, was absolutely fantastic. The meat bit of the pork was tender, while the top was super, super crispy and delicious. This pork came with a Colombian sour cream, and a white cabbage and radish salad cured with lime, which brightened up the pork. I am very picky with pork belly and this really hit the mark for me.

Costillas de Maiz and Yuca Fries

Adding to our tapas, we got the Costillas de Maiz, which are corn ribs, coated in butter, with parmesan cheese. On the side was a smoky chipotle and sweet pineapple mayonnaise. I think these corn ribs would be even more fantastic with any other type of cheese, as parmesan is a little strong, but with the dip it was very well balanced. I do like the idea of corn ribs, and it’s a lot of fun to eat! The yuca fries at Mi Barrio Hitchin were the only thing that I didn’t really care for. These were crispy on the outside but quite dough-y on the inside, and didn’t have much flavor at all. The coriander aioli wasn’t to my taste either, but Dann quite enjoyed them, though he had the same comment on the odd texture.

Street Art Festival at The George Pub Hitchin

One of the reasons we went there was because of the street art! Along the back, which is normally a carpark, there were a handful of panels set up with artists painting away. When we arrived, about an hour into the time, there were some paintings fully done and others in-progress. Everyone was having a drink, checking them out, and having a good time. There was even a panel for children to decorate with the paint bottles scattered around, along with a bunch of paint cans (all used up) that they were decorating on a table. It was really neat to see people painting live and to see how much progress was made after we had eaten our meal inside the pub.

Inside the The George Pub, there is a very family vibe. The front has a few tables and a large, fully stocked bar. There were plenty of seats as you want towards the back, which was nice, along with some outdoor seating which was filled with street art people! They have this drink that we often have in Finland, which is called “long drink” there, which is grapefruit – it’s fantastic. The staff were very kind and clearly had a lot of regulars coming in and out. It was very nice to go along to such a fun event and stumble into some frankly fantastic food!

Check out some of our other restaurant reviews!