NYC's 5 Best Restaurants For Sangria
Pampano Botaneria, the downstairs bar at Pampano restaurant, has eight sangrias on their spring menu, so several visits may be in order. In addition to relatively traditional red and white versions, you may want to try the Kiwi Rosé, with a rosé wine base, Cointreau, kiwi and white grapes, or the Blueberry Lemonade, a white wine based recipe with cognac, blueberries, and fresh lemon and lime juices. All are available by the glass or in small or large pitchers, perfect to wash down the bar's antojitos and tapitas.
Tertulia's house sangria is a traditional recipe: dry red wine, brandy de Jerez, orange liqueur, fresh orange and lemon juice. The non-traditional twist comes from the fact that it's served on tap. The sangria base is poured from their taps over ice and then topped with macerated seasonal fruit and finished with a splash of Sprite. In addition to their house sangria, keep an eye out for seasonal sangrias on the menu from time to time, like the upcoming beer sangria, made with lager style beer, peach brandy, fresh lemon juice, and topped with seasonal fruit.
This East Village standout serves up their unique, Filipino twist on sangria to pair well with their cuisine. They keep the traditional red wine base, but add Santa Teresa rum, guava, and demerara sugar. The fruit garnish varies by the season, but you'll find the sangria on the menu both day and night.
The Sangria Vienna at Edi and the Wolf is a summery, Austrian take on the drink, made with a base of Austrian Grüner, a strawberry rhubarb compote made in house from chefs Eduard Frauneder and Wolfgang Ban, fresh mint and elderflower syrup. It gets a finishing touch with a topper of a sparkling Austrian Riesling.
This jumping Jamaican spot offers red and white sangrias, or as they call it, Dutty Wine, for brunch and dinner. Although no two bartenders make the exact same recipe, they are all likely to make use of fruit purees. On a recent Saturday, the red sangria had a dash of raspberry and the white was laced with a tropical note of passionfruit. Both are served over ice and garnished with citrus and apples.
Laren Spirer is yet another lawyer (and freelance writer) obsessed with food and drink, who also blogs at Sweet Blog o' Mine and tweets at @sweetblogomine.
