Month: July 2019

Sangria 46 – New York, NY

I’m back in New York. When it comes to food, every time I visit New York I pretend like I have never been there before. This allows me to keep an open mind when it comes to restaurants. I want to always try something new, especially in a city that is always changing.

Neighborhood restaurants are the best to visit. To me they put the most love into their food. That is why I wanted to visit Sangria 46. It is a local Spanish restaurant that I knew would be as authentic as if I was in Spain.

I was greeted as soon as I walked in. It was a really nice feeling. When I sat down they brought me chips and homemade salsa right away. It was great to be able to munch on something as I looked over the menu.

Since I was at a place called sangria naturally I needed to order a sangria. I was thrilled to see that there was a Cava sangria on the menu. This is a true Spanish sangria that was blended with Cava (Spanish version of Champagne) brandy, triple sec, and fresh strawberries and peaches.

I decided not to mess around and just ordered a small pitcher. It was the perfect amount of sweetness. I always enjoy the bubbles that the Cava has. I knew this would go with anything that I ordered to eat.

Rather than getting a full dinner, I settled on ordering a few tapas. I figured that would be enough to fill me up. I started off with the Croquetas de Yucca. Yucca is very similar to potato, very starchy. They mashed it up just like mashed potatoes and mixed in cheese. Then they breaded and deep fried them. They were crunchy on the outside and very creamy on the inside.

The Empanadas Argentina came out next. The flakey pastry was stuffed with meat and then baked up till crispy. I ordered one beef and one chicken. Both had a savory taste. They used a generous amount of filling in these savory turnovers.

The final tapa I ordered was the Vieiras con Tocino. These are broiled scallops wrapped in bacon. The bacon was perfectly crisp and added a crunch and salty taste. This paired wonderfully with the sweet, tender scallops. The scallops also came in a garlic sauce with chucks of fresh garlic and peas. The peas added additional sweetness. The garlic stepped up the flavor to be a little more intense.

I saved enough room for dessert. The Limoncello Cake sounded delicious to me and the perfect end to my wonderful meal. The cake was moist and had a fantastic lemon flavor. The icing on the cake was sweet and creamy, which also had a great lemon taste. The flavor of the cake made it so fresh. It helped cleanse my palate from al the savory dishes I enjoyed.

Sangria 46 was a fantastic dining experience. The staff was extremely friendly and took great care of me. The food tasted great and the sangria was perfect. I would recommend everyone check them out if they visit New York City.

Visit their website at www.sangria46nyc.com

Enjoy!

T

The Oyster Pub – Daytona Beach, FL

The Oyster Pub has been serving up fresh oysters and seafood to the Daytona Beach community for over 30 years. They are also a great spot to watch your favorite sporting event on one of their many tv’s.

Whether you are waiting for a table or grabbing a seat at the bar – start your visit with a handful of fresh peanuts from their barrel. But please do not throw the shells on the floor; they provide containers for those.

After eating some salty peanuts, I grabbed a cocktail off their extensive drink menu. I went for The Beach Babe. It was loaded with fresh pineapple and orange juice, grenadine, and two rums – coconut and mango. This was the perfect drink for being at the beach.

  

The main reason I made a stop to The Oyster Pub was because of their chargrilled oysters. They are freshly shucked oysters that are placed on an open flame grill. Then as they are cooking, they are covered in their “secret sauce”.

I absolutely loved watching these oysters being cooked. Watching the flames get larger and higher as they cooked was memorizing.

  

When they poured on the “secret sauce” the flames grew even higher.

  

When the oysters were delivered they were still sizzling. I tried capturing this in the photos but it really did not do it justice.

  

The oysters were huge in size but they were extremely tender. The sauce added a salty taste and creamy texture to the sweet tasting meat. I could tell there was garlic and parmesan cheese on them, however there was still an element that I could not identify. It almost tasted like an Italian dressing. I tried finding it out from my waitress but I was not successful. I guess the “secret” in the sauce is still safe.

  

These are delicious oysters and I would recommend them to everyone. They also have several other options for oysters including raw and steamed. But if oysters are not your thing that is perfectly ok because they have a ton of other seafood options. So if you are in Daytona Beach, stop by The Oyster Pub and see why they have been around for 30 years.

Check out their menu at http://www.oysterpub.com/

Enjoy!

T

 

The Red Top Pit Stop – Lakeland, FL

I have written about The Red Top Pit Stop before. The last time I visited I was there for breakfast. This second visit I was there for lunch. As soon as I got out of the car I could smell their BBQ smoker and it made me so hungry.

Because of that smoker I knew I wanted to try some BBQ. I ventured out of my normal routine. Normally I would order pulled pork if it is on a menu, but this time I went for the chopped beef brisket.

The brisket was chopped up extremely fine. It was piled high onto the bun. When it came out there was no sauce on the meat. I liked this because I got to taste what the beef is like when it comes out of the smoker. The bark from cooking was chopped up with the rest of the meat. That bark carried extra smoky flavor throughout the brisket.

After eating a little of the brisket plain, I put the homemade BBQ sauce on my sandwich. The sauce added a sweetness to the meat. It was a great complement to the smokiness.

I got two of their homemade sides that I knew paired well with BBQ. The first was the mac and cheese. This was great, cheesy goodness. There was a crispy cheese layer. I just needed to add a little extra salt to taste.

The other side was the green beans. They cooked the beans with bacon. This added extra flavor to the beans. This side too needed just an extra pinch of salt for my taste.

I am glad I got to go back to The Red Top Pit Stop. It was just as crowded as my first visit. They are an awesome hidden gem in Lakeland that serves amazing comfort food.

Follow them on Facebook at The Red Top Pit Stop

Enjoy!

T