Sunday, November 23, 2014

El Quinto Pino

401 West 24th Street
(between Ninth and Tenth Avenues)


Great wine and dessert place; food not so impressive.

Hopes were high as the décor is very cozy and comfortable. The front is a bar (which I can imagine gets hopping at night) and in the back is a pleasant dining area.



Went for lunch, and ordered the lomo bocadillo, which is a house-cured pork loin sandwich with melted cheese and piquillo pepper.



I was so disappointed as the sandwich tasted too dry.

However, the rest of the meal made up for my sad a sandwich.
 
We started with an order of huevos rellenos (organic deviled eggs with tahini) as an appetizer. It was very good.

 
My friend ordered the camerón de cádiz salad, which was flash-fried cádiz shrimp, poached egg, baby arugula with sherry vinaigrette. She thought it was delicious.

 
For dessert we ordered the pa amb xocolat, which was described as a paté of chocolate, sea salt, and olive oil. I would describe it as a high-end Nutella and it was chocolate decadence. We could smell it as it was being baked, so we promptly ordered it.

It was a stick of chocolate paired with lightly toasted homemade bread.


 
When you’re about halfway finished, olive oil would ooze out of the chocolate bar and onto the plate. Who would think the pairing of olive oil and chocolate would work, but it does! And the sea salt added a nice finishing touch.

 
As I mentioned earlier, besides for the dessert, drinks were the other highlight to this tapas bar.

We started off with cocktails. I ordered their signature cocktail, the horchata (frozen tiger nut (?!?) milk and Brandy de Jerez). It was like drinking an ice cream soda, and I could have continued drinking it throughout my entire meal (which would have been dangerous!).

 
My friend ordered the Pomade (frozen basil gin lemonade from Mallorca). It would be the perfect drink for a hot and humid summer afternoon.

 
For our meal, my friend went with the Enanzo rose. I was surprised at the red coloring. I’m so used to seeing a pink rose, so the ruby red color definitely made an impression.

 
I went with a white Listan Blanco. It was rich and nutty.

 
However, when dessert arrived, I knew that I wanted to pair it with a red wine. Our server (who was super friendly throughout out entire meal) was extremely helpful. He recommended the Carchelo, which was a blend of monastrell, tempranillo, syrah, and cabernet sauvignon. He even offered a sample tasting before I committed to a glass. It was the perfect pairing with the chocolate dessert and it had a smooth, velvety, long finish.



 
What I didn’t realize was that it wasn’t traditionally offered by the glass! So that was definitely a treat!




Pros:
The service.
The drinks.


Cons:
Wish they offered a lunch special.



Final Thoughts
Will return, but only for the drinks and dessert!

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