Sangria Tapas, in Edgewater

[jhlurie]

Many of you probably recall the poor unfortunate River Gorge Cafe, a restaurant located at the bottom of Gorge Road in Edgewater--whose business was severely disrupted due to several years of road building, construction, and then finally being made fairly innaccessible by having a large building built right in front of it. Over the course of several years the place got shabbier and shabbier, until at some point (after the construction was done, ironically) it just went belly up and dissapeared.

I noticed the other day that the ugly while building has been repainted a cheery yellow and a new business has opened. The sign says "Sangria Tapas". I haven't had a chance to visit, but I'm wondering if anyone else here has?

[M.X.Hassett]

Thank's for the info I will be returning to Jersey tue. Tue. I am going to Bistro en/Zen lounge. Wed. I plan on going to Le Jardin and then Pegu club(NYC), but I will check it out thursday.

[jhlurie]

Thank's for the info I will be returning to Jersey tue. Tue. I am going to Bistro en/Zen lounge. Wed. I plan on going to Le Jardin and then Pegu club(NYC), but I will check it out thursday.

←

I've gone once now, and I plan to go again at some point. It's an interesting place--not world class or anything but pretty good. The prices SEEM high, but the portions are fairly huge so it all balances out. They even have an "early bird" special ($10 range, but only before 6PM), which oddly enough, features all non-Spanish dishes, but of seemingly good quality (and again, huge size).

Also, the Sangria is in the place's name for a reason--they've got about 10 different kinds, including odd flavors like "Watermelon Sangria", "Champagne Sangria", and "Peach Sangria" (as well as the more traditional Red and White varieties).

[tommy]

non-spanish "early bird special"? sounds like another place to miss.

[Jason Perlow]

In which case, you'd miss out. In addition to the tapas, we ordered an early bird special to check it out -- the Chicken Parmigiana, which was actually pretty good. The size of the portion was humungous -- two large breasts, with nicely sauteed vegetables on the side, soup, salad, and including dessert.

[Rachel Perlow]

I liked the sangria. We got the watermelon variety and I got nice and tipsy (yes, there were pieces of watermelon in it). Sangria is pretty much the only thing I drink enough of to get drunk. I think the best food item we had there was the stuffed tostones.

[tommy]

In which case, you'd miss out. In addition to the tapas, we ordered an early bird special to check it out -- the Chicken Parmigiana, which was actually pretty good. The size of the portion was humungous -- two large breasts, with nicely sauteed vegetables on the side, soup, salad, and including dessert.

←

i can't say that chick parm with a side of vegetables really does it for me, regardless of the portion size.

[Jason Perlow]

For ten bucks, it was a damn good deal though.

[tommy]

i'm more interested in good tapas and interesting spanish wines. Bergen County could use a place dedicated to this type of thing. the scene is sorely lacking in this regard in my estimation. but at least i know where to go for good sized portions of good chicken parm, salad and dessert, all for 10 dollars before 6 pm.

speaking of edgewater i noticed another newish place down there. looked pretty interesting with outdoor seating and whatnot and i made a note to check it out. come to think of it i think it was spanish. maybe i'll end up at Sangria Tapas afterall. just not for the italian-american food.

[jhlurie]

I think that other place has actually been there for years, they just recently renovated. It's called something like "Sabor".

[Hank]

In which case, you'd miss out. In addition to the tapas, we ordered an early bird special to check it out -- the Chicken Parmigiana, which was actually pretty good. The size of the portion was humungous -- two large breasts, with nicely sauteed vegetables on the side, soup, salad, and including dessert.

←

I would certainly be very leery to be served so much food for $10.00 knowing quite well how much two humongous chicken breasts must cost plus everything else they served you. There has to be a catch somewhere and I would suspect that it is the quality and possibly age of what they are serving. Next time you order them smell the chicken breasts before they are cooked. You just might get a nose full. Both of you have been going to restaurants for far too long not to know that what you are getting here cannot possibly be legitimate, but then again, as you said, they are large portions.

[Jason Perlow]

I dunno, it certainly looked good and tasted good enough.

[Curlz]

Yeah, gotta say that everything about this place makes me think "RUUUUUUUUUN!" (to the Ironbound, that is).

Meanwhile, Amanda Hesser's review of Tia Pol in this past Sunday's NYT Magazine had me drooling. And wondering if there is any place in NJ doing that kind of tapas. I doubt it!

[Jason Perlow]

Hey. Rachel and Jon and I ate there. We say it tasted good. You mean that's not good enough these days?

[right wing, fascist culinary jingoist mode]

And as to the Sunday New York Times... since when did you guys pay attention to anything anybody writes there? Like the people who write for that peice of liberal garbage know what the hell they are talking about? Or even know what the hell food is? Haven't you read Turning the Tables Yet? Have you then?

[/right wing, fascist culinary jingoist mode]

Oh wait a second...

NOTE: The above comment is the author's attempt at sarcastic humor. The author of this comment writes for the New Jersey edition of the Sunday New York Times.

Edited September 13, 2005 by Jason Perlow (log)

[Rachel Perlow]

Enough already. We tried the early bird special because we were there early and we wanted to see if it was any good. Period. We actually didn't expect it to be as good as it was, being an early bird special and all, so the enthusiasm shown is because it was better than our expectations. Also, we ordered it along with other tapas. The tapas was very good, the non-spanish specials were also good. The sangria was very very good.

The Ironbound area is not known for tapas. I would usually prefer Tapas de Espania in North Bergen or Englewood for tapas, but this place was new and convenient to the ferry, and therefore a place we wanted to try. They improved the atmosphere over what it was like when it was River Gorge Cafe as well. Hence our recommendation. No need to avoid the place just cause we're suckers for a good chicken parm.

[jhlurie]

Well, the Early Bird is obviously an attempt to reach a certain market segment who otherwise wouldn't come near the place. Personally I'm not all that snobby about Early Birds. The restaurant business is competitive these days. I suppose they figure that even the Early Birders might get curious about the rest of the food and come back.

And face it... they are in a cursed location. They need to be clever. While things aren't as bad as they were when River Gorge was there--when the road crews left absolutely no access--there's still the problem that from the main road it's not clear to the casual passer-byer how to get to the place. So if they have to try and draw some of the Seniors living across the street (there's a big senior citizen housing development literally across the way), then so be it. If the quality is good, god bless 'em.

[tommy]

i didn't notice anyone being "snobby."

i wish them all the best. you're right when you say it's a tough business.