If you already know El Puerto on Prince Street, El Puerto Lounge on Denmark Street will seem familiar. It’s the same food and drinks menu from the same company, just located down a Bristol city centre backstreet that has been pulling itself up by its bootstraps for the last few years and is no longer the den of iniquity that it once was.
So the menu – Spanish tapas or a la carte – is the same as its more established cousin. What is different here is the feel of what used to be the short-lived Mickey Lavin’s pub and steakhouse.
This is a light and airy space, which yesterday had some of its windows wide open to the pavement. Whereas the original El Puerto feels cosy and compact, El Puerto Lounge seems more welcoming, with colourful tiles on the floor.
Celebrate the rays of sun we’re still experiencing in Bristol while you still can with jugs of sangria. There are 10 different styles to choose from, although sadly the measurements are done the English rather than the Spanish way, which sees bartenders liberally pour in the spirits.
Eight of the sangrias cost £15 a jug, but there are also two options if you feel particularly flushed, both by money or by alcohol. These are the Grey Goose Flying Sangria or Brains Sangria Bomb, the latter made with 12-year-old malt whisky.
El Puerto Lounge may be an extension of the El Puerto brand, but their new site on Denmark Street is part of the leased and tenanted channel at Cardiff’s Brains Brewery, so Brains Bitter joins San Miguel on tap.
Bottled beers are San Miguel, Corona, Sol and Super Bock. And if sangria is not your thing, there is wine (the best I spotted being the Rioja Gran Reserva Porto 2004).
If that’s not enough drink for one day, try the Carajillo liquor coffee.
El Puerto Lounge, 10-11 Denmark Street, Bristol, BS1 5DQ.
