100 Montaditos is a Spanish restaurant chain that has multiple locations in Florida before this particular location in Bleecker Street in Manhattan has opened for about three months.
What we liked about this restaurant is that it is a laid back atmosphere that if you want to eat in, you’d have to scout for any open tables in the back dining room and head back to the front to order your food and beverages. Their dining room is quite spacious and comfy with a huge skylight to let in lots of natural light.
We started off with familiar yet delectable platters of mixed Spanish charcuterie and Manchengo ($12) and fried calamari ($9) with mugs of refreshing classic sangria and lemon sangria ($4 each mug). The imported jamon serrano, lomo embuchado, and various salchichones (salami) were very good. We were surprised that the calamari maintained its crispness even if it sat over ten minutes on the table. The large Tortilla Española ($9), a type of Spanish egg and potato omelette, was warmed and quite good.
The medium sized pan of seared chistorra ($9) was something we haven’t tried. These Basque sweet paprika pork sausages were amazing. We couldn’t stop eating them despite needing to make room for our main courses – the montaditos.
We did come in starving and ordered a dozen different montaditos, these dainty, three-bite yet flavorful sandwiches that are made to order even the bread are baked to order. Here’s what we ordered (and its corresponding sandwich number):
- 19 – Shrimp, lettuce, fresh tomato, pepinillo and mayo ($1.50)
- 22 – Tuna, hard boiled egg, piparra (mild pepper from Spain), and mayo ($2.50)
- 44 – Chicken, lettuce, and chipotle aioli ($2.50)
- 51 – BBQ pulled pork, manchengo cheese, crispy onions, and mustard ($2.50)
- 52 – Garlic pork loin, fresh tomato, lettuce, mayo ($2.50)
- 53 – Garlic pork loin, manchengo cheese, green pepper, and fresh tomato ($2.50)
- 60 – Chistorra (Basque style chorizo sausage), hard boiled egg, and piparra (mild pepper from Spain) ($2.50)
- 80 – Anchovies, manchengo cheese, piquillo pepper, arugula, and mayo ($2.50)
- 84 – Iberico: Chorizo, tortilla Española, piquillo pepper ($3)
- 88 – Torero: Lomo (dry cured pork loin), manchengo cheese, and green pepper ($3)
- 89 – Piripi: Garlic pork loin, bacon, cheese, fresh tomato, and mayo ($3)
- 90 – Tralari: Serrano ham, garlic pork loin, and green pepper ($3)
Of that baker’s dozen of montaditos, our top two favories were 51 – pulled pork, manchengo, crispy onions and mustard and 80 – anchovies, manchengo cheese, piquillo pepper, arugula, and mayo. If you read through the restaurant’s extensive 100 sandwiches menu, about a third are American influenced like #51; we liked the sweet and savory flavors of the pork and cheese, and textures of the sandwich but we would prefer a touch more sauce. The anchovy sandwich was in-your-face bold, salty, slightly bitter, and umami flavors setting off on the palate as you kept eating it. We know anchovies doesn’t float everyone’s boat but if you do like anchovies, you’ll like this sandwich a lot.
We managed to try one of their dessert montaditos of their five variations that are based on chocolate bread and smeared with the sweet chocolate and hazelnut spread, Nutella. Their 96 – Nutella with almonds in a chocolate bread was indeed a sweet dessert sandwich and we liked the delicately crunchy texture of the flaked almonds gave. The serving of a moderately large mound of fresh, delicately sweetened whipped cream was a good idea to ease off the sweetness of the sweet edge from the sandwich.
In all, this is a great place to have a casual meal with a large group or even a quick meal solo, as there were a couple of two top tables near the front of the restaurant. The prices are very reasonable and you could experiment with the many montaditos that vary from Spanish based to American influenced. I could imagine getting these montaditos for catering parties, as these finger sandwiches work wonderfully for passing around.
To view more photos of this visit, please view the slideshow below (or CLICK HERE):
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Information:
100 Montaditos
176 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012
Telephone: (646) 719-1713
Map
