Catching up with friends is a good excuse to try out a new bar or restaurant, and when the restaurant in consideration is from the Richard Sandoval empire (Zengo, Maya, Four at Yotel), you know you’re in for a good meal. Pampano Botaneria is a sophisticated and sleek bar/restaurant hybrid that serves up potent cocktails and small plates underneath its flagship restaurant, Pampano, in Midtown.

Inside this den of deliciousness is a gracious menu of 30 small plates, and an extensive drink list that includes over 150 tequilas and mescals, homemade sangrias, and Latin wines, making it a perfect spot to share stories and share plates. We started with the traditional guacamole AND the smoked swordfish dip with homemade tortilla chips. The guacamole was creamy and had a nice hint of citrus, sort of what you would expect, but the smoked swordfish was what blew us away. Smoky, creamy, and a little tangy, it’s a perfect complement to the standard guac and chips. So far, Pampano Botaneria was living up to the Sandoval golden reputation.

As we chatted and snacked on crispy chips and creamy dips, our drinks arrived and were accompanied by an industrial-sized chicharron (fried pork rind). Most people have seen pork rinds cut up into small pieces and eaten out of a bowl or bag; Pampano Botaneria likes to make one big sheet and place it in a holder so it stands above your food like The Great Wall of Pork Skin – then you break off the pieces and either dip in the guacamole or eat it plain. Salty and super crunchy, if I didn’t know any better I would think chicharron is Spanish for “crunchtastic.” It may not be the healthiest appetizer, but Pampano Botaneria makes it fun!

If light and fresh is more your speed, the ceviches are sure to please; mahi mahi, tuna, and halibut are served sampler style and go perfectly with a crunchy chip. Clearly I had trouble staying away from the chips. The fish is mixed with lemon and lime juices, onions, tomatoes, mango, and herbs (usually cilantro). Probably the most refreshing appetizer you could choose, and the antithesis to a chicharron wall.

As the cocktails kept flowing, the plates kept coming as well. This is the great thing about Pampano Botaneria; you don’t feel rushed and are more inclined to stay a while because you can keep ordering as you deem necessary. And where there are lots of stories, there are lots of plates. While discussing a tragic date, we were presented with albondigas (meatballs) in chipotle tomato sauce, lobster empanadas, and mushroom flatbread. Nothing can help you forget the sting of a bad date like a delicious plate of food, well, at least for us.

The lobster empanadas were delicious – crispy shell on the outside stuffed with lobster and topped with pineapple salsa and creamy chipotle sauce. The albondigas were tasty, but a little tough and heavy on the sauce, while the savory mushroom flatbread with goat cheese and micro greens was devoured in about 15 seconds. Emotional eating or delicious food? Maybe a little bit of both.

Even though our stories were a mix of happy, funny, and sad, this great meal came to a close on a sugary sweet note with the apple-pear and goat cheese empanadas. Dusted with powdered sugar and fig compote drizzle, the apple and pear mixture made the goat cheese sweet, almost like mascarpone, and the fig compote rounded it out to a perfect ending. Pampano Botaneria left a lasting impression, and while life stories may not always have a perfect ending, it’s comforting to know you can find one in your meal.

Pampano Botaneria is located on the street level of 209 East 49th St btwn 2nd and 3rd ave. Hours are Monday-Wednesday 5 pm – 10 pm, Thursday – Saturday, 5 pm – 10:30 pm.

—Dara Pollak

Andrea Strong