I’m a sucker for a cocktail in nice surroundings and these two places definitely float my boat.
Café Dindurra (Advanced B+), 30 Calle Covadonga, dindurra.es/dindurra
This beautiful bar is next to the Teatro Jovellanos www.teatrojovellanos.com. It was built in 1901 but received an Art Deco makeover in 1931. It has survived the bombing of the original theater it was attached to.
I’m in love with its angular fonts …
… and beautiful curves.
I had a couple of good Negronis here. I’m an aficionado but these were made with vermouths I’d never heard of before.
The first was made with a French vermouth called La Quintinye.
A green olive and slices of strawberry were added to the usual slice of fresh orange (B+).
The second used a Catalan vermouth called Yzaguirre and was garnished with semi-dried pineapple and fresh orange (B+).
Varsovia (Advanced A), 18 Calle Cabrales, varsoviagijon.com
This is another excellent cocktail bar on the ground floor of a beautiful Modernista building called Edificio Celestino García.
It’s on the waterfront just a couple of doors down from the Hotel Alcomar.
They know how to make a decent Negroni in here and you can choose from a multitude of gins and vermouths.
The bottle shelves are on two floor levels and my bartender had to shimmy up a ladder to get my choices.
I went for a French vermouth with Plymouth gin, garnished imaginatively with maraschino cherries (B+). Another time I swapped the vermouth for Cynar which makes for a nice change too (B+).
My pictures of the cocktails didn’t come out so you’ll have to make do with a photo of this beautiful cut glass water jug!
There are many other bars of course but these two are really special. In June 2016 the going rate for a Negroni was €7.