I’ve passed Palo Santo dozens of times on my way to the Fourth Avenue R subway station but I never once stopped into this lovely restaurant on the ground floor of a Union Street brownstone.

Until last night.

Twelve of us gathered in the backroom for a friend’s birthday party. They offered us a $35 prix fixe, which included an appetizer, a choice from three entrees, dessert and as much sangria (or beer) that we could drink.

Ooh la la.

It was white wine sangria with lots of fruit in it.

For an appetizer I had a delicious tomatillo soup, a Mexican-style chicken soup with tomatillos and chicken breast meat cooked with chick peas and wonderful seasonings. It came with a stack of delicious corn tortillas. My neighbor had a tasty looking avacado and tomato mixture that also came with those amazing tortillas.

I would return to Palo Santo for that incredible soup!

For entrees we had to choose between pulled pork, plaintain stew or blue fish.

I loved the very savory pulled pork that was served with a noodle that reminded me of a German spaetzle.

For dessert, those who ordered the bread pudding were the most happy.  I had a pie that was a cross between an orange cheese cake and a key lime pie). I think it was called sour orange pie.

The sangria was a tad watery but it did seem to get everyone nice and drunk.

What a nice place for a birthday party. We were there from 6PM until 11:30 and the backroom was a fun, boisterous place to be.

The service was perfect for a party and clearly they didn’t rush us at all. Festive, fun, unusual food, nice atmosphere: a win win for a party on a cold winter night in Park Slope.