HAVING just moved to Chester and wanting to try something out of my comfort zone (which usually consists of scampi or some sort of pie), La Tasca presented the perfect opportunity to enjoy a little continental dining.
I hadn’t seen my father for a while, he was in Chester that day, and as he fancies himself something of an expert in foreign cuisine, I took him along and we had a catch-up over our first experience of Spanish tapas.
It was the middle of a rainy weekday afternoon when we sat down, so we had the freedom of the restaurant. There is lots of seating available, how much fun it will be during the inevitable Christmas rush remains to be seen.
Depending on your predilection for trying new things, a first time in a Spanish eatery could be quite intimidating; the menu is filled with exotic foodstuffs that reflect the country’s deep Mediterranean heritage, and while it may be slightly overwhelming at first, the charming waitress took time to speak to us about the menu and ran us through a range of options, from the new lunch for two for £10 to the all-you-can-eat menu.
I had heard good things about the paella, but as neither of us had eaten tapas before we decided to take the plunge and ordered the house selection, figuring it would be a nice introduction to Spanish cooking and give a good indicator of what to go for next time we visited.
A couple of beers and some hot and deliciously soft garlic bread with cheese was quickly followed by our meal, consisting of seven dishes; spicy chorizo sausage sautéed in red wine, this was wonderfully tangy but not too overpowering, deep fried squid rings, and meat paella with chicken and chorizo, the rice was cooked to perfection and would make a fine accompaniment to anything else on the menu.
The fourth dish was slow roasted red and yellow peppers, onions, courgette and aubergine; it tasted fresh and light, with so much stuffed in the flavours could cancel out each other but it was actually a very tasty combination.
My father really liked the plate of fried potato with spicy tomato sauce, not something that immediately stood out but was extremely enjoyable, the dish containing mixed leaves, avocado, cucumber, pine nuts and pimento peppers was also very tasty, and the final dish was Spanish-style meatballs served in tomato sauce.
The highlights of the meal for me were the meatballs, which were mouth-watering and are firmly on my list for next time, and the deep-fried squid rings, prior to which my seafood experience as stated stretched as far as scampi.
Now I will be looking out for this everywhere, my father maintained the batter could have been crisper but either way I am converted.
The portions were deceptively filling, and while a restaurant as good as this will never be cheap, the food is by no means overpriced.
There are offers on all the time and we left feeling extremely satisfied and promising to come back and sample the full range of dishes on offer.
The bill:
House selection of tapas for two people – £22.95
1 garlic bread with cheese – £3.25
2 bottles of San Miguel – £5.70
Total: £31.90