Monday, 31 August 2009

La Tasca - Great Value Tapas

3 months since the last post - what can I say? I've been working hard, doing a bit of running, and sadly, not eating out. All this is about to change though. In the next few weeks I'll be eating at Tail End (acclaimed chippy - can it live up to the hype?), Cafe Andaluz (I've just heard great things from a friend so am very excited), and Wok & Wine.

The more observant amongst you may have noticed that there are no high end dining nights out here ... I'm dropping hints with a view to going to 21212 (I can only hope).

In the meantime, I visited La Tasca last week with the in-laws, so a quick review.

I love tapas, but I haven't tried too many restaurants in Edinburgh recently, apart from La Tasca - see my review from earlier this year.

The Tapas Tree always used to get good reviews, but didn't impress me too much. So far (and this may change soon) my favourite has been in Newcastle - El Torero. It's been a few years since I've been, but if you're in the area I'd recommend giving it a try. La Tasca, for me, has always been good, serving all the favourites and doing a reasonably good job. What elevated this visit for me was that all food was half price (again). If you want to keep abreast of offers on national chains like this then www.vouchercodes.co.uk can send you a weekly email with all the best offers (not just restaurants).

Wine List

Pretty standard list with a good range of value wines and beers. I especially love the cava (!) and the sangria.

Food

Nothing adventurous, nothing spectacular, but pretty tasty and great value. All the usual favourites were there: meatballs, croquettes, prawns, calamari, chorizo ...

Overall Rating

Needless to say the place was filled to the brim. We were on a small table, but all that made us do was order the tapas in stages, which is a good thing. At half price you can't go wrong: 8 or 9 tapas, 2 bottles of wine and a tip for £60. I would highly recommend it for a relaxed meal with friends.