Restaurant Review: Cafe Andaluz

With La Tasca seemingly offering a permanent 50% discount on food, could any other tapas bar beat it? I hoped so, because whilst La Tasca is great value, the quality of the food has much room for improvement. So it was with great hope and expectation that I arrived at Cafe Andaluz on George Street, having salivated over the menu a few times whilst waiting for a bus home.

Wine List

OK, we've already established that if you want a cheap tapas night, go to La Tasca. Which is just as well, because the wine here ain't cheap. £18 for a house wine, Siglo crianza, which you can buy in the shops for £7, is expensive. I think La Tasca offers the same wine cheaper (but they don't have their list online so I couldn't confirm this). Other than that the list is limited, but offers a really good selection of styles, including a priorat at £55 and some gran reservas. No vintages are mentioned on the menu, so you'd have to ask to be sure of what you are paying for.

Food

There were six of us in total, and we polished off 2 set menus and a couple of other dishes between us. A menu for two is recommended, but you'd have to be seriously hungry to finish all that between you. The choice was excellent though, and the food fantastic.

From the start, when we were served fresh bread, great olive oil and olives which were so tasty I found myself eating the black ones (which I usually don't like), I knew exactly why I would be coming back here rather than returning to La Tasca - the food is delicious!

We then tucked into a vast array of dishes, including mushrooms in wine and garlic sauce, tiger prawns, tortilla, very spicy patatas bravas, and very smelly goat's cheese and marmalade.

Dishes to highlight for me included the chorizo and the battered chicken. But the star dish of the evening, selected on a friends recommendation, was the chorizo and black pudding - this is a very rich dish, so best shared between a few people!

Overall Rating

Cheap food or great food? Limited menu or a choice including some dishes you certainly won't have tried before? Crammed tables or a bit more space?

The atmosphere at both La Tasca and Cafe Andaluz is equally as good, but the food is infinitely better at the latter establishment. Now I know why the food is always discounted at La Tasca - I'd rather go out less often and pay more. Cafe Andaluz is my new tapas destination in Edinburgh, and I can't wait to go back!