La Tasca

demongamesuk

11th September 2008

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La Tasca is situated in the area of Norwich known as ‘Tombland’. Don’t worry; it’s not quite as scary as it sounds. La Tasca is a Spanish themed restaurant that offers many traditional Spanish cuisine and also some lovely Tapas. For a friend’s Birthday we visited La Tasca and were offered the buffet style menu due to the size of our party. With this option the group must decide from one of three menus of varying cost. We all went for the second option and were pleasantly surprised by the constant stream of tasty grub. The quality of the dishes varied quite a bit but it was mostly good Spanish Tapas (of course nothing like what you would hope to get in Spain, but nevertheless still very yummy). The service was ok; I say this because occasionally it was hard to get someone’s attention.
Certainly worth a look if you fancy a change, I have only eaten Tapas there so might have to go back sometime and check out their mains.

miapops

Enjoyable, good with friends 11th September 2008

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I visited here on a Saturday evening with my husband. It was our first visit so we did not know what to expect, but we were not disappointed.

A helpful waiter ook us through the menu options, and as we really wanted to try a paella, he suggested we should order a couple of tapas too as paella can take 40mins to serve. This we did, and I have to say I wished we had gone for the all tapas option. The dishes were great, plenty to share and felt a nice informal way to eat.

As the place started to fill the atmosphere was nice, and there were lots of groups in. I found myself wishing that we were with friends as it would have turned a great meal into a fab evening.

The paella was great too by the way, although was far too much to eat after snacking on the tapas so a lot was wasted.

All in all good value, fun and lively place to eat.

dopeincredible

More Sangria, por favor 1st September 2008

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Buffets, for me, bring to mind an overabundance of sausage rolls and dearth of decent salad. They invariably leave me full of pastry and protein, with a possible baby tomato or two as a nod to the five-a-day vegetable pushing fascists (*Twenty* grapes is one portion? Come off it!) – But I digress.

Mrs wifey doesn’t like buffets. She doesn’t know when she’s eaten enough. We recently found out that this is something to do with the difference between hunger and appetite. As Jeffrey Steingarten describes:

‘hunger is an nagging sensation that triggers constant thoughts of food and reminds you that your body wants to eat … Appetite is simply the tendency to eat.’

This partly explains how you can be fit to burst with lasagne yet somehow still have space for tiramisu. Or, in the case of tapas, how you (read I) just don’t know when to stop.

With tapas, experience has taught me to exercise restraint. It’s like a buffet with less pastry and more meatballs. And salad. Oh, and you can get it on your plate without having to get out of your chair.

Of course, you’ll not get much on your plate at any one moment, as La Tasca appear to support the tiny plate technique, probably to maximise the other dishes on the table, as it does seem to fill very quickly.

The menu seems a little tamer than the last time we went – possibly it’s a seasonal thing, possibly it has been dumbed down. Either way, there’s no platter of whitebait to gnaw at. Instead we have fresh anchovies. It’s a naïve choice – despite the day’s glorious sun, one swallow does not a summer make. They would have been much better for a July lunch.

We also have the ‘famous’ meatballs, ribs, tortilla and salad. The ribs are tasty, if a bit scanty, but everything else (even the salad) ticks its food group box. The music, however, sucks. Techno-carnival beats do not facilitate digestion or conversation. But neither are they the end of the world.

La Tasca does not offer most exciting, authentic Spanish experience in Norwich, but it’s perfectly serviceable for the money, I’ve never had to book, and (this might be all in the mind) it feels a damn sight warmer than La Torero.