It may not be the most famed chain in the UK, but La Tasca is certainly reliable. Following our Spanish adventures this summer (read more here), I was chuffed to be invited to review La Tasca's new menu. I've not been to the restaurant before, so all my experiences of Spanish cuisine are from Spain itself. This visit proved to be quite an adventure.
Located just across from Broadgate Circle, this traditionally-decorated restaurant certainly stands out from the flashy bars and shiny restaurants that surround it. I love a more classical design (Le Garrick is a real favourite) so this isn't a bad thing for me at all. The menu, apparently, has undergone its biggest revamp since the first La Tasca opened, with vibrant flavours and bursting plates just waiting to be dived into.
We ate tapas style, with everything arriving quite unsettlingly quickly. Literally within 5 minutes all our requested dishes arrived on a huge platter - the cocktails hadn't even come yet! We ordered:
- Calamares: Crispy squid, sprinkled with smoked sea salt, served with alioli
- Pimientos de Padron: Fresh Galician green peppers fried in olive oil & sprinkled with smoked sea salt
- Gambas Pil Pil: King prawns cooked in garlic, chilli & olive oil, served with baked bread
- White Bean & Tomato Stew
- Pan Tumaca: Bread baked in-house, brushed with fresh garlic oil, grilled & served with grated vine ripened tomato & smoked sea salt (an absolute favourite from our time in Spain)
The Calamares, in my view, were quite over done and very dark in colour. That said, the meat inside was not chewy and worked really beautifully with the aioli - we were fighting over the last one! I adore padron peppers anyway; their smoky flavour is just so moreish and you never know when you're going to get a crazy hot one! Luckily we avoided any burn-your-mouth-off chillies and instead enjoyed a bowl of relatively mild munchies with a sprinkling of smoked sea salt which really brought out the flavour of the chilli itself.
I enjoyed the Gambas Pil Pil too. The prawns were correctly deveined (shame on anyone who doesn't!) and the oily, chilli, garlicky sauce was just divine. I didn't think these needed a side of bread, but I did enjoy mopping up that oily residue once I had eaten the prawns!
I really, really liked the tomato and white bean stew. This dish is true testament that simple dishes really are the best. The stew was rich with tomato flavour. The beans were not overcooked and the addition of health-boosting kale was much appreciated. The kale was still vibrantly green and fresh tasting. Winner.
The Pan Tumaca is a take on pan tomate that we ate at nearly every meal in Spain. Normally the tomato comes either pre-applied, or fresh so that you can mash it into the bread yourself. I found the La Tasca version a touch watery and so it didn't apply to the toasted bread very well. The addition of garlic was much appreciated though.
For dessert, we went for Churros (doughnut twists sprinkled in cinnamon-sugar served with a rich chocolate sauce for dipping) and Crema Catalana (Classic Crema Catalana infused with orange, lemon & cinnamon topped with a caramelised sugar crust).
We tried our first Creme Cataluyna in Barcelona and were blown away by the orangey, nutmeg-y notes and the lightness of the cream. La Tasca's version definitely hit the flavour notes but I felt the cream could have been smoother. I also found the sugared top quite hard to break!
The churros were divine. They had a great snap, plenty of cinnamon sugar and the chocolate dipping sauce was delicious! If it wasn't for the two Spanish Mojitos (with vanilla and orange) that I had already downed, I could have probably just eaten bowls of the chocolate sauce!
Thank you to La Tasca for hosting this review. All comments, opinions and images are my own.
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