Our Man in Milliways - La Tasca, Manchester
Created | Updated Jun 16, 2010
So, The Post's got a new editor, and that got me thinking. What doesn't The Post have? Since I've been reading (and occasionally contributing) we've had film reviewers, DVD reviewers, interviews*, recipes, TV columns, gardening tips, reams of commentary... In fact, the only thing we don't seem to have had that you see in most lifestyle magazine type affairs is a restaurant reviewer. Now the significant other (L) and myself tend to eat out about once a fortnight - so surely I could write some of that down for our fortnightly Post? So here we are, my first outing as a food critic. Bon Appetit!
La Tasca (Trafford Centre, Gtr Manchester)
I know, a chain restaurant's hardly the best place to start, but in all fairness it was short notice and we were in the TC buying a beanbag. Besides, there's loads of chains around, and chances are our readership will visit one or two. It's called relevancy!
Food: Being a Tapas restaurant, L and I decided to go for a few dishes from the Tapas menu - namely Calamares Andaluza (£3.85), Croquetas de Paella Marisco (£3.85), Croquetas de Pollo (£3.85), Brocheta de Pollo (£3.85), Queso Manchego (£3.85) and Paella de Chorizo (£3.85).
Of those, the standout dish was, without doubt, the Paella Marisco. A combination of hake, prawns and crabmeat in a croquette, it was well-flavoured without being overly fishy - to the point where the seafood-hating L could happily eat one. The rest was a mixed batch. The Croquetas de Pollo reminded me slightly of a Greggs' Roast Chicken pasty, and the Paella de Chorizo was disappointingly un-spicy, but the Brocheta de Pollo and Calamares were well cooked and quite tasty. The Queso Manchego, a hard sheep's cheese, was interesting, but it tasted overly of the tomato it came served with - something that ruined the flavour for me. The side of olive bread was uninspiring and bordering on the stale, but lashings of the readily available garlic mayonnaise livened it up a bit.
All in all, a solid enough meal, filling and varied enough to recommend it to people on a budget or in need of somewhere quick. Came in at under £30 for 6 tapas dishes, a bread basket, one pint of San Miguel and a coke. 6/10
Service: Prompt enough, the waiter had a laugh with us about L's inability to pronounce anything in Spanish, and explained the vagaries of the Tapas menu to us. Did sit us next to a child though, something that inevitably happens to me in restaurants. 3/5
Atmosphere: Chain restaurant, so not much there. Was well decorated in a faux-Spanish style though, which would have won it more points had it not featured the same polystyrene roof tiles as every other Trafford Centre destination. Making me sit next to a child yet again loses it a point too. 2/5
Overall: Not the ideal place for a special occasion or a romantic night out, but if you fancy something a bit different while you're out shopping or you're the sort of person who can't eat a full course without getting bored, La Tasca's worth a few quid of anyone's money. Just don't expect to be blown away. 5.5/10
This column is open to contributions from all members of the h2g2 community. All submissions are accepted on the basis that they are honest and unbiased, and all opinions expressed are those of the reviewers, who may not be professional restaurant critics. Send your reviews to the usual submissions address.
