Qype: La Tasca Restaurant in Cardiff

Cardiff - Restaurants - Tapas - Restaurants - Spanish

What a mixed bag La Tasca is. Went there last night with seven friends after booking a table over the phone earlier in the day and when we arrived (bang on time), they could find my name but not where our table was supposed to be. After a minute or so huddled by the door while the staff tried to solve the table mystery, we spied a small waiting area and decided to grab a seat. No one offered to get us drinks while we waited, or gave us any menus to look through, so we sat and chatted for a while until one of our party decided to be proactive and get a round in. Obviously, the minute the first pint was poured, a gentleman waiter came and asked us to folow him to our newly discovered table. So half of us had to go to the table and half stayed to help with the drinks!
I like the layout of the restaurant - it's not to cramped and on our table upstairs we had plenty of room around us and privacy to chat. The lighting is warm and inviting and I love the big round medieval-esque chandeliers hanging from the ceiling (you could have a really good swing on them if they were in reach!).
Because we were a group of eight, we had to choose one of the three set menus. This was a bit confusing because we had a 50% off voucher which stated that we couldn't order off the set menu (something I had double-checked over the phone). however, the waitress assured me that the voucher would be accepted but we had to choose a set menu. Fair enough - this worked well because we all unanimously decided to opt for the middle one and got our order in good and fast. We were all starving - there was no messing about.
Bread and oil came quickly and we all tucked in. The rest of the tapas was served shortly after and all at the same time. The plates were big and there wasn't realy enough room on the table, so we always had one of the dishes 'on rotation'. The tapas was alright - all a bit salty and run of the mill really. The mushroom ball thingy is well wierd and was described by one person as a tin of Campbell's condensed soup in a rissole ball and there was another squishy rissole dish which none of us could quite fathom. The calamari was delicious though and the meatballs were great - very tasty. My favourite dish was the aubergine bake, which I bloomin well didn't discober until I was pleasantly stuffed. I could have just eaten the whole bowl of bake and been very happy.
For the eight of us, with the 50% discount and a 10% service charge, the bill came to £65, which worked out around £8 each. Not bad, not bad.
I wouldn't go back though - if it was Tapas I was after, I'd take myself to Pica Pica, where you can order a whole chicken. If I was just after a quick bite to eat, I'd mosey on next door to Nandos. Mmmmmmmmmm - chicken!
Check out my review of La Tasca Restaurant - I am Tommowinnie - on Qype