When you arrive at a restaurant at 8 pm on a Friday evening and it's in complete darkness, it's not usually a good sign. Mother, skinny & myself had decided last minute to finally try out Deco on Woods Lane, but it looks like we'd left it too late. Complete darkness and the entrance firmly locked, could only mean one thing........ closed for business. I always thought that Woods Lane was an unusual location for a restaurant, but encouraging reports meant I must find out for myself. Alas it was too late.OK, so it's Friday night and it's getting on, where too now? We're in town and we need to eat, before skinny's blood sugar level drops!
La Tasca, squeezed in between the old St Werburgh's church and the Casino is in my opinion a really nice building, and inside the ambiance is spot on, however some tables are badly located by toilet or kitchen doors, so it was worth us waiting 5 minutes for one of the tables against the perimeter wall, with comfy cushions in abundance.
Our drinks order had already been taken at the bar, so it was just a case of waiting for our eyes to adjust to the semi darkness before trawling through the list of Tapas.
I took the reigns and ordered a selection of potato, meat and fish plates, seven in total between the three of us. No surprise that only 6 arrived. For me, this is when it started to go Pete Tong, one plate missing, no bread (I don't know if you should get it free, or if you pay for bread, but a small basket of "fresh" crusty bread is essential to mop up any garlicky, wine sauces), hasty service and the chant coming from upstairs of "Happy birthday to you..........."
The lighting was dimmed yet again, but luckily my skinny had a torch in her bag, so mother was able to select her dessert by torchlight. Where is our waitress? I couldn't wait any longer for another beer and found myself going to the bar, for the first of two visits, to ask if we could have more drinks. Not good enough.
This place is rapidly becoming the Antibo's of the city centre, specialising in large tables of revellers who don't care about the quality of the food or the fact they've waited ages for a waitress to ask if they'd like another drink.
I can't say anymore than........ attractive venue (especially in the evenings), below average service and "unworthy of average" food (I reckon their meatballs would be suitable for vegetarians!) This is probably the first chain eaterie I've been to this year, and it was no better than the 1st time I visited. Tickety-boo for large groups and appetites, tenuous for fresh food and service.
A full menu can be viewed by clicking on the link : www.latasca.co.uk/TAPAS/Tapas.html
Food 4/10
Service 4/10
Venue 6/10
Tel : 01332 206515
www.latasca.co.uk
"Hey Mr. Jim I can see the shape you’re in" (Spanish Stroll, Mink DeVille, 1977)
Martin, Friday 23rd February, 2007
1 comment:
>>This place is rapidly becoming the Antibo's of the city centre, specialising in large tables of revellers who don't care about the quality of the food or the fact they've waited ages for a waitress to ask if they'd like another drink
Spot on with that Martin, i've been once and it was the same, my wife has been a few times and the same. Can't believe that people have to go to the bar to get more drinks rather than die of thirst!
Post a Comment