La Tasca (Regent St)

Sunday 22nd January 2012 1pm

I walked into La Tasca Regent Street after having seen a Tastecard sticker at the front door. After asking if it was valid on Sundays we were told that it was a 241 deal. So we decided to stay and have a meal. We ordered paellas. The food was delicious. When it came to paying though we were suddenly told that we couldn't have the deal as it was only valid for eating tapas. We felt cheated by the waitress as she hasn't warned us when we were ordering our food. After a short discussion in which we were asking for a creative solution on this matter the waitress said that she couldn't do anything about it, i.e. writing a new invoice charging us for tapas (which would have been the same price per person) and wouldn't mind if I created some wind online. This sad episode leaves me wondering if cheating customers is more systematic come from the management at La Tasca Regent Street.

I would not recommend to go to this restaurant.
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Bernhard
2 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, January 22, 2012

I have always wanted to visit La Tasca because I am a big fan of Paella, but my first dining was a bit disappointing.

The interior was nice, and the service was fine, and a plate of salami, cheese and bread was very nice.

However, the seafood and chicken paella we ordered was not the quality I was expecting: the rice was soggy and too tomato-y but with little seasoning and very bland, while the chicken was over-cooked and dry.

I have been to other Spanish restaurants but this one is not what I would like to eat again.
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Kit
5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Friday, July 01, 2011

Unfortunately for me, my partner had a money-off voucher, so I hid my reluctance and joined in the fun for my first ever visit to a La Tasca restaurant. I wasn't expecting much from a chain of this type, and my anticipation proved correct. The location and interior were nice, as was the smiling waitress who guided us to our seat. The walls were adorned with a particularly pleasing and varied selection of prints, and the atmosphere was warm and relaxed.

On to the food then. Cubes of fried potato were reasonable, not much going on with the sauce, whilst the rice, which seemed very like those packets where you add boiling water and a sachet of MSG, was also edible. Overcooked broad and string beans in very little seasoning arrived, as did sun-dried tomato and olive bread. The latter seemed slightly stale, cheap, and with miniscule bits of tomato and olive. As ever, bread proves a good barometer of a restaurant's food in general. An aubergine in tomato sauce dish, with a little melted cheese, was nice enough, having good flavour and some texture remaining, whilst an 'omelette' was a solid, quiche-type affair which didn't taste of anything but was edible. My 'main' tapas was a mixed, battered seafood plate, which was pretty awful. A couple of very small cubes of dried-up tuna, amazingly salty slithers of something, thin squid rings which were of course rubbery, but not inedible, and a couple of little prawns which had survived their oil bath quite well. Wines were fine, and service excellent; two friendly staff checked on us during the meal, which had been presented by jovial, decent chaps.

Overall, and without meaning to patronize, La Tasca would be fine for families or couples who don't understand or care for proper cuisine, and who think they'll get an idea of Spanish food. It is what it is, and I knew before I visited. Not the worst food I've eaten, but this is chain food at its most generic and uninspiring.
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6 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Saturday, April 11, 2009