I’M SURE I’m not the only person who is prone to the odd bout of Meal Envy at restaurants.
You know how it is – you’re perfectly content with what’s in front of you until you see what’s in front of your companion.
You sit there sulking as every heaped plate the waitress carries past looks more appetising and smells more lip-smacking than the one you plumped for.
If you are ever affected by this devastating affliction, fear not – there is help at hand, and it comes in small terracotta bowls.
It’s tapas – the perfect way to fend off the green-eyed food monster.
The traditional Spanish eating experience involves lots of small servings of different foods – meaning you’re never stuck with something you don’t enjoy.
If you like the look of your mate’s choice, you can order a portion of your own.
And with La Tasca’s tapas for a tenner option, you can choose as many different tastes of Spain as you like for £10-a-head.
Before we embarked on our tapas experience, my mate and I ordered a meat paella for two (£19.95), which we were informed would take quite a while as it was cooked fresh to order.
All the more time for our tapas!
To kick things off we went for the chorizo in red wine sauce and Spanish-style beef meatballs, with a portion of patatas bravas – fried potato in a tomato sauce.
The chorizo was deliciously spicy, the tangy sausage was offset perfectly by the rugged chunks of meatball, which looked and tasted authentically homemade, and the traditional patatas bravas offered a nice Mediterranean twist to the usual potato side.
Next up, the calamari struck the perfect balance between firm and tender, and the lightly-battered rings came with a roasted garlic mayo.
The tomato and goat’s cheese salad brought a lighter touch to the meal and the fresh aubergine topped with cheese almost convinced me that aubergine is something that should be eaten.
We were so engrossed in the vast array of dishes that we almost forgot about our paella – but after tasting it I’m not likely to forget it in a hurry.
Plenty of care had obviously gone into the preparation – the rice was mouth-wateringly moist without being cloying, and there was a generous heap of meat mixed though it.
A slap-up feast of flavours for £20-a-head – and not an envious glance in sight!