La Tasca
Regency Wharf, Birmingham B1 2DS - Tel: 0121 643 9888
I’d always seen La Tasca and never been as I’d always seen Tapas as a rip off. Expensive finger buffet food, when I got a 50% off food voucher I thought ok I’d give the place a visit.
As I work down the road from a branch in Birmingham I decided to go one evening after work, so I had a light lunch and got to La Tasca just off Broad Street in central Birmingham at about 5.15pm and I was the first customer of the evening, but by about 5.30pm there were a couple of families in and a few couples. I had gone alone, but I soon realised that La Tasca isn’t really designed for one person.
I was greeted very cheerfully and taken to my table, upon sitting down at the table I was asked if I’d like some bread and olives to which I said yes, only to later find out I was charged for these, which in my opinion is a little cheeky. In other countries I’ve eaten out in, if offered bread or nibbles like olives they are usually complimentary and even in some restaurants in the UK I’ve even been given caviar as complimentary taste.
So reading through my first Tapas or should I say Spanish menu, I realised that the menu is suited for sharing, I mean you could have a series of Tapas as a single diner but to get the best out of the menu, then really you need at least one other person so you could order numerous tapas and get to taste a lot of the menu. Even the other the Paella dishes stated on the menu suited for two to share, but it was the only section that didn’t seem to say that at least 2 people must order.
So having not had a proper Paella, I decided to order PAELLA DE CARNE, which was a meat paella, with chicken and spicy Spanish sausage. The waitress told me as soon as I ordered the dish that it would be 45 minutes to an hour before it would be done as it was cooked to order, which I liked because at least I was made aware there would be a wait, anyway and bread and olives to keep me going, remember at this stage I assumed that these were complimentary.
As I sat waiting supping on my ice cold San Miguel lager, I watched as the waitress brought out what looked similar to a Greek Meze, that there were 8 – 10 different dishes or Tapas served to the couples around me and the families, looking on the menu it appeared to a Chef Special mix where there had to be at least two people eating it.
After an hour of people watching out came my food order and oh boy was I surprised how big the dish was. It has to be the first time I’ve seen a dish that suggests it’s for two and is actually for two or more. So I started tucking in wishing I hadn’t eaten the bread, but I have to say I feel I did myself proud and I must have eaten about half of the dish, so I asked if I could have the rest to go, which they did for me put the rest into two take away containers which just showed how much food there actually was. This dish could quite easily serve three of four people.
Having said that you needed two people to really enjoy La Tasca, the following week I revisited this very same eatery and took along a female acquaintance and the waitress actually remembered me from the previous week, which was a nice touch, and she even sat me in the same seating area, though at a table for two.
Having learnt my lesson about the bread and olives coming at a cost, we politely declined them, and we went on to order a Peroni and a Coke, and this time we went for the Chef Special Tapas Selection, which consisted of POLLO CON SALSA, a Chicken breast and sliced mushrooms, in a rich sherry cream sauce. PAELLA VALENCIANA, Paella with chicken and mixed seafood. BERENJENAS GRATINADAS, Fresh aubergine, baked in a tomato, garlic & wine sauce, topped with cheese. ALITAS DE POLLO, Marinated chicken wings. GAMBAS GABARDINA, Deep-fried king prawns, in a light and crispy batter, served with roasted garlic mayonnaise and fresh lemon. ALBóNDIGAS A LA JARDINERA, Spanish-style beef meatballs, served in a tomato sauce. PATATAS BRAVAS, Fried potato, with a spicy tomato sauce. ENSALADA DE LA CASA, Mixed leaves, avocado, cucumber, pine nuts and pimento peppers, drizzled with our house dressing. The stand out dish for me was the meatballs along with the Ensalada De La Casa.
All of these dishes were very nice, I did feel that they were a little over priced which added weight to what I said at the beginning of this piece, Expensive finger buffet food, good job I had another 50% off food voucher.
We had desert on this visit, one each which we shared with each other, we had, TARTA DE QUESO CON CAPAS DE LIMóN, A crisp biscuit base, layered with a smooth lemon cheesecake and tangy lemon custard and topped with lightly whipped cream and white chocolate shavings. TARTA DE CHOCOLATE Y NARANJA, A creamy chocolate & orange tart. Though both were nice, the cheesecake was head and shoulders above the tart.
The cost of the first visit was £15.76, remember that includes a 50% reduction on the food including the bread and olives. If I’d paid full price the cost would have been £28.17.
The cost for the second visit was £23.66, remember there were two of us and we had a voucher. The full price would have been £41.52.
Pros:
The Paella was superb and the service was excellent.
Cons:
It seems a little pricey for the amount you get on the Tapas front. The menu doesn’t have enough means for one, like the Paella, though fantastic is just way too big for one, but if you were to have a selection of Tapas then it would cost a fair bit.
I would eat at La Tasca again, but I’d be reluctant to go on my own, though I did love the Paella.
RODIZIO
Unit 3, Sol Central, Northampton, NN1 1SR
Tel : 01604 631641
Whilst in Northampton one weekend I spotted an interesting restaurant called Rodizio, which claimed to be a Brazilian Restaurant. Now I’d never eaten Brazilian cuisine so I did some research, and found that in fact Rodizio means the following… is a style of restaurant service in Brazilian and Portuguese restaurants. One pays a fixed price and the waiters bring an offering of food to each customer at several times throughout the meal, until the customers signify that they have had enough. In churrascarias or Brazilian Steakhouses, servers come to the table with knives and a skewer, on which are speared various kinds of meat, most commonly local cuts of beef, pork, or chicken whereas in a Pizza Rodizio varied pizzas are brought on trays…. So maybe it wasn’t Brazilian cuisine but more a Brazilian way of serving food.
So I called up a pal to see if she wanted to check it out, which we did the following Saturday. Even though there was only two of us I would say it’s advisable to book especially if you are going on a Saturday, as the night we went it was very busy, and I’d say most tables were taken, mainly with couples but also there were a couple of large birthday groups.
Now you’re average buffet isn’t a place where you would take a loved one, but this place decorated very tastefully with sturdy looking thick black wooden tables and chairs, it just didn’t look like a buffet. Though having spent time in Orlando I really don’t see why people have a stigma about going to a full on buffet, but that’s a subject for another time and another part of the website.
I arrived on time and my guest was very late, so whilst I waited I sat in the bar and had a cheeky pint, which was a reasonable £3, but I was a bit perturbed when later on in the evening I noticed on the menu that same pint was cheaper at £1.80.
When my eating partner arrived we went to claim are table. We were taken to the a table for two, which was right by the stage where a man was singing cover version songs of Bob Marley and U2 classics… to be honest I’d have rather had canned music, because he was killing every song he sang…. And he was slightly too loud in my opinion.
In my research I discovered In many places where churrascarias have been opened, the diner is often provided with a coloured card, red on one side and green on the other. According to the usual meaning of these colours, the servers will only bring more meat if the card is flipped to the green side, this is how they did it at this place. I fained ignorance and let the bus boy do his thing.
My eating partner and I headed to main buffet of hot plates where we found Rice, a Chicken Pie, Pasta, Cous Cous Balls, and vast selection of salad stuff and we suitably filled our plates and went back to our table, and that was the last time I had to leave my seat to get any food.
For the next two hours I munched through all the salad stuff on my plate along with the Chicken Pie, which was very very nice, but this munching was broken up by servers coming to our table and offering us different types of meat including those mentioned above as will as different types of sausages, and suffice to say I ate my fill. I have never eaten so much meat in a meal as I did that night and with all that protein it had to escape somewhere. The only downside about the meat was that the Beef was very very pink, which made it a little chewy. So if you don’t like blood in your meat then I suggest you avoid the beef. But of course I did leave space for desert and they did have a few nice sounding ones. My partner in eats had a Cream based desert called Brazilian Crème she said was light and refreshing after such a heavy meal. Whereas I had there home made chocolate cake, called Brigadeiro Cake, which I found heavy, stodgy and actually not very nice.
The bill for the two of us came in at £40.75, with the buffet costing £14.50 each. The drinks were very cheap with pint of Strongbow being £1.80 and soft drink costing 75p.
I love the idea of this eating place and I am going to go again and not go with my reviewing head on. As then I can fully enjoy the entertainment, which consisted of a man and two ladies in Brazilian dress and dancing to the Brazilian sounds, it almost sounded like being at a World Cup match with the Brazilian football team playing. What amused me though, were the couples, when any of these two scantily clad women came near you could see the bloke looking everywhere but at the dancing lass, and you could see the female giving him that, “Don’t you even think about looking at her” look. I would have to give this place a 8.5/10 as the beef let the food down and the price difference between pints depending whether you go them from the bar or with your food was too great.
Woktastic
Paradise Forum - Birmingham
Back in July, I read a review in the Birmingham Metro about a restaurant called Woktastic which is right by Paradise Forum in Central Birmingham.
From the name you’d be forgiven for thinking this place was just another Oriental Buffet, well it’s far from that, it is in fact a Sushi and Noodle Bar, but is an independent company unlike Yo Sushi.
I’ve never had sushi before so as part of this whole life begins and forty trip that I’m on I decided to give it a go, so invited a fair few people, but only go two takers, with everyone else either ignoring the invite or responding with, “I don’t eat raw fish…” So after a few cheeky ones in the public drinking establishment next door to Woktastic us three brave souls venture into the unknown…. Well it was unknown to me as my two compatriots have had Sushi numerous times in various places…
You can’t fault Woktastic for the décor, it was kinda loud, groovy and eye catching but yet pretty chic, we sat on a picnic type table which was right by the Sushi belt and with all this good looking food whizzing by, it was mouth-watering and this is def one of those places where you eat with your eyes, the food looked good.
We all decided to have Sushi to start with which in the end was the best choice, I had some thinly sliced sweet and sour chicken strips with thinly sliced celery, along with mackerel on a cube of rice… and the girls had other types of fish on a cube of rice.. and two of us agreed it was exceptional, the other one of us confessed it wasn’t the best Sushi she’d had.
Now Woktastic doesn’t just do Sushi, they also do the usual kinda food you’d find in an Orient Restaurant, so for second course we all had Woktastic Special Fried Rice, and that’s when it all went Pete Tong…..the rice was expensive and to be honest not every good… you pay £8.50 for a Special Fried Rice, granted you get a handful of Prawn Crackers and thimble of Miso Soup, but you’d expect the rice it be moist and scrambly but it was just dry…. My local take away does Special Fried Rice for £4.30... you get more it’s actually moist and nice….All three of us seemed to be in the same ball park in terms of the what is regarded as a staple dish in any Oriental Restaurant and it was poor.
The meal was saved by the deserts, I had Chocolate Cake, from the Sushi counter, it was normal Choc Cake nothing special, but it was a rather large slice, that one of the girls had spotted whilst the belt was doing the rounds. The ladies had some dish which consisted of Rice and Red Beans…. Apparently it was very very nice indeed.
The cost of the meal was for the thee of us all in, as well as the tip, it came to £60, so £20 not too bad, but the Special Fried Rice def let the meal down.
Think Woktastic is a great concept and the Sushi was pretty good, but I think the focus is on the Sushi and they have lost sight of the basics, but that comment is only based on Special Fried Rice, so I’m going to have to go back again and try something else off the main menu. For now thought out of 10, this place gets a 6.5
Website is here.
La Tasca
Regency Wharf, Birmingham B1 2DS - Tel: 0121 643 9888
I’d always seen La Tasca and never been as I’d always seen Tapas as a rip off. Expensive finger buffet food, when I got a 50% off food voucher I thought ok I’d give the place a visit.
As I work down the road from a branch in Birmingham I decided to go one evening after work, so I had a light lunch and got to La Tasca just off Broad Street in central Birmingham at about 5.15pm and I was the first customer of the evening, but by about 5.30pm there were a couple of families in and a few couples. I had gone alone, but I soon realised that La Tasca isn’t really designed for one person.
I was greeted very cheerfully and taken to my table, upon sitting down at the table I was asked if I’d like some bread and olives to which I said yes, only to later find out I was charged for these, which in my opinion is a little cheeky. In other countries I’ve eaten out in, if offered bread or nibbles like olives they are usually complimentary and even in some restaurants in the UK I’ve even been given caviar as complimentary taste.
So reading through my first Tapas or should I say Spanish menu, I realised that the menu is suited for sharing, I mean you could have a series of Tapas as a single diner but to get the best out of the menu, then really you need at least one other person so you could order numerous tapas and get to taste a lot of the menu. Even the other the Paella dishes stated on the menu suited for two to share, but it was the only section that didn’t seem to say that at least 2 people must order.
So having not had a proper Paella, I decided to order PAELLA DE CARNE, which was a meat paella, with chicken and spicy Spanish sausage. The waitress told me as soon as I ordered the dish that it would be 45 minutes to an hour before it would be done as it was cooked to order, which I liked because at least I was made aware there would be a wait, anyway and bread and olives to keep me going, remember at this stage I assumed that these were complimentary.
As I sat waiting supping on my ice cold San Miguel lager, I watched as the waitress brought out what looked similar to a Greek Meze, that there were 8 – 10 different dishes or Tapas served to the couples around me and the families, looking on the menu it appeared to a Chef Special mix where there had to be at least two people eating it.
After an hour of people watching out came my food order and oh boy was I surprised how big the dish was. It has to be the first time I’ve seen a dish that suggests it’s for two and is actually for two or more. So I started tucking in wishing I hadn’t eaten the bread, but I have to say I feel I did myself proud and I must have eaten about half of the dish, so I asked if I could have the rest to go, which they did for me put the rest into two take away containers which just showed how much food there actually was. This dish could quite easily serve three of four people.
Having said that you needed two people to really enjoy La Tasca, the following week I revisited this very same eatery and took along a female acquaintance and the waitress actually remembered me from the previous week, which was a nice touch, and she even sat me in the same seating area, though at a table for two.
Having learnt my lesson about the bread and olives coming at a cost, we politely declined them, and we went on to order a Peroni and a Coke, and this time we went for the Chef Special Tapas Selection, which consisted of POLLO CON SALSA, a Chicken breast and sliced mushrooms, in a rich sherry cream sauce. PAELLA VALENCIANA, Paella with chicken and mixed seafood. BERENJENAS GRATINADAS, Fresh aubergine, baked in a tomato, garlic & wine sauce, topped with cheese. ALITAS DE POLLO, Marinated chicken wings. GAMBAS GABARDINA, Deep-fried king prawns, in a light and crispy batter, served with roasted garlic mayonnaise and fresh lemon. ALBóNDIGAS A LA JARDINERA, Spanish-style beef meatballs, served in a tomato sauce. PATATAS BRAVAS, Fried potato, with a spicy tomato sauce. ENSALADA DE LA CASA, Mixed leaves, avocado, cucumber, pine nuts and pimento peppers, drizzled with our house dressing. The stand out dish for me was the meatballs along with the Ensalada De La Casa.
All of these dishes were very nice, I did feel that they were a little over priced which added weight to what I said at the beginning of this piece, Expensive finger buffet food, good job I had another 50% off food voucher.
We had desert on this visit, one each which we shared with each other, we had, TARTA DE QUESO CON CAPAS DE LIMóN, A crisp biscuit base, layered with a smooth lemon cheesecake and tangy lemon custard and topped with lightly whipped cream and white chocolate shavings. TARTA DE CHOCOLATE Y NARANJA, A creamy chocolate & orange tart. Though both were nice, the cheesecake was head and shoulders above the tart.
The cost of the first visit was £15.76, remember that includes a 50% reduction on the food including the bread and olives. If I’d paid full price the cost would have been £28.17.
The cost for the second visit was £23.66, remember there were two of us and we had a voucher. The full price would have been £41.52.
Pros:
The Paella was superb and the service was excellent.
Cons:
It seems a little pricey for the amount you get on the Tapas front. The menu doesn’t have enough means for one, like the Paella, though fantastic is just way too big for one, but if you were to have a selection of Tapas then it would cost a fair bit.
I would eat at La Tasca again, but I’d be reluctant to go on my own, though I did love the Paella.
RODIZIO
Unit 3, Sol Central, Northampton, NN1 1SR
Tel : 01604 631641
Whilst in Northampton one weekend I spotted an interesting restaurant called Rodizio, which claimed to be a Brazilian Restaurant. Now I’d never eaten Brazilian cuisine so I did some research, and found that in fact Rodizio means the following… is a style of restaurant service in Brazilian and Portuguese restaurants. One pays a fixed price and the waiters bring an offering of food to each customer at several times throughout the meal, until the customers signify that they have had enough. In churrascarias or Brazilian Steakhouses, servers come to the table with knives and a skewer, on which are speared various kinds of meat, most commonly local cuts of beef, pork, or chicken whereas in a Pizza Rodizio varied pizzas are brought on trays…. So maybe it wasn’t Brazilian cuisine but more a Brazilian way of serving food.
So I called up a pal to see if she wanted to check it out, which we did the following Saturday. Even though there was only two of us I would say it’s advisable to book especially if you are going on a Saturday, as the night we went it was very busy, and I’d say most tables were taken, mainly with couples but also there were a couple of large birthday groups.
Now you’re average buffet isn’t a place where you would take a loved one, but this place decorated very tastefully with sturdy looking thick black wooden tables and chairs, it just didn’t look like a buffet. Though having spent time in Orlando I really don’t see why people have a stigma about going to a full on buffet, but that’s a subject for another time and another part of the website.
I arrived on time and my guest was very late, so whilst I waited I sat in the bar and had a cheeky pint, which was a reasonable £3, but I was a bit perturbed when later on in the evening I noticed on the menu that same pint was cheaper at £1.80.
When my eating partner arrived we went to claim are table. We were taken to the a table for two, which was right by the stage where a man was singing cover version songs of Bob Marley and U2 classics… to be honest I’d have rather had canned music, because he was killing every song he sang…. And he was slightly too loud in my opinion.
In my research I discovered In many places where churrascarias have been opened, the diner is often provided with a coloured card, red on one side and green on the other. According to the usual meaning of these colours, the servers will only bring more meat if the card is flipped to the green side, this is how they did it at this place. I fained ignorance and let the bus boy do his thing.
My eating partner and I headed to main buffet of hot plates where we found Rice, a Chicken Pie, Pasta, Cous Cous Balls, and vast selection of salad stuff and we suitably filled our plates and went back to our table, and that was the last time I had to leave my seat to get any food.
For the next two hours I munched through all the salad stuff on my plate along with the Chicken Pie, which was very very nice, but this munching was broken up by servers coming to our table and offering us different types of meat including those mentioned above as will as different types of sausages, and suffice to say I ate my fill. I have never eaten so much meat in a meal as I did that night and with all that protein it had to escape somewhere. The only downside about the meat was that the Beef was very very pink, which made it a little chewy. So if you don’t like blood in your meat then I suggest you avoid the beef. But of course I did leave space for desert and they did have a few nice sounding ones. My partner in eats had a Cream based desert called Brazilian Crème she said was light and refreshing after such a heavy meal. Whereas I had there home made chocolate cake, called Brigadeiro Cake, which I found heavy, stodgy and actually not very nice.
The bill for the two of us came in at £40.75, with the buffet costing £14.50 each. The drinks were very cheap with pint of Strongbow being £1.80 and soft drink costing 75p.
I love the idea of this eating place and I am going to go again and not go with my reviewing head on. As then I can fully enjoy the entertainment, which consisted of a man and two ladies in Brazilian dress and dancing to the Brazilian sounds, it almost sounded like being at a World Cup match with the Brazilian football team playing. What amused me though, were the couples, when any of these two scantily clad women came near you could see the bloke looking everywhere but at the dancing lass, and you could see the female giving him that, “Don’t you even think about looking at her” look. I would have to give this place a 8.5/10 as the beef let the food down and the price difference between pints depending whether you go them from the bar or with your food was too great.