IT is a pleasure to have discovered this lovely little tapas restaurant.

Situated in Horwich town centre on one of the main streets, it is clearly holding its own among the town's many other fine eateries.

This is probably because it has a wonderful Spanish authenticity which other better known tapas establishments sometimes strive for but sometimes struggle to achieve.

Its beauty is in its smallness. There is a lovely intimacy about eating here, the Spanish owner and staff taking pleasure in helping diners out pronouncing the dishes on the menu and even conversing in their native tongue. Dining here is almost like being on holiday in Spain.

Six of us went there on Saturday evening, booking the table for 8.30pm - the prime weekend eating zone for restaurants. I guess that with an eatery this small, booking is important.

Shortly after we were seated several groups of people arrived on spec hoping for a table, but were disappointed because the restaurant was fully booked.

I like that. Many lesser establishments try to squeeze people in to maximise profit, while allowing the service to their existing customers to suffer.

And this care over customer service clearly extends to the cooking. The food is simply delicious. The menu is uncomplicated and straightforward, without being too extensive. Fish and meat dishes figure prominently, but there are good options also for the vegetarian diner.

We started our meal in the time honoured fashion, ordering house red wine and beer while perusing the menu. While we discussed our choices we were offered bread and mixed olives which came with a superb garlic mayonnaise to whet the appetite (£4.05).

Each of us ordered three dishes in addition to three extra portions to share of Potatas Bravas - deep fried potatoes with spicy tomato sauce (£2.90).

Our dishes were supplemented by Pisto Manchego - Spanish style roasted vegetables topped with cheese (£3.50), and Pimientos Rellenos de Questo - red pepper stuffed with cheese (£3.25).

One of the beauties of eating tapas is that you sample each other's dishes. On this occasion, however, four of us opted for the Pollo Frito Con Tomate - fried chicken with tomato sauce (£3.75), which is an excellent dish.

As well as the chicken, I plumped for Mejillones al Ajillo - pan fried mussels in garlic oil with hot chillies (£3.75), which were stupendous and Guiso de Cordero en Vino Tinto - traditional lamb casserole with red wine, Spanish style (£3.75).

Other dishes we opted for included Guise de Temera - traditional beef casserole with red wine and mushrooms (£3.75); Tapas Paella - traditional Valencia style Paella (£3. 50); Brocheta de Pescado - skewered fish and peppers served with parsley and garlic dressing (£3.95); Tortilla Espanola - Spanish omelette (£3.25); Chorizo Frito - traditional Spanish pan fried sausage (£3.50); Gambas al Filo - prawns in filo pastry (£3.50); Queso de Cabra - goat's cheese marinated in olive oil (£3.25).

We all had desserts, which were priced at £3.50 each, including mixed ice-cream, carrot cake, a lovely caramel and ice-cream thing that I had, but cannot remember its name, and strawberry cake with ice-cream. This was followed by coffees.

Our total bill came to £156.80. Of this £78.65 was spent on tapas dishes, desserts including the coffees were £25 and the bar bill came to £53.15.

We were in the restaurant from just before 8pm, until 11pm, and at no time did we feel we were under any pressure to hurry up. The staff were a model of charm throughout the evening. Parking in Horwich town centre is not difficult, there are several car parks off Winter Hey Lane. Access to I Viva Espana! is on ground floor level, thus very easy.

Eating here was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

I Viva Espana!, Winter Hey Lane, Horwich Tel: 01204 438235

Closed Mondays. Open Tuesday to Sunday: 6pm to 10-30pm

Star rating ****