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No Star Rating: ****

Menu ****

Quality of Food ****

Atmosphere ***

Service ****

Children's menu N/A

Vegetarian Dishes ** *

Disabled Access **

Value for Money ****

No Smoking Area -- NO

HOW TO GET THERE: Easy to find. Along Bradshawgate in Bolton town centre. Has pretty window boxes outside.

FRIDAY night in our house means eating out!

Forget the beans on toast -- someone else can do the washing up. So to combine a night out eating and seeing a band was a double delight.

Living outside Bolton, I have never sampled the cornucopia of restaurants and eateries in the town. The choice is fantastic. Our regular Fridays nights are usually Italian, Indian, Turkish, English.

I thought we would live a little. I pass La Tasca practically every day and Tapas Bar always sounds so cosmopolitan.

So La Tasca it was.

According to the dictionary, a gourmand is someone who is fond of eating and a lover of delicate fare (we will skip the gluttonous reference!) I suppose the description would fit my partner who has a Desperate Dan appetite and can eat for England. But as well as liking his grub, he also appreciates a good restaurant and a pleasant atmosphere.

I was a little worried that tapas would not "fill him up" and when we walked into the bar, apart from three office workers winding down over a lager, we were the only ones in.

Well it was only 5.30pm.

But the whole eating concept at La Tasca really works -- empty or not -- although I would like to go back on a bustling Saturday night.

We walked to a table for two at the rear of the bar -- first mistake! Find out why later.

The waitress was delightful. After glancing at the menu -- which takes ages as there is so much on it -- she arrived to take our order. Not being a tapas expert I asked for advice on how many two people should order. About six she told us.

Wow, what a choice. Do we go for the olives, the tortilla, the meatballs...or the choice of different paellas.

We decided on tapas -- some for him to try and some of my choice.

My man insisted on a bottle of Alsina Y Sarda Chardonnay 2000 at £10.95 -- of which I only got one small glassful as I was the driver for the night.

The waitress brought the bottle, and my man went through the macho tasting ritual while she politely held out the label for us to see. A lovely touch. And the wine was good too, crisp and fresh tasting.

We started with the deliciously fresh olive and tomato bread freshly sliced (£1.50) -- just a shame about the catering pats of butter in silver foil -- and as we munched our way through I could feel myself relaxing.

The weather was balmy, the front doors were open, the music was authentic Spanish -- and if I closed my eyes I could have been in Barcelona.

My reverie was interrupted with the arrival of our dishes -- a huge tray full. This is where we had made our mistake. Choose a large table if you can to accommodate them all. Much plate shuffling and we were ready to start.

Desperate Dan was already tucking in and I had to be quick to keep up.

Our six dishes were:

Berenjenas (£2.85)-- aubergine with cheese, tomato and herbs. Aubergines are much maligned. Luckily my man thinks so too, so more for me. The vegetable came through but did not overpower the other ingredients.

Tapas paella (£3.25) with chicken. The rice was cooked just right and tasted nothing like the rice I cook at home, thank goodness. And there was enough for two.

Chorizo Frito (£2.95) -- this spicy sausage is another of my favourites and it really did melt in the mouth, cooked in oil and red wine. Trouble was my man liked this too -- so it was almost forks at dusk!

Patatas bravas (£1.95). These spicy potatoes had been recommended and they were delicious -- I should have ordered two portions.

Fritura Pescado (£3.95) -- seafood consisting of squid, swordfish, prawns sardines. This was one I left to my man whose verdict was: "A bit bland. It all tasted the same."

Ensala de Tomate (£2.75) -- tomato salad but deliciously refreshing. Huge juicy beefsteak tomatoes.

It was a real feast and thankfully no standing on ceremony. The bread -- what was left of it -- was ideal for dunking all those delicious garlic and olive oil juices.

As the dishes were cleared away, Desperate Dan admitted to being quite happy by that stage. It could have been the food...it could have been the Chardonnay!

By this time the bar had started to fill up and I was curious to see what other people were trying.

A goat's cheese and tomato salad looked interesting, and the asparagus looked tempting.

Swiftly on. In the interests of Eating Out we HAD to try a pudding.

He is a cheesecake fan but there was only one piece left -- pity -- and it was a flavour he didn't want so we both chose the Tarta Albaricoq, apricot and frangipan tart (£5.90 for two). There was also ice cream or chocolate cake.

The tart was fine and...average. The presentation was thoughtful with a dusting of cocoa powder round the edge of the plate.

On to coffees. My man had capuccino (£1.35) which looked frothy man. I went for my usual espresso (95p) which was black, hot and as bitter as I like it.

By this time I was so laid back I really could have stayed there all night. But we were going to see a band so we made the effort and paid the bill. It came to a little over £38 -- about average for one of our dining nights out. The tapas range from £2 to £3.

Reading the literature on the back of the menu I found out that La Tasca has its head office in Bolton and has 16 others La Tascas scattered around the country. I found that enlightening as the bar certainly did not have a "franchise" feel to it.

The smiling waitress took our money and was keen to know if everything had been all right. It had -- so much so that my man who has a clamp on his wallet, left a tip!