You may have noticed, that a lot of my posts have been a bit ‘foody’ lately. 

Well that’s because I’m giving up alcohol and I like eating, so there you go. I was excited when La Tasca asked me to pop down to their Victoria restaurant mainly because I like eating and also because in my 28 years as a person, I’ve never eaten at a Spanish restaurant.

La Tasca, Victoria is easy to find. It’s near on opposite the station in a lovely little square. In fact, if you walk out of the front door you practically fall down the new steps being built down to Victoria station.

As you would expect from a Spanish restaurant, the atmosphere is intimate and welcoming. Dotted around are shelves with bottles of cava, pictures of foods and splendidly for me, their logo is an octopus (or a squid, still don’t really know the difference).

We were sat at our seat next to the window which was nice after having spent the day crudely navigating the tube and ending up lost in two of the busiest places in London – Leicester Square and Covent Garden.

I try and stay off the bread nowadays, but when I go out to eat, I always treat myself. La Tasca have loads of options but we chose some with a lovely little tomato salsa situation to spread on. Usually in an Italian I dunk my bread in so much balsamic vinegar I’m a step away from a stomach ulcer, so this was nice, a refreshing change.

For the mains, my Mum, the ultimate fusspot/bit of a vegetarian/won’t try anything new unless you force her didn’t really know what she wanted, so I coerced her into a vegetarian paella.

I chose the chorizo burger and was much impressed they asked me how I wanted it (I have my meat more or less burnt in case you have me round for steak anytime soon).

I often find it’s only when you are being served a really good quality burger they ask you how you want it. I mean, Burger King don’t exactly ask you how you want your Aberdeen Angus do they? The patatas frittas were also something of a little marvel. They were the thinnest fries I’d ever had. I can’t even work out how they do it. It boggles my mind like little conundrums like who first saw an udder, thought they would give it a tug and not only drink what came out but let it go off and then eat the hard bit. (Whoever did invent cheese though, seriously, I love you, I owe my life to you, you are my hero, my inspiration and the greatest person alive).

So the mains were a yes from me, and so was the first class sangria. I love sangria. It’s something you can take a sip of and automatically feel like you are on holiday, even if you are in central London, have been lost on the tube, traipsed through Oxford Circus in the rain and had a journey with a cab driver so tech savvy you have no idea if he is addressing you, his hands free kit, or someone out of the window.

Now dessert isn’t my forte. Not only can I not have dairy, but I’d also rather have more dinner (so it was lucky my Mum got full and left half of her paella, which I polished off while she ate her dessert), so I always leave this to my companion to try and test.

The La Tasca cheesecake got the full on 10/10 thumbs up from my Mum. I must admit, it looked amazing. They also have a great selection of after dinner coffees, but I didn’t want to be up to late as I was looking forward to coming home in the morning and seeing my cat (no really).

I absolutely loved in in here, although I love London in general so I’m a bit biased. Warm, social atmosphere, and staff do not rush you like they do in so SO many other central London restaurants. Perfect place to have a long luxurious after work dinner on a Friday of have a low key birthday celebration.

You can eat at ‘La Tasca’ for £15 or more per person. It is recommended to book in advance if you are going to one of the busier restaurants.