Tasca
25 Nuffield Street
Newmarket
Ph: (09) 522 4443
Website: www.tasca.co.nz
Open: 7am until late, seven days a week.
KEY POINTS:
HERALD ON SUNDAY RATING: * *
My Spanish dictionary defines tasca as a tavern or gambling den. A note on the menu at Tasca explains that it is, less dangerously, a back-street local bar or eatery. It also says that the pomegranate, is so named because it
is the apple (pome) of Granada - which is nonsense, although it does sound nice.
Certainly there's nothing very dangerous about Tasca. There's nothing very back-street either. Nuffield St, Newmarket's terribly sweet but quite hopeless attempt at a dining strip, is brightly lit and as clean as a new pin. Most Spaniards would regard it as nowhere near grimy enough to eat or drink in.
I mean no offence to Spaniards, but eating in Spain is rich in a kind of atmosphere that is conspicuously lacking in this hospital-clean Westfield-managed precinct. If a good Spanish restaurant ever opens in Auckland it won't be in a place like this.
You may get the feeling that I don't think Tasca is a good Spanish restaurant. I don't. But neither do Spaniards I have spoken to. They say that there is no good Spanish restaurant in Auckland.
Greek likewise. I asked a foodie Greek mate whether there was a good Greek restaurant in Auckland and he said, "No. Next question".
So Tasca is not a good Spanish restaurant and it's not even a good restaurant. That's sad to report, because everybody there is so damn nice. (Well, almost everybody. An Argentinian waitress went decidedly cool on us when my daughter mentioned she had spent a year in Chile, but that's Chileans and Argentinians for you.) Anyway, apart from that, everyone was so cheerful and anxious to please. Just about everything I said was greeted with "Si, senor", and the waiters were so nice I felt like buying them a beer.
But the Tasca experience is not about to transport you back to that little joint down the alley off las Ramblas. A glance at the menu is enough to confirm that this is an assemblage of pan-Mediterranean tucker which has lost whatever life it might have had on the trip Downunder.
Dolma (stuffed peppers), a Turkish dish, and taramasalata, a Greek dip, are on the "tapas" menu. This may have something to do with the main chef being a Turk (and a Vietnamese was helping out). But a cook's ethnicity is less important than his skill. Tasca seems committed to making food for people who don't much care what they eat.
A cordero billed as "shoulder of lamb" was a roasted and re-heated knuckle with some very undercooked roast carrot and potato. It was about as Spanish as chicken tikka masala. The paella had a small square of fish and four mussels - and cost $31.50. A spinach pizza was overladen with topping and the crust had gone soggy either because it was cooked at too low a heat or because it had waited too long on a plate or both.
The woman who had taken my booking told me there would be live music. It was inoffensive jazz, which they suspended mid-evening so a woman could dance flamenco. She couldn't keep time. It seemed apt.
Wine list: Unremarkable. Well-priced. Sherry, sangria and half a dozen Spanish reds.
Vegetarians: Tapas and a couple of main options.
Watch out for: The dancer.
Sound check: Boisterous.
Bottom line: Spanish for beginners - at a price.
THE BILL
$213 for three
Tapas (2) $24.50
Mains (2) $64.50
Pizza $20.50
Desserts (3) $29.50
Beers (3) $20
Wine (4) $30
Sangria (500ml) $21.50
Coffee $2.50
- Detours, HoS