Tasca Viva

"Restaurant Tapas Bar"- I'd go with the latter

Tapas and sangria by the beach might not be the first option that springs to mind on a bleak winter's evening, but it was Saturday and we felt like a night out that didn't involve traipsing around the city so we thought we'd try Tasca Viva, a place which we'd been eying off all summer but never gotten around to visiting.

The interior of the restaurant, with its modern, beautiful and stylish moorish decor, is equally suited to cosy winter evenings as it is to the busy summer holidays. We picked a seat by the bar (and the heater) and ordered a jug of sangria (delicious, and what would be the first of many) and turned our attention to the menu.  Offered at Tasca Viva is fairly standard tapas fare (roasted peppers, garlic mushrooms, barbecued octopus, chorizo, jamon...) and you can order dishes in two sizes- "tapas" or a larger "raciones".  Advice from the restaurant is to order 4 tapas or 2 raciones per person, but you need to be mindful of the nature of your choices to ensure you have enough.

Dishes were executed quite well; vegetables were prepared correctly, seafood was tender and meat was succulent, but on the whole, everything lacked that extra love and generosity that would have made food at Tasca Viva stand out from the crowd.  Meatballs in tomato sauce needed more tomato sauce, croquetas with ham and cheese needed more ham and cheese, and wagu beef in blue cheese sauce needed more blue cheese in the sauce.  Some dishes relied overly on garlic for flavour and others needed more attention to detail in the seasoning.  Also, there was a blob of some kind of meat paste on the Tabla Ibericos that was just awful. 

Even with these imperfections in mind, I really liked Tasca Viva.  The staff were friendly, the atmosphere relaxed and the sangria excellent.  I'm not sure I'd return for a 'restaurant' experience, but as a lovely bar with the option of ordering some tapas when you get peckish, I can see myself spending a few lazy summer afternoons here.