Introduction

Tast Catala is a Spanish Restaurant and bar in Manchester. It brings a taste of quality Catalan Cuisine and flavours of Barcelona to the city.

Food and menus are created by an award winning chef – Paco Perez and it is part owned by Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City and footballing genius.

John and I have visited on several occasions to enjoy a drink at the bar – In my opinion they serve THE best Bloody Mary in Manchester. Tis visit was our first time dining. I won £100 to spend in the restaurant as part of a Valentines competition. A review was not part of the prize and this is our choice to do so and our impartial opinions.

Ambience & Atmosphere

The restaurant has a casual vibe and has a sparse industrial feel. No soft furnishings or glitz and glamour.

I have seen it described as cold and uninviting, we wouldn’t go as far to say that but can see why others have said it.

There are seats along the bar and an area of dining tables by the large window that looks over trendy King Street, always thought of as an affluent area of the city. On warm days you can drink and dine on the pavement terrace.

There is also a restaurant on the first floor.  We cannot comment on this as we have only ever been in the ground floor area.

This is how the official  restaurant online page describes the cuisine:

“Our Restaurant Menu features our full range of Tastets, Charcoal Dishes, Rice Dishes & Desserts. The Menu is influenced by the flavours of Catalonia alongside more well-known classics. Our traditional dishes feature Butifarra which is a Catalan Duroc Pork Sausage and Catalan Style Rice cooked in our Charcoal Oven”.

Service & Hospitality

We were the only people in the place – 2pm on a Thursday afternoon – the week after Valentines day. We hade booked in advance and were greeted immediately with our names as they were prepared for us. They sat us in the window.

Staff were extremely friendly and helpful. Taking time to explain the menu and make suggestions. I must point out that as part of the prize there was a bottle of Sparkling rose Chapeldown wine – as John wouldn’t have wanted any with his food they allowed us to take it home to enjoy at leisure  – a nice gesture.

Food & Food Quality

Dish Highlights

• Appetizers: We shared 3 small plates – or Tastets. Sourdough bread with oil and tomatoes, Jamon Croquetas and Cod fritters with lemon and honey foam. These didn’t sound too extravagant or different from whats on offer at many other Tapas restaurants, but Wow! the flavours and quality were amazing! We holiday in Spain a lot but these were off the scale. The sourdough was super tasty with a great light texture. The croquetas had a super soft filling with a light crispy crumb. My favourite though was the cod fritters – such a lovely light batter and the lemon honey foam was like dipping them into a cloud. One of the most delicious things I’ve eaten in a while.  We found that this was ample food for us to enjoy.

• Main Course: From the a la carte menu, John chose Sea Bass, served with their signature el Txringuito 1939 sauce accompanied by roasted baby potatoes and mushrooms,  and I chose Solomillo – pork tenderloin, celeriac puree, deep fried aubergine and meat jus. The portion sizes were ideal. Although the pork was a bit too pink for my liking but John and I are dinosaurs and like all meat well done, we cannot embrace the pink meat culture. We enjoyed everything we were served.
• Dessert & Drinks: We did not order dessets or coffee but with our meal I enjoyed a chilled house white wine and John enjoyed his favourite Aspall Cyder.

As a side note we enjoyed the bottle of Chapeldown wine at home later watching Manchester City in the Champions League. This English wine is so delicious, soft on the palate with a delicate fizz – it will now be our go to celebratory drink

Pricing & Value for Money

Our bill came to £96. It’s not a budget restaurant but as its a unique experience and the quality of food and service was excellent it was worth it.

Overall Experience & Rating

Overall we enjoyed this experience, we expected that it would be very quiet when we booked. I think it is busy at the height of lunchtime and then gets busy again later in the evening. As its somewhere I am always going to return to for a drink when in Manchester it is somewhere we would have no reservations about dining there again. I’d be happy just to choose from the Tastets, small plates menu. In fact when we next visit for drinks I think we will definitely order a portion of sourdough oil and tomatoes to enjoy with out drinks.

We would probably give a score of 4 stars – just knocking 1 off for the lack of other customers at the time of our visit, affecting the atmosphere.

Final Thoughts & Recommendations

If you choose to experience the food here I suggest you make a reservation in advance, unless you are just dropping in for drinks sat at the bar, when seats are always available in our experience.

In fact if you’re passing we would always recommend popping in for a drink – quality cocktails.

If you’re in Manchester why not visit a free attraction – here is my review of Manchester Cathedral.

Please comment if you have visited to dine or drink yourself. And we’d love to know if you have any restaurant recommendations in Manchester – we love to try new places.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read

Elaine