New Zealand Herald

Reviews for Tasca – Spanish Tapas Bar & Restaurant

by Karen R.
17th March 2013

Grumpy and rude waiters, slow service (2 hours for a set menu for 2 adults) and food was average. Left without having one of our desserts as it took far too long to come out. Had a message left the next day by owner/manager Julio to which we called him back on Wednesday and left a message for him but we are yet to hear back from him.

Food:- Average
Service:- Bad
Children Friendly:- You got to be kidding me!!! Our girls were so bored, nothing to help entertain them.

Recommendation:- Never!

by Monica C.
7th January 2013

Never been for dinner, but great place to go for brunch/lunch during the day, one of my regulars. Meals are really enjoyable, I love the calamari and their home made aioli sauce. Quite a cozy restaurant and the staff are friendly, though the meals aren’t the biggest for the price.

by Jana
20th December 2012

Had a great night at Tasca. The food was just lovely. The chorizo tapas was delish though the haloumi one was a bit plain and bland. Lamb Cordero for main was awesome too. The cream caramel dessert was perfect. Food here is not cheap but it was a special occasion so didn’t mind the prices. The waitress was very friendly and looked like she genuinely loved her job and wanted to be there (not a common sight). Overall Tasca lived up to my expectations and I will surely come back.

by Lynne G.
8th December 2012

Went for the 1st time tonight to watch the flamenco dancers, but must say myself and 2 friends were impressed with the dancers, the service, the lovely pizzas and desserts. Next time will try a main, will definitely be back soon, not expensive!!

by Kathleen T.
5th October 2012

I really enjoy coming here, have been for dinner and breakfast and both were delicious. Can recommend the haloumi, oxtails, moorish eggs. The service both times was excellent too. I can’t wait to go back!
Mains are a little expensive – but they are big portions. I will probably order a tapa and a dessert next time, so I am not completely stuffed!

by Julie
27th September 2012

Purely by chance we were passing Tasca the other night looking for a place to eat before going to the movies.

I have lived in Spain and enjoy Spanish food and sherry in particular so we thought we would give it a try and were very pleased we did.

I was a little surprised at the fact that they had only one sherry house available, I would have preferred more selection but the fino I had was excellent and my partner made a note of the beer he had as he liked it so much.

The service was knowledgeable, fast and friendly. We ordered 5 tapas, just right. The standout was the red cabbage – fabulous flavours and a dish that will be remembered for sometime. The whole sardines were also excellent as were the prawns with chorizo and the croquettes, only pork belly was a bit disapointing.

We’ll be back again I’m sure(got to have more of that cabbage), hopefully by then they’ll have a bigger selection of sherries so I can stay longer !

by Anne J.
19th September 2012

Went for dinner and ordered two tapas dishes – haloumi cheese, stuffed peppers, and pizza del pueblo. Very disappointed – the flavours were bland and forgettable. Service good, but won’t be going back

by Angela
26th August 2012

The food is always pretty delicious. I have ordered almost everything on the menu. My favourite would have to be the kumru burger with chorizo sausage and the chicken wrap (both on the lunch menu). The staff are also friendly and polite. The only downside is that my coffee is often lukewarm and not hot.

by Jordan J.
25th August 2012

Fantastic food. Friendly, very fast service, and generous portion sizes. My wife and I were in the mood for European food with more options than Italian. A great variety of European food, including Italian, but also Spanish and Greek. Highly recommended!

by Kathryn A.
22nd June 2012

The food was very average for a not overly busy Sunday brunch, I would have expected a bit more. It is rare for us to try something different such as a Spanish breakfast but we thought why not! We ordered our meals and also a bowl of fries to come out before our meals. I know it’s only fries but half were literally cold and the other half fresh. We had no choice but to say something. I found this very odd they would give us half cold/old fries with some fresh ones?? The coffee was great and the other meals (omelette and moorish eggs) were mediocre. Flavours were very bland for a Spanish restaurant, needs to have more Spanish influence in the kitchen. Front of house staff were excellent.

by Stephanie
28th May 2012

I’ve been to this restaurant twice now – once for breakfast and another for dinner. I enjoyed both experiences. The atmosphere is really good in here and the décor gives it an authentic feel. It is always relatively busy and gives the place a fun vibe.
The service is very good and always feel very well attended to. The staff were friendly and attentive.
I find it a little pricey and doesn’t have the widest variety for breakfast – you either have some variety of eggs or pastry.
I enjoyed my dinner of seafood fettuccine but wasn’t blown away by flavour. My partner order paella which was very over cooked.
Overall I enjoy coming here and am happy to recommend it.

by Archana L.
18th May 2012

So I have only just got around to writing a review for this place….
Went here with some friends last week.. Was totally excited to eat some Spanish food.. got there and were greeted and seated quite quickly and given menu’s and water.. Which was awesome and I was impressed especially since I worked in the hospitality industry not long ago…
But then what seemed like every two minutes the waitress would come and ask if we were ready to order even though we had already told her that we would let her know when we were ready to order as we were still waiting for a friend… but we ordered drinks and fries.. But while taking our orders she tried to make small talk with us which would have been fine if everything she said didn’t sound like an insult. Which to be honest really took me by surprise.
Anywho… We all had a look at the menu and thought ” ooooo these things sound amazing… interesting even” .. Even though the waitress could see we were still deciding she still kept asking if we wanted to order. She bought over the fries and asked we were ready to order.. AGAIN…. By now i was getting a bit peeved off… Anyway the girls ordered their things. I ordered the Croquetas Spanish crumbed, fried chicken & bacon morsels with aioli ($10.50) and Chilli Prawns – Gambas al Pil Pil garlic & chilli prawns in a cazuelita ($18.50).. both of which ad reasonable prices considering the location of the restaurant. But three little Croquetas for that much? Really? Especially ones that are dry and bland?? Spanish food is meant to be full of flavor…. The prawns.. Tasted pretty good! BUT 4 prawns and a prawn head for $18.50 and really tiny pieces of turkish bread?… My friend ordered the Tortilla de Patatas which was bland and no presented nicely… we were offered the dessert menu’s but we kindly declined and we were given the “evils” look by that waitress… Was uncalled for.. To be fair the food was alright… but service was not so good.. we were then over charged for our bill and we only realised after we had already left.. $260 for tapas.. Not going there again… Maybe someone else will have a better experience then us.

by Briar P.
9th May 2012

I have always enjoyed Tasca. I went last week with a voucher and they had increased the number of tables so it was quite squashed in. We were given a table right next to the kitchen door and it was a really unpleasant place as I couldn’t hear my partner and I felt we were sitting right in the middle of the walkway with people standing around us all the time. This really put a damper on the experience. If they give me this table again, I’ll just leave.

Anyway, that aside, we had the lamb shoulder which I’ve had before and it was delicious and succulent. We both had the creme caramel and we found it bland. Their other desserts I’ve had before were good so we were disappointed we’d picked the caramel.
We got a glass of the Tasca wine and it was very good.
The staff were very pleasant as in previous visits. What a shame others have come up against perhaps a rouge waiter/waitress. We had a very charming young girl looking after us.

There was guitar playing and it was a nice ambience. There has sometimes been other performers and they were good for the first 10 mins then got a bit loud for conversation. I would give this a 5 star but they lost one due to the lousy table and disappointing dessert.
I will go there again

by ellie
28th April 2012

Been here twice- used to go to the Durham lane one, until we got sick of the abysmal service.
This one has great service. Its a bit pricy, for what you get, and the food isn’t really all that. Its not an authentic Spanish experience, lets be clear about that- its a general med melting pot. I have no particular gripes-its probably the best place I know in Newmarket. Why would I not rate it higher? Well, it just doesn’t make you walk out feeling wow. On the other hand, I remember it and would go there again for the cafe con leche and ‘cheap’ Argentinian wine.

by karim
27th February 2012

I visited Tasca on the weekend with some friends. No sooner had we sat down we were”pestered” by the staff. This was constant until we ordered our food. Not really a chance to talk or even look at the menu.
Anyway entree/tapas ordered and pretty poor to be fair.
We then ordered a jug of Sangria and I would like to know the alcohol content as it didn’t seem to have much in comparison to others I have had, especially for $35.00.
Mains were a bit better, average to good.
At the end of the day I am rating on the experience taste and value for money. Our bill for 4 people was $230.00 and I think that pretty much say’s it all.

by Tim E.
20th February 2012

We visited Tasca in Newmarket as a treat for our daughters 13th birthday. It was a bit of a trek across town using ‘Auckland public transport’ as we were staying over in Albert St, in the CBD. However, the trip was well worth the effort, the food was exemplary in choice, quality, preparation and portion size. The staff were excellent and a credit to the proprietor, they were attentive and genuinely wanted us to enjoy our experience. I would highly recommend this establishment to all and we will definitely be returning (I cant ever forget the Cordero lamb shoulder roasted in the woodfired oven, delicious!).

by Amy P.
9th January 2012

I went to Tasca with a large group of 10. We went because they advertised as being BYO. When we arrived they told us that the BYO was only on certain days. Very unimpressed that this was not made known to us when we booked and asked if the restaurant was BYO. I ordered a pizza was very sub par – burnt and quite tasteless. Two friends ordered some pasta which they thought was rather bland. However a couple of friends ordered some tapas which they thought wasn’t bad. But not exceptional. Overall not really a nice dining experience.
The only thing that I was impressed about was the atmosphere was quite nice. But food and service definitely lacking!

by Jenny L.
17th November 2011

Been here four times all up, once for dinner. I had a pasta dish which was average but seafood was plentiful, my sister had the paella (which might I say was lacking the rich flavour which I would have expected from a Spanish restaurant to deliver – I have made ones that are better and i’m far from being a chef or Spanish)

I actually enjoy the lunch menu much more which is probably which keeps me going. I order the steak sandwich most of the time but did try the fish and chips once. The steak is very tender and moist, and the fish was good and you get quite a bit. I also tried the moorish eggs (combination of eggs and tomato paste) which was oddly pleasant.

So all in all nice place to have a relaxing brunch (they do large bowls of coffee!) but don’t be expecting a cultural experience

by bonsai
7th November 2011

Having not enjoyed my experience at Tasca in the city, I was not massively enthused about the idea of going to the Nuffield Street branch. I was, however, pleasantly surprised. There is nothing to blow you away on the menu, but what we had was tasty and the staff were very friendly. Oddly quiet for a Friday night, but that’s Newmarket for you (the rest of the suburb was just as dead). Recommended.

by Nicky M.
17th October 2011

Really didn’t like it. The restaurant location and space itself was alright, but food is poor and not even tapas in its portions… How can you call fries ‘tapas’? Service was okay but at the end of the day you got to serve decent food and that’s sadly lacking in this restaurant.

by Monika
10th September 2011

Tasca is a lovely place with a nice atmosphere. We found the staff very helpful and friendly. We ordered a variety of tapas and desserts. The food was o.k, the oxtail, meat balls and the fried haloumi were nice. The tortilla seemed to be a day old and reheated, unfortunately burnt on the top. For desserts we had flan (a sort of creme caramel) and chocolate cake. The flan was enjoyable, the cake seemed to be a little on the dry side, possibly because it was not freshly made on the day. Overall, not a bad place to visit.

by Fiona H.
27th April 2010

Food: Average
Decor: Quite charming
Staff: Generally very pleasant
Manager: Hostile

Recommendation: Avoidance

by Janine D.
26th April 2010

I was very disappointed in the way the manager handled a minor complaint (food returned because it was overcooked – calamari). So much so that I felt the need to post this review here. Worst experience I have ever had. Waiting staff were very nice and did their best and the food that wasn’t overcooked was OK. There are many other restaurants in Newmarket and if you want a good overall dining experience I recommend trying them all first.

by LB
26th April 2010

Dreadful place. Food overpriced, and decidedly below average. When I sent a dish back (the first time I’ve done so in years) the owner/manager came to our table and got hopelessly aggressive about the whole thing! Unreal. My advice? Keep walking – there are plenty of other restaurants on that street!

by Marcelle
2nd September 2009

Very friendly, great atmosphere and lovely food! Have been back several times and will go back again.

by Richard
8th August 2009

Menu is getting less and less Spanish and more and more Kiwi which is hardly a good thing. Service starting to slip as well. Great location uninterested owners I guess.

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