We love Spanish food, and so were looking forward to La Tasca. Our first foray was to Canary Wharf a couple of years ago, where even basics like Tortilla and chorizo were very poor and barely edible. The experience was so bad in fact, that we complained via the website. We did, in fairness, get a call from the branch manager, who was apologetic but philosophical about the quality of the food "it's a chain, what can you expect?" was her attitude. She offered me vouchers which she suggested we spent on drinks as we clearly weren't interested in sampling any more food. Predictably the vouchers never arrived.

Time is a great healer, so last week we tried the St Martin's Lane branch with equally disastrous results: the tapas were, almost without exception, woeful; the fried calamari for example was swimming in so much oil, the batter was falling off it. The surly staff couldn't care less – many of them were Spanish, so perhaps they were just embarrassed. Certainly the cheesy matador costumes they had to wear are a joke and would have demoralised me, for sure. If you have fond memories of eating great food in friendly restaurants in Spain, avoid La Tasca like the plague. You have been warned.

Last weekend, my bag was stolen at the la tasca (which is at James Street). It looks like a nice and secure restaurant that you go and dine with your friends but even the place wasn't busy at that time, it is kinda shocking that my bag was stolen there and nobody noticed anything. Worst of it, when I asked to the waitress, first she basically pretend not to hear me and then carelesssly said "yeah, it happens here and generally customers are stealing, we can't help it" Such a good response and not to mention that she even didn't say "I'm sorry" or similar thing. I definitely don't recommend anybody to go there, 'cos while speaking with your friend, if you just lose your attention to your bag even 1 minute, it can be stolen there.. It is that easy and what's the point going there if you feel not comfortable. By the way, I'd like to get your attention to the waitress response and attitude which actually tell a lot of things about this place!

I was dining out with my wife on 09/04/2011 at 1900. The tapas where the worst tapas I have ever eaten. I was seated next to the entrance. The service was the worst service I had ever had. When i complained, Nothing was done. The manager didn't even come to the table. This was a total disappointment. I will never go back.

We went last night and had great service and the food was tremendous value for money -We will be going again

Excellent food, great atmosphere and service and good value for money.

Spur of the moment walk in on New Years Eve but will definitely go again.

We had the most appalling dining experience at La Tasca. It started off well, we were seated by the hostess and the waiter came over shortly afterwards to take our order. It all went downhill from there. We were given another table's food and it took a few minutes to flag down a waiter to explain. Our food arrived shortly afterwards - the croquettes were delicious, the meatballs and patatas bravas average and the olives had gone bad. We pointed this out to one of the waiters who told us we'd get a new bowl of olives. We waited 15+ minutes and nothing arrived, so we asked for the bill. We then explained about the olives and the waiter had the nerve to make a long winded excuse about why a replacement wasn't brought out. We asked if they could be taken off the bill and he told us that black olives are supposed to be strong, as if we were idiots who didn't know what olives were supposed to taste like. They were rotten. The gone-off food was bad enough, but a waiter arguing about it and making excuses was what ruined our dinner. We complained to the hostess on the way out and she said she would have a word with the staff but we left we were left with a bad taste in our mouths - literally. Will never go back.

This place is a real gem in the sea of clams!! food was fantastic and service out of this world.

only downside is that the prices are slightly higher then usual. nevertheless worth a visit.

i went for it's pre theater package with stomp. the staff seems to be not interested to serve us at all.

the service and food was extremely slow for pre-theatre.some food on the menu were not the same served.

no point making complain as we were in a rush to the theater(i think this is the reason for the bad service)the staff were not too keen to serve.

i love spanish food but never go back to la tasca st martins lane again.

Having eaten in La Tasca before and always found them pretty good I must say the St Martin's Lane branch seems to have a sense of life that I haven't felt in a restaurant in a long time. The place seems to be full to the brim of helpful and friendly staff, the atmosphere is very positive and the food is fast and very good, a class above many other I have eaten in. The location, layout and service quality of this restaurant makes it a must for theatre goers and party people like my self. Strongly reccomend that you should have a try.

La Tasca's selection of food and drink is mightily impressive, with the tapas a definite must.


The service was okay but I had heard such good things about this apsect of La Tasca I was expecting perhaps too much. They were extremely busy though so maybe the personal touch was lacking because of that. Otherwise, La Tasca was a fun night out.