Take your tastebuds on a journey around the world
wore one of the plastic face visors, rather than a mask – it makesallthedifferencewhen you can see someone’s mouth as they’re talking.
La Vina has the bare brick, lowceilingfeelofatapasbarin the Mediterranean, as well as neon mood lighting for added atmosphere,andprettysoonit feltlikejustanormalSaturday nightaswenatteredawayover our wine.
There’s plenty of choice for all palates and preferences on the menu, with meaty options such as albondigas, gambas pil pil, belly pork and fried chicken strips to veggie optionssuchasvegetabletempura, veggie dumplings, fried halloumi and hummus.
A treat you don’t see often on menus in the area, you can alsoorderpaella,foroneorfor two to share.
Five of the tapas between uswouldhavebeenamplebut, as eating at a restaurant again was such a novelty, we put our waistbands to the test by ordering a flat bread side too.
Topped with chicken and pesto, it had a perfectly bubbledcrispbaseanditwasgone before our server could put down the tower of five tapas.
The gambas pil pil of fat prawns and a punchy garlic sauce had me reminiscing of holidays in Spain, while the fried halloumi with zaatarspiced salad was just the kind of sinfully good food I’ve been craving in lockdown.
We doubled up on prawns with the prawn dumplings too,whichweretightlypacked parcels of flavour.
In case the patatas bravas didn’t have enough calories, we ordered the Mexicanesque patatas r ancheros version which sees the fried potatoes mixed with chorizo and topped with salsa, fried egg and melted cheese, which we couldn’t get enough of.
Thelambskewerstoowere a triumph: Beautifully tender without being overly fatty, while the harissa rub delivered a slight kick.
If eating quality food like this is going to help the economy get back on its feet, I’m more than happy to take the calorie hit for the cause.