New Zealand Herald

Reviews for Tasca – Spanish Tapas Bar & Restaurant

by Deborah
9th June 2013

Popped in here for coffee & cake. Ordered muffin, cake & 2 cappuccinos – asked for these to be ‘extra hot please’.
Muffin was served, then the 2 coffees, both were barely lukewarm. Also the cups felt wet and one saucer had water sitting in it.
We had an outside table and by this time the 2 cafe staff had come to stand in the cafe doorway, directly behind our table. It felt a bit invasive – we were the only customers seated outside and it felt like the staff were looking over our shoulders, not a pleasant feeling.
However it was a good opportunity to tell our waitress that we were disappointed that the 2 coffees were not at all hot.
She didn’t respond, just looked at her co-worker (who had made the coffee) so I repeated to him that the coffees weren’t hot.
He said with a smile “Yes, thats because the cups were cold because I just washed them.” !!!!!!!!!!!
Unbelievable – he washes dishes in cold water ? And also doesn’t feel the need to dry them.
I responded that the cups should always be warmed first to make a hot coffee.
He just laughed and said “cheers”.
Obviously our satisfaction wasn’t any concern of his. I think he walked away at this point. The waitress was still leaning in the doorway behind me so I asked her if we could have the cake we had ordered which still had not been served.
It came and was very good.
Our recommendation is that you don’t go to Tasca Vulcan Lane for coffee unless you enjoy your coffee cold – and don’t bother asking for it any other way.
The main complaint of course is the bad attitude of the staff. And it seems that may be shared by the management – I sent an email to them about our experience and have had no response.
If you want good coffee, good service, from staff who care, avoid this place.

by Sarah
8th May 2013

Had a birthday lunch here and was quite disappointed with the lack of supply for wine. We wanted a bottle to share of sav, the only thing they had was a Chardonnay. We then ended up getting a bottle of bubbles which was very average but the only thing we could get other than sangria. Food was good, nothing special. Overall it was an average experience. Waiters spent a lot of time just talking by the entrance and not seeming interested in the diners. Wouldn’t be my next choice for a lunch with friends

by Andrea B.
11th March 2013

We had booked using a crab one voucher to the value of just over $80 for three tapas and a half litre sangria. It was not possible to get the $80 worth but we ordered the garlic prawns which consisted of 8 prawn heads and only 4 had bodies. They were clearly the cheap ready cooked from Thailand and not good. The meat balls were nasty and covered in tinned tomatoes straight from the can. The squid rings were tasty but soaked and swimming in oil. Very disappointed. I was tempted to tell the guests coming in from the street to keep walking.

by Thelma & Louise C.
7th March 2013

Louise: had the sangria & tapas. Was yummy & would come again although now I want to check out the other Tasca’s.

by yve_14
3rd March 2013

The service was good, however it didn’t make up for the food we received. The burger had burn bacon and the small chips which were dry and sangria average. I don’t believe they are familiar with the menu as it said salad & tzatziki, I received everything minus the tzatziki. When I asked where it was they advised it was in the feta & potato stack. They were nice & offered some tzatziki separately, what I received was a saucer of sour cream with some parsley on top. So, all in all we won’t be coming here again which is a shame as the people were nice. For those that don’t know what tzatziki is below is a link ^_^ The Tasca in Newmarket was the complete opposite & will be going there again.
http://en.wikipedia.or…

by Mick
2nd February 2013

Eating here made for one of the worst restaurant experiences of my life.
I walk past this place every day after work and it’s always packed, so naturally I expected it to be good.
Anyways, lets get down to it. My girlfriend received a voucher for this hell-hole (the only consolation in this tale of disaster) so we thought why not.
We turned up on a Thursday evening, the place was reasonably busy on the inside save for a tiny table sandwiched less than elbows length between two other busy tables and one six person table.
We didn’t want to sit on the tiny table between the two other groups as there would have been absolutely zero privacy in the quiet little restaurant, so we sat outside instead-which was completely empty because it was windy as hell. The table was rocky because of the angle of the table against the alley’s sloped surface. Menu’s were flying off the tables from the wind and salt and pepper shakers were rolling down the alley.
We ordered a jug of sangria and some tapas. The sangria arrived which was really average.
The wind then became so overwhelming that we asked if we could sit inside, the waitress agreed and we went in and sat at the six person table seeing as no one else was sitting there. The manager then came along and asked us to leave the table (even though it wasn’t reserved) and suggested we sit at the tiny table rubbing elbows face-to-face with strangers. We went back outside.
We poured a few glasses of sangria before discovering, mid-pour, a long black hair flow into one of our glasses. We called the waitress, she suggested that it must have ‘flown in’ with the wind. I was getting seriously fed up at this point. I explained that I saw with it my own eyes and she offered to get us a new jug of sangria. I explained that I didn’t want a new jug of sangria with hair in it, so after checking with the manager it was decided that we would be given some wine.
The wind then picked up and the waitress began to chase wayward menu’s and shakers around the alley. A four person booth then emptied and we asked if we could take it but she said no, because it was for four people, not two. The six person table was still empty.
The food arrived, which was oily as hell and looked like it could have been bought from a supermarket frozen foods isle.
It then began to rain directly over us… We weren’t offered any of the tables inside and had to just move over.
Awful.

by briandijones
20th November 2012

We went here for tapas on a Sunday evening. The restaurant wasn’t busy so nice and quiet. The service was very friendly, helpful and prompt. The food was excellent – we all enjoyed our selection of tapas dishes. House wine was very acceptable. Decor was authentic. Unfortunately, the only “negative” was the toilets – there are 2, and both had the wall flusher covers missing, so it was a bit of a mystery as to how to operate, but we managed to overcome this in the end.
Over all a good dining experience, and I would recommend this restaurant to all.

by Joanna G.
7th November 2012

We only went there because all the other pubs in Vulcan Lane were packed. We ordered some tapas and thought according to the prices it will be enough for the 2 of us. The bruschetta (14$) came first and it was just one piece of bread with some haloumi, some pickled peppers and lots of oil. After that we waited almost 30 min for our other tapas to arrive. When we asked the waiter he said they have another big order from the another table. The other two tapas were Spanish Croquetas which was outrageous to pay 14$ for 4 little croquetas. We send the calamari back to the kitchen, because for 16$ they were soaked with oil, not fresh but looked like sth you can buy in a fish&chips shop. Overall we came out hungry and spend a lot of money on greasy and tasteless food. If the other pubs on Vulcan Lane are full, you better go to McDonald’s on Britomart than to spend your money in this restaurant!
The one start goes to the nice waiter who really tried his best!

by Jemimah K.
20th June 2012

Their pastas do not disappoint with a generous portion. Have had the seafood pasta which had a good amount of fresh seafood.
Good environment as well, with food never disappointing.

by ellie
28th April 2012

We were seated. And were asked to order- as we were picking up the menus.
Give us a minute please, we asked.
10 minutes later we went in search of a wait person- at this time, the place had one other table of customers, btw. We ordered drinks.
10 mins later had to go hunting again to get our food ordered!
Then had to go and ask for cutlery, after it came. Can’t remember the food after all that!
This is why I go to the Newmarket one now- this was just the culmination of several not too good experiences.

by Robert
19th March 2012

If I could, I would give Tasca in Vulcan Lane less than one star. Their food is nothing special, but not terrible either. Where they really fall down is on service! I went there with friends for after-work drinks and Tapas. We ordered our food from the grumpy guy at the the counter and were waiting for some time, when he (quite rudely) asked us to change tables because they were expecting people to come in for dinner. If that was the case, why did he seat us there to start with? We felt this was an inconvenience, but we obliged, only to be told by other waitstaff that the table we had been moved to was also a “premium dinner table”. They wanted us to move again, and only let us stay when we threatened to cancel our now long-awaited tapas. When it arrived, we asked for a knife to spread the dips that came with our bread and dips only to be told by the same rude waiter that they have a policy of not providing cutlery for dips. Overall, I might have understood if they had been run off their feet with dinner traffic, but we were one of only two full tables in the whole restaurant, and I can see why. The service was truly appalling, and we will not be going back! I will also warn all my friends to avoid this Tasca, as it certainly is not up to the standards of the others.

by john
6th January 2012

I like the place , never been disappointed , good food , just like all the Tasca brand serve good food . Quaint environment nice old lane in the heart of the city . The staff are all pleasant . Free wifii and toilets available for customers is a plus . Some people may not under stand the unusual setting ……[ went there today seemed to be as very good as last time , bit full of people though .

by Chaitra M.
8th October 2011

Went to this place last week for lunch, the service was crap and the staff were very unhelpful and uninterested. First of all we ordered as soon as we sat down and the food took 40 minutes to arrive! and all we ordered was a sandwich and a salad!the whole time we were waiting for our meal the staff were standing at the entrance talking to each other. we didn’t even get out water refilled! and I ordered a vegetarian sandwich which came had chicken in it. Asked the waitress why my vegetarian meal has chicken in it she said she will check with the kitchen and came back only to walk straight past us and carry on chatting with her colleagues.

Will never go back to this place again and will never recommend this place to anyone! I would give it negative stars if I could. Horrible place and horrible staff!

by bonsai
31st January 2011

What an odd place. I went there for a late lunch after finding my usual central city haunt shut. The food was fine – nothing spectacular, and certainly not good enough to make a return visit. But the service was very strange. It was friendly enough, but the sight of half the staff standing at the entrance chatting loudly didn’t lend any professionalism to the outfit. Nor did the fact that a passing group of six had all their coffees served before mine (I ordered first – you can imagine the waiting time). Or that two staff members thought it appropriate to talk loudly about one of the staff member’s current illness. Not something you want to hear in a cafe! The dungeon-like toilets, with loud aggressive music from the adjacent kitchen, were pretty insalubrious too. I won’t be returning.

by Allana
1st July 2008

This place is great!
We went there for a very late dinner one evening before hitting the town.
Staff were very relaxed, friendly, and helpful.
Tapas (our Entree) food was to die for. The one involving potato’s, a creamy sauce & layers was mouth watering. 2 entrees & 2 pizza’s filled 4 people right up.
Had the ground beef pizza – nobody particularly liked this one – no cheese, but the other one we had was yummy!
Also ordered a pitcher of Sangria – 2 of the 4 of us enjoyed that a lot.
The atmosphere is very welcoming – Spanish music, authentic looking walls & decorations, and a jaunt downstairs to the bathrooms is quite fun
Will definitely be going back – Hoping to try dessert next time.

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