Review of La Tapa Loca: "a lot of stand-out dishes that would put many a tapas bar in Spain to shame"

Patatas bravas, shrimp, asparagus at La Tapa Loca in Hove

I’m always up for tapas so when I was meandering from Hove to Brighton in early Autumn, La Tapa Loca immediately caught my eye and went onto my ‘must-do’ list, writes Nick Mosley.

Its located in a prime stretch of Western Road alongside Farrow and Ball at the top of Brunswick Square and a stones throw from Brighton and Hove destination dining and drinking favourites including Cases, Cincin and Market.

For those with a memory, this unit’s previous occupants have included the rather fancy Igigi General Store followed by Botanique farm-to-table vegetarian restaurant that incidentally had the same operators as La Tapa Loca but clearly wasn’t turning enough buck. So safe to say there’s a decent footfall of well-healed consumers in this neck of the woods.

I headed there for a late lunch on a Saturday afternoon in early November with my ever-dependable munchkin Little Miss Greedy Guts.

La Tapa Loca's light filled ground floor

The venue’s interior haven’t really changed much from its previous dining incarnation: rustic tables, lime washed effect walls and plenty of pots and greenery. Tables aren’t packed together and there’s a lot of light flooding in from the huge front windows on both floors. Its a very nice airy room with a relaxing atmosphere.

As the name suggests, the style of dining is tapas so small and small-ish plates that are perfect for sharing. The menu includes various snacky bits – including bread, olives, manchego cheese, various Spanish hams – alongside three meat dishes, three vegetable based dishes and four fish dishes. Prices aren’t particularly scary with plates starting at £4 and running up to about £20 for more complex and hearty dishes. So you can basically pick and choose according to your budget but you’ll probably want three plates per person.

We were also offered a daily specials menu of three further dishes including a seafood paella for two at £35 which sounded great value.

Burrata, anchovies, foccacia at La Tapa Loca in Hove

To start – if you can say the consumption of tapas ever ‘starts’ – we shared a rather delicious fresh burrata that when cut oozed sweet creamy stracciatella. I’ve been to a lot of restaurants – in the UK at least – where this has been a disappointment but this cheese was top notch and I loved the addition of the crisp, lightly fried sage leaves that added an earthy, herby twist.

Another dish that always makes me a happy bunny is anchovies; whether fresh, in oil or just salt cured its one of my guilty pleasures. These six little beauties had been pickled in vinegar with a wonderful tang that was balanced with a delicate virgin olive oil.

No complaints about the flame-grilled padron peppers – firm, flavoursome and perfectly seasoned with olive oil and sea salt.

Now Little Miss Greedy Guts does love her prawns so I didn’t get a look in. Four head-on whoppers with black olive dust and lime – as our mate Carlo always says, all the flavour is in the head, and eyes apparently but I’m not going there. Personally, I don’t think they needed the overbearing sauce that detracted from the flavour and texture of the shrimp; they would’ve been better pan-fried in olive oil, garlic and chilli but then again I’m not the chef.

We both found the asparagus dish on the disappointing side. Despite the tasty shavings of manchego cheese, you could’t avoid that these were wet and limp spears pointing to them coming out of the freezer. With English and Welsh asparagus season being April, May and June, you couldn’t get an annually much-anticipated vegetable that is so out of season so why it was on the menu is beyond me.

Poached cod in pil pil sauce at La Tapa Loca in Hove

Thankfully things were back on the up with the patatas bravas, and I have to say that La Tapa Loca have nailed this absolutely classic Spanish dish. I really decent portion of sautéed potato rolled in spicy paprika in a classic salsa bravas sauce and dollop of yummy aioli. This is better than I’ve had in many venues in Spain.

My absolute highlight however was the poached cod. Chunky, sweet flakes finished a sauce of garlic, chilli, salt and olive oil. At £15 it was an absolute bargain for a truly generous dish of this calibre.

I have some little niggles though, all of which are easily – dare I say instantly – resolvable. It was a bit jarring to have Spotify adverts blaring out between songs; maybe that’s a given in provincial Spain but its not to my personal liking in Hove. I did do some research beforehand and the menus on La Tapa Loca’s website don’t really bear much resemblance to those we were offered; in this digital day and age that’s just not acceptable any more.

With the exception of the out-of-season asparagus dish, we had a rather jolly couple of hours of snacking, quaffing and chatting. Service was friendly, dishes are well-priced, well-prepared and well-presented and there are a lot of stand-out dishes that would put many a tapas bar in Spain to shame.

La Tapa Loca, 31A Western Road, Hove BN3 1AF

01273 058 594 • www.tapaloca.co.uk