Meet Tast Catala and its mesmerising Catalonian food

Barcelona meets Manchester  

The founders came to Manchester in 2012, where they inevitably fell in love with the city. But they missed their food. The idea of Tast is to combine their cuisine with the loving, welcoming and creative nature of the city. Their cooking style is completely Catalonian, specifically from Barcelona. Unlike other Spanish restaurants in Manchester, their focus is not Galician, Valencian, Canarian or the whole of Spain. Their food is specifically from Barcelona with influences from Manchester. 

In 2018, they found a home on King Street and brought their love for Catalonian food to Manchester. Their restaurant has a modern, minimalist and fresh look, to put the spotlight on their food. They do not want the customers distracted away from the quality of the food! Tast has three different experiences: a bar with a grand terrace, a casual restaurant and a classy fine dining area, making it a great place to have casual bites and drinks in the sun or to eat in style. 

The menu is created by none other than Paco Perez. Perez grew up in Llanca, a small village near Barcelona, and grew his talent, which started from his tapas bar at age twelve, in France with the famous Michel Guerard. But his region is still at the heart of his cooking. This is very evident with Tast and is a big reason why the restaurant’s food has garnered so much success.

The special Tast experience

Whether you decide to eat in the bar or the restaurant, the quality of food remains the same – a very high standard. Firstly, there are the small deli bites. These are perfect snacks for eating whilst having a couple of drinks. Included are boquerones (white anchovies with garlic, parsley and olive oil), an artisan cheese board, Catalan charcuterie, olives and fried squid and squid ink in mayo. The options here range from snack food, between £4 and £6, to luxury bites and sharing platters around £15. The larger dishes can be found in the tastets section. Tastets are small tasting plates and Tast’s are designed specially by Paco Perez. Bravas potatoes, homemade tortilla (Spanish omelette) and fried fresh calamari are some of our favourite dishes on this side of the menu. But if you’re willing to spend slightly more than £10 on food, then we highly recommend the duck egg, fried squid, potato souffle and tartar sauce dish and the gorgeously fried mussels served with beurre blanc sauce. They are outstanding dishes. If you still have room for food after having a couple of these dishes, we recommend the churros with chocolate sauce and the Xuixo served with custard and chocolate for dessert!

Traditional Catalonian

When eating in the restaurant, expect to be tempted by the small bites and the large range of charcuterie and cheese boards. But we’ll focus on the main dishes here. The tastets are slightly different, showing the range of creativity and carefulness that Tast brings to each of its different settings. From the sea there’s grilled octopus, calamari and the hake with baby courgette and clams, which is a must try. The Bravas’ potatoes is available in this tastets section too, alongside Padron peppers. Away from the vegetarian and seafood options, there are amazing pork, ham and chicken options available, too.

Outside of the traditional Catalonian tastets with a Mancunian twist, are the Catalan rice and charcoal dishes. The rice is cooked in a Mi Brassa Charcoal Oven to create a caramelised layer at the bottom of the pan called the Socarrat. If you feel like treating yourself, have the native blue lobster with coral mayo. But any of the three dishes here are worth your time. The charcoal options, are as you probably guessed, cooked in the charcoal oven too. From a wild seabass dish called El Txiringuito 1939 served with potatoes and mushrooms to the whole suckling lamb, these are high-end options. Even more special is the 40 day dry-aged Galician bone-in sirloin steak, served with peppers and potatoes.

The food is creative and delicious no matter where you eat in Tast. In terms of drinks, wine is the focus. From tasting sessions with the Catalan winemakers, Celler Alimara to serving classic whites, such as Bodegas Alceno from Jumilla, and reds, like the El Brindis from Catalunya, the passion for wine shows through the wine list and special wine tasting events. Tast also has a wide range of deliciously curated cocktails and a large selection of Spanish and Mancunian beers, ciders and spirits.

A contender for Best Mancunian Spanish Restaurant

If we’ve not inspired you enough to visit, then we don’t know what will! Of all the Spanish restaurants mentioned at the beginning of our article, we think Tast Catala is quite possibly the best of the bunch. The overall quality of these Spanish restaurants and bars though just goes to show how lucky Manchester is to be called home to them all.