Aaron S.
Yelp
Tast Catala is one of the best places in Manchester to grab some Spanish/Catalan cuisine, located in a rather fitting place on King Street within the city centre, which is basically just off Deansgate close to the House of Fraser, the immediate surrounding area and cuisine, made me feel like I was back in Barcelona which is the capital of Catalonia, of which many of the dishes originate from. As a Manchester City supporter, I really had to check out this place as it's part-owned by our manager Pep Guardiola, as well as Paco Pérez who has 5 Michelin Stars, including two at the restauraunt he has in Barcelona which is named after him, Enoteca Paco Pérez.
It is over two floors, with a bar area on the lower floor which still has a pretty nice menu and a restauraunt upstairs, the bar area has both bar-style and restauraunt seating so it is a pretty nice area to get something to eat, especially when the main restauraunt is closed between 2:30 and 5 pm.
Firstly, I must say the staff here were really friendly and excellent, not only did they reply fast with great information regarding allergies ahead of my visit, but they were also attentive and friendly while I was in a restauraunt, they had common-sense which made service go further, for example, I was dining with a lunch offer where I'd have two drinks and my server offered to keep one in the fridge until I was ready for it, so it'd stay both cold and fresh. The staff also seemed to know the whole menu inside out in detail, as he placed my food down he explained the dish which again was really thoughtful and gave it a truly authentic feel.
By the overall look and taste, you can tell they use the finest quality ingredients. I even loved how with my drinks they'd put in a generous portion of fruit, for example, I had a tasty, thin slice of roasted pear and a juicy chunk of orange with my orange juice.
My main course was the Half Picantó A L'ast (Poussin Chicken, Herbs, Garlic, Fine Herb Mash Potato) with Pa De Pagès Amb Tomàquet (Coca Bread, Tomato and Olive Oil) - they were able to make this gluten-free by swapping the bread over to their fresh gluten-free bread.
The flavours really were outstanding, while the chicken wasn't in any form of sauce, it obviously was cooked and marinated with herbs and garlic producing great flavour, and the only complaint I have from the mashed potato was that there wasn't more, again the herbs really complimented the flavour, they were tasty and perfectly seasoned.
The one flaw with my dish was perhaps there wasn't a great deal of meat on the chicken and the meat was darker meat, and I do prefer breast meat.
While the portion wasn't huge, the fact it came with two fresh juices and bread meant it did certainly warrant value for money at £15 for everything.
In terms of the main offering, the tastets, which are smaller than a portion but larger than a typical tapas, I was pretty disappointed with the poor gluten-free selection on that front. I couldn't have any of the fried options which I presume is down to them only having one frier. It was a little surprising how many options I couldn't have, given the fact the staff are so good with gluten-free knowledge and they do make fresh gluten-free bread, which was pretty good minus the crust part.
Probably the best place to get Spanish/Catalan cuisine in Manchester, despite having a couple of flaws such as a slightly confusing reservation system (due to the restauraunt closing in the mid-afternoon) and the issues with the meat being used mainly being darker meat and the lack of meat options from the tastets plates, Tast really does warrant a strong four-star rating.