Location: Newcastle-under-Lyme High
Cuisine: Mexican / Latin American / Tapas
Approx Price: Starter £3.50 Mains £12-20 Dessert £4
Having occupied the former site of Pablo Franki's in Newcastle, the bar for Hector Garcia's was set high - but it did not fail to impress when the Gastro Gnome and my team of Food Elves descended. The decor is clean, simple and in keeping with the Mexico theme of the restaurant. Both the theme and the menu was well considered, expertly executed and gave an authentic feel of Mexico.
The restaurant itself is divided into tables of varying sizes and depending on the mood of the occasion you can have a discrete little table for two, hidden away in a quiet corner or a much larger, open space suitable for larger groups, but of course, the lay out and the wall colours are always secondary to the food and the food was just as good.
The starter menu includes all sort of latin american bites which will be familiar in name to most if not in taste. GastroGnome was pleased that they will be able now to try such delectables such as Chimichanga and Burritos.
The main event for the evening was the impressive Steak that were presented to the GGNSB team. Thick, juicy and full of flavour, cooked wonderfully and in such a way that they melted in your mouth. They were only let down by being Argentinian rather than British. Steaks can so easily be ruined by being presented in a fussy manner and accompanied by a whole hoard of side dishes which only serve one of two purpouses. Either to bulk out a poor portion or serve to hide the flavour of a poor piece of meat. Hector Garcia's clearly agree with this as the steaks were served simply and none of the taste was hidden with superfluous added extras.
The Fajitas ordered were firely and spicy, which is not always to everyones taste, however these were well received and the portion was more than generous to the point almost of being wasteful - with a series of salsa, creams and dips to add extra kick is desired, this was more than enough for one person and given the size of tortilla wraps. could possible serve two people who were willing to share.
A wide arrange of vegetarian and fish options are available with sources close to GastroGnome rating the fish dishes highly - which would prove to be a nice addition to the cuisine availably locally, which has lacked in good fish.
Service was polite, but on occasions a little slow, staffs were quick to notice a custimer with a request, but not as quick to act upon it. However, this is a new restaurant and GastroGnome appreciates that sometime it can take time to find your feet.
There is a well stocked bar offering the usual array of Lagers and Wines, as well as offering authentic Mexican lagers to follow with your authentic Mexican Meal. Someone with a good knowledge of wine would be able to choose something suitable to go with everything on the menu and for those those lacking in knowledge, the bar staff were happy to recommend something for you.
Overall Hector Garcia's is definately worth a visit, the food was reasonably priced, the menu diverse, the surroundings inviting and located close to Newcastle Town Centre it is the perfect place to start an evening out with friends.
GastroGnome was saddened that Tapas is not served past 7pm and the GGNSB team will be returning at some point to try it out. Sometimes, when with friends [or food elves] a little of every thing can be more enjoyable then a lot of the same. However, if it is as good as the evening menu, i'm sure it will be worth the wait.
GGNSB Rating 7/10
Thursday 23 April 2009
Wednesday 22 April 2009
Cafe David could beat Goliaths
Location: Trentham Retail Village
Cuisine: Contempory British & European
Approx Price: Starter £5 Mains £15-20 Dessert £5
Café David is one of those restaurants that you’re just not sure what to expect. It’s setting, in the heart of the Trentham Retail Village, means it could easily be an up-market Cafeteria serving the usual fare of uninspiring jacket potatoes and panini. Happily however, on our visit, Café David proofed to be a modest but classy little restaurant, with the sort of menu you might expect to see in any 4/5 star hotel restaurant.
Just to cover the preliminaries, the décor of the restaurant was chic without distracting from the main attraction – the food. Nothing winds us up more here at GGNSB than restaurants or pubs that try to be either trendy or niche by hanging a load of junk off walls. Café David is minimalist without seeming sparse.
Eateries are often let down by poor service. Cracking food can be let down by a rude waiter or if it’s been left to go cold. Again, this was nowhere near the case at Café David – the waiting staff was polite, cheery and more than efficient.
And so on to what is important – the grub on offer. We kicked of with Fish Cakes & Brushetta – the choices available were fairly diverse but nothing really stood out. The starters were good, but nothing special, something you might expect in a reasonable City Centre Bistro.
However the ordinariness of the starters couldn’t be further from the spectacular quality of the Main Courses. We piped for a Pork Medallion & Black Pudding Stack (£16) and seemingly Café David’s Pièce de résistance, Fillet Steak Rossini (£22). The former could have been a fussy and ornamental dish but instead consisted of generous portions and was complimented well with a creamy mustard sauce. The Steak Rossini was, and I’m not exaggerating here, perfect in every way – the knife glided through the meat like butter, the pate was smooth and rich and I nearly fell of my chair on tasting the red wine sauce.
Because of substantial portions in the main course we decided to skip desert, this being a reflection of our menu choices rather than on the quality of the food. My only criticism was that perhaps the starters were a mismatch for the spectacular Mains. Also the Menu did not provide many choices for those of a Vegetarian inclination. Fortunately here at GGNSB we are all fully committed carnivores.
The wine list was pretty sound. We went for a Malbec, which hit it off really well with the steak. For those who know a bit more about wine than us there was plenty to pick spanning all tastes and most budgets.
To wrap up I really enjoyed our meal at Café David. For a small place in a retail park it is not the obvious place to go for a slap up meal, but it punches above its weight. Sometimes you should think out of the box – in this case I was delighted that we did. The fantastic Main Courses and charming staff made the experience a total pleasure.
GGNSB Rating: 8/10
Cuisine: Contempory British & European
Approx Price: Starter £5 Mains £15-20 Dessert £5
Café David is one of those restaurants that you’re just not sure what to expect. It’s setting, in the heart of the Trentham Retail Village, means it could easily be an up-market Cafeteria serving the usual fare of uninspiring jacket potatoes and panini. Happily however, on our visit, Café David proofed to be a modest but classy little restaurant, with the sort of menu you might expect to see in any 4/5 star hotel restaurant.
Just to cover the preliminaries, the décor of the restaurant was chic without distracting from the main attraction – the food. Nothing winds us up more here at GGNSB than restaurants or pubs that try to be either trendy or niche by hanging a load of junk off walls. Café David is minimalist without seeming sparse.
Eateries are often let down by poor service. Cracking food can be let down by a rude waiter or if it’s been left to go cold. Again, this was nowhere near the case at Café David – the waiting staff was polite, cheery and more than efficient.
And so on to what is important – the grub on offer. We kicked of with Fish Cakes & Brushetta – the choices available were fairly diverse but nothing really stood out. The starters were good, but nothing special, something you might expect in a reasonable City Centre Bistro.
However the ordinariness of the starters couldn’t be further from the spectacular quality of the Main Courses. We piped for a Pork Medallion & Black Pudding Stack (£16) and seemingly Café David’s Pièce de résistance, Fillet Steak Rossini (£22). The former could have been a fussy and ornamental dish but instead consisted of generous portions and was complimented well with a creamy mustard sauce. The Steak Rossini was, and I’m not exaggerating here, perfect in every way – the knife glided through the meat like butter, the pate was smooth and rich and I nearly fell of my chair on tasting the red wine sauce.
Because of substantial portions in the main course we decided to skip desert, this being a reflection of our menu choices rather than on the quality of the food. My only criticism was that perhaps the starters were a mismatch for the spectacular Mains. Also the Menu did not provide many choices for those of a Vegetarian inclination. Fortunately here at GGNSB we are all fully committed carnivores.
The wine list was pretty sound. We went for a Malbec, which hit it off really well with the steak. For those who know a bit more about wine than us there was plenty to pick spanning all tastes and most budgets.
To wrap up I really enjoyed our meal at Café David. For a small place in a retail park it is not the obvious place to go for a slap up meal, but it punches above its weight. Sometimes you should think out of the box – in this case I was delighted that we did. The fantastic Main Courses and charming staff made the experience a total pleasure.
GGNSB Rating: 8/10
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