THE PLACE

Sometimes going out to eat is all about the food, sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes it’s about the people you’re with, the room you’re eating in, the day of the year. Cala & Arrobas is a new venture from much loved tapas bar Bodega. The thing that made Bodega so special has been transferred to the new venue – the authentic feeling that you could very well be in Spain, in a place that you found off the beaten track and are going to boast about it forever.

THE MEAL

Any meal that starts with some free grub is off to an excellent start, and Cala & Arrobas kicks of with a gratis portion of spinach tortilla that gets us excited about the meal. The menu is varied without having so many items we get ‘option paralysis’ (Ó Douglas Coupland). The food comes as it’s ready, so by the time we’ve got our platter of cheese (£8) – three varieties of hard cheese of varying strengths of which manchego is the best – we need to order more of the hearty wholemeal bread (£1.50). The anchovies (£4.95) turned up while we had cheese left and were excellent – free of that heavy concentrated fish taste that frequently puts people off. They were gone by the time the slightly disappointing ‘potatoes + sauce’ of the patatas bravas (£7) arrived, and that was gone before the delicate vegetables (£7) made an entrance. We finished up with dense meatballs (£7) that owed most of flavour to a winey broth and still had some veg to go with them, but mostly this was a one dish at a time meal for our impatient table.

THE VERDICT

If Cala & Arrobas was judged solely on the grub it’d still come out pretty well, but to really enjoy the tiny wooden stools and intimate tables you need to relax into a bottle of wine with a bunch of friends and top off the social vibe with some food. Then it’s a great change to going down the boozer.

WERE WE SUSSED

We had to pop in the next day to check some facts (you know, like proper journalists) and they didn’t have a clue. Job done.

Cala & Arrobas

Sydney Street

(01273) 67 39 66

Open 11am – 11pm daily