Restaurant Reviews

Review from ECLS Resources & Materials Website
http://www.ecls.ncl.ac.uk/

This lively tapas bar and restaurant is small yet intimate and always full of life. It is situated at the centre of action for nightlife on Osborne road.
The variety of the food is fantastic and mostly cost about £3-£4. There are around 40 tapas dishes to choose from, including vegetarian options, and meat and fish options, including king prawns, chicken, pork, mussels, squid, beef and sausage.
There are additional tables outside for warmer weather where you can enjoy some people watching and sun catching with a glass of homemade sangria in the hustle and bustle of Jesmond’s student haunt.

Our Verdict
This is a fantastic place to go for a touch of culture and being the smallest bar on Osborne Road is the perfect spot for an intimate meal for two or ideal for a sunny afternoon with some mates a couple of sangrias.

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By Jennifer Bradbury, The Evening Chronicle

There's a new addition to Osborne Road's lively bar and restaurant scene - El Castano. Last month, the owners of what used to be Indigo, changed tack and opened up a tapas bar and restaurant.We dropped in on a Tuesday night at 7pm and although it's only been open a few weeks the place was heaving, always a good recommendation.

Thanks to the red terracota decor and prints of bullfighters on the walls there's no doubting what type of food is going to be served up at this particular establishment.

The atmosphere is relaxed and the surroundings, while very Spanish, are also modern.

Personally, I've always liked tapas. I like the fact that you can choose a lot of different types of dishes and I find being able to share your food a nice, intimate way of dining.

Fortunately, we'd booked a table and on arrival were shown to our seats by a very friendly and polite waiter. And so on to the food. There's loads of choice and the best thing is that the dearest item is just £4.95. Most dishes are priced between about £3 to £4.

The food is also extremely filling so it's worth taking that into account before ordering.

To keep us going while we made our choices we asked for a portion of Pan Tomaca (£1.95); toasted bread spread with fresh tomato, olive oil, garlic and chopped parsley.

This is real traditional Spanish food and it's delicious.

Meanwhile, the staff make you feel like you've got all the time in the world, which just adds to the relaxing ambience of this establishment.

From the menu there's nearly 40 tapas dishes to chose from, including veggie options, and meat and fish options, including king prawns, chicken, pork, mussels, squid, beef and sausage.

After much good-natured debate we chose five dishes, including a vegetarian dish of potatoes, tomatoes, spring onions, garlic and olive oil (£2.95). This was lovely and light, and provided a perfect contrast to the hot dishes.

In addition we ordered homemade meatballs served in a tomato sauce (£3.75) and spicy Spanish sausage pan fried with garlic and red wine (£3.45). We also shared slices of lean pork loin in a creamy white wine, mushroom and Blue cheese sauce (£3.95) and a mixed meat and chorizo paella (£3.45).

It was beautifully presented and everything tasted as good as it looked. I particularly liked the spicy sausage, which had a real kick to it.

The bill, with wine, came to just £30.45, which was very good value.

If you want to relive your summer holidays, this is the perfect place. A taste and feel of Spain right here on Tyneside.

And if you're brave enough you can make use of the outside chairs and tables. You'll just have to use your imagination when it comes to the weather.

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El Castano - The True Taste of Mediterranean Hospitality
http://www.independentrestaurantsnewcastle.co.uk

El Castano - The True Taste of Mediterranean HospitalityWhen we arrived to do a feature on El Castano in Jesmond we had no idea what a treat we were in for. Assuming we were just everyday customers we were met at the door by the duty manager with a warm welcome which we learned was standard practice at this fine establishment on Osborne Road in Jesmond. After meeting our contact Mike Gordon we were shown to a table over looking the rest of the restaurant.

El Castano is a very relaxed, welcoming kind of a place, you could feel quite at home dropping in for coffee in the afternoon, or for an early evening glass of wine. The colours give off a warm Spanish feel with a ‘traditional’ Mediterranean feel to the décor.There is seating outside with space heaters too, and the restaurant is lucky to sit where the sun rests in the evening, perfect for that early evening drink after work. Saying this you’d be cheating yourself if you didn’t try the food!!!

El Castano was voted the North East’s number one Tapas bar in Lifestyle magazine and after being presented with a range of their fayre it wasn’t too difficult to see why. After an appetiser of real garlic bread with a glass of what I can say is one of the best house red’s I’ve had in the UK we were served with an awesome array of Tapas, including a cold meat & cheese platter with chorizo, olives, Spanish cheeses & salad, a delightful pork & peppers dish I didn’t catch the name of, and a plate of spicy king prawns to name but a few. The range & quality of the Tapas was truly impressive and on looking through the menu I was actually a little surprised to see that it was very reasonably priced with an average dish being £4.00!

Customer service is obviously important to this establishment, and customer comment slips are provided at the end of the meal which is a nice touch, we looked through a dozen which were uniform in their obvious appreciation of a great meal and restaurant experience.

In keeping with much of what we try to actively support at IRN, El Castano source as much of their food locally for freshness, and the rest tends to be specially imported directly from Spain.

I would whole-heartedly recommend this restaurant for a really enjoyable night out, especially as the owners have decided to up the ante on a Monday night by holding Salsa Evenings complete with a live music set from local favourites Apu. I’d advise booking anytime past 7.30pm as it was filling up steadily on the Thursday night we attended by around this time.