Rate-A-Restaurant, #168 in a series

Restaurant: Tasca Wine Bar

Location: 8108 W. Third (3rd/Fairfax/La Brea)

Type of restaurant: Tapas/Wine Bar

They stipulated: It's tapas, of course, so share several small plates, or fewer large plates. The server also strongly suggested that we order a bottle of wine... but Maria and I wanted to try several different things, so we stuck with glasses.

We stipulated: Sadly, date night doesn't come often enough for us... so when we were presented with a rare opportunity to escape the Kid Formerly Known As the Blogger Toddler for a night, we wanted to hit something nice -- but something that wouldn't terribly break the bank. We did quite a bit of research, kept going back and forth on different spots... but finally settled on Tasca. Recently named one of L.A.'s 75 best restaurants by Los Angeles magazine, I liked what I read about it. And Maria was thrilled to get far away from home, where as a freelancer she spends much of her days.



What we ordered: Cod Brandade (salted cod and potato puree, house made crostinis), $10; Arancini (wild mushroom risotto fritters, truffled sauce), $10; Gambas al Ajillo (sauteed shrimp in garlic sauce), $12; Braised short rib (spinach and goat cheese agnolotti, brown butter and sage sauce), $12; Boudin noir (black sausage, sauteed apple and onion, garlic mashed potatoes), $13.

Whites: Pouilly-Fume, Claude Michot, "Les Berthiers," Loire, France, 06 ($15); one other, Demessey, "Macon Cruzille," France, 07 ($14). Reds: Tempranillo/Prieto Picudo, Dehesa de Rubiales, "Alala," Castilla Y Leon, Spain, 04 ($9); Malbec, "Maestre de Campo," Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina, 03 ($11).

High point: Maria and I both agreed, the Arancini -- the wild mushroom risotto fritters -- were the hit. I also kind of liked the Boudin noir -- yes, for the novelty factor, but it also went well with the sauteed apple.

Low point: When we hit tapas spots like here and Cobras and Matadors, the salted cod is always a go-to dish -- and one way for us to compare and contrast tapas. Sadly, the cod was decent -- but not great -- here.



Overall impression: The service was attentive and fantastic, even if our server didn't look old enough to drink the wines he was serving us. The suggestions were good as well. We also liked the spot -- not too big, yet not cramped. (Perhaps it helps that we were given a prime corner seat.) It was the perfect place for us to finally go out on a date -- and you'll be proud of us, the environment was conducive to lots of conversation (and not just talk about Evan! We managed to keep the Evan talk down to about 50% -- not bad!).

Chance we will go back: Well... Tasca was definitely less expensive than some of our other, even fancier options... but it still broke the bank. Since we can only spend upwards of $100 every so often (read: not that often), it probably makes sense that we try another high-end joint the next time we're in the mood to exercise our plastic. But who knows... I definitely wouldn't mind another trip one day.

For a complete list of our nearly 170 restaurant reviews, check out our companion Rate-A-Restaurant site.