The long-established restaurant Los Gatos, situated just down the road from us here in Old Town, recently went through a major refurbishment. What better excuse than to check out the newly renovated premises which has doubled in capacity – great news for all as this ever-popular eatery seems continually busy.
The first thing that has changed is the entrance, now at the furthest point from the original door (one to remember if you are heading out for something to eat after visiting a few Old Town bars first!) The bar now takes centre stage of the whole restaurant and is very impressive, surrounded by comfy stools and plenty of electric sockets for phone/laptop charging. The décor is rustic and sets the scene, you could easily forget you are on Devizes Road and instead imagine you’re on holiday in the warmer climes of Spain (especially with the sun shining through the windows, albeit a large glass of red wine would enhance this holiday vibe I’m having!).
Onto the menu and with so much choice it was hard to narrow it down, what a good dilemma to have. For vegans and vegetarians there are ample dishes to choose from and I selected deep fried cauliflower with panko breadcrumbs served with a beetroot and horseradish dip, fried aubergine chips and vegan meatballs in paprika-spiced tomato sauce. My dining companion chose sautéed mushrooms with sherry, paprika & crème fraiche, hake in beer batter served with saffron mayo, spiced chickpeas and pork/beef meatballs paprika-spiced tomato sauce, it’s fair to say we were sucked in by all of the delicious choices and may have chosen more than we could manage to eat, and to think we had glanced at the desert options too when we sat down!
As always, the food never fails to deliver, the service was quick and the ambience wonderful, what more could you want apart from an extended lunch hour or even the afternoon off!