It seems a very long time since I was lucky enough to have a ‘business lunch’ near our Swindon office. There aren’t many places I’ve not tried in Old Town and looking for something informal and relaxing we decided to go to a favourite evening haunt of mine Los Gatos.
Arriving at 12.00pm, people were already seated at all the tables by the window and the place was filling up nicely. One of the appeals of Los Gatos is the buzzy atmosphere, rarely can you spot an empty seat on an evening and nothing suggests you’ve entered a great place more than the fact it is packed day after day!
The tapas selection is formidable with not only the standard menu but also daily specials. I think we definitely over ordered, it was hard to fit them all on the table, but with the dishes sounding all too tempting who could resist?
My dining companion ordered lamb meatballs from the daily specials menu, hake in beer batter with saffron mayonnaise and deep fried baby squid. We then shared sautéed mushrooms, a dish called Tagine de Verduras – a tagine with squash, peppers, okra, apricots & cashew and a further dish of chickpeas with wilted fresh spinach. To top it off I had a serving of goats cheese with walnuts and membrillo all to myself! Where to start? Well, the dishes were cleared quickly and whilst I can’t comment on the flavours of the lamb, hake and squid I was informed they were all delicious with a tie for the lamb meatballs and hake. I managed to get the lions share of the mushrooms and tagine but it was a closely fought thing with the taste of both dishes being incredible. Having indulged in way too much goats cheese there was no room for anything else and I resisted a coffee to round it off.
However lunch was not concluded until my cohort had dessert which he insisted I share, as chocolate is not my thing he ordered a traditional almond cake served with crème fraiche and although I wasn’t much help we managed to clear that plate too!
Los Gatos is well worth a visit with such a great choice of tapas for all tastes including vegetarian/vegan and gluten free options, and bear in mind if you only have an hour for lunch the turnaround is quick too.
