“La Fiesta is, as the name suggests, a fun and happy, doors-wide-open sort of place. It’s about fun, friendship, and having a bit of a giggle.”
From the new Giggling Squid offering Thai sharers, to Bundobust and Manjit’s Kitchen serving up family-style Indian food, Leeds is jammed full of small plates restaurants, but before this concept highjacked every cuisine imaginable – there was tapas.
Originally known as snacks or “bocas” (mouthfuls) in Spain, the word “tapas” is derived from the Spanish “tapar” which means to cover. A few theories behind the name exist – my favourite being that original tapas were thin slices of bread or meat which sherry drinkers in taverns used to cover their glasses between sips. This was both for the practical reason of preventing pesky fruit flies – I’ve never encountered one not attempting a suicidal dive into sweet liquor, when it’s on hand – and (from the bartenders and restaurateurs point of view) for the saltiness which activated greater thirst in their punters – resulting in a boom in alcohol sales. Thus, for many establishments, the tapas became as important as the sherry.
Nowadays, tapas greet us in all manner of elevation – from the still humble, to the distinguished, to the downright outlandish and brave. What all tapas should have in common, however, is their enormity of flavour.
La Fiesta is the newest addition to Leeds’ Merrion Centre and the City’s first all-you- can-eat tapas concept. I will put my hands up and say that the words all-you-can-eat don’t tend to fill me with a whole lot of confidence when it comes to quality expectations. We’ve all been at that all-you-can-eat Chinese where the spring rolls are 98% crispy dough wrapper, and the rubbery meat in the noodles could only possibly be identified after rigorous lab testing. And even then – perhaps not.
La Fiesta is not the small, neighbourhood tapas restaurant you might expect to have earned a sneaky Michelin nod in the outer suburbs of London. It is a surprisingly large place, bold in its colour scheme and twinklingly lit with many a gold light fixture. There is a certain organised chaos behind the bright hues, and an infectious, festive atmosphere presides despite the midweek crowd being understandably slimmer. All in all, it is a welcoming place for a soiree – as its name suggests – complete with beaming and highly attentive staff. The restaurant bar, which takes up a good chunk of the back wall, is well-stocked with crowd favourites and Spanish tipples. This is a place clearly set up to serve large numbers of parched, hungry people.
Their unique concept is explained to us after being seated and I had to ask for the particulars to be repeated an embarrassing number of times before I was fully awash with confidence on how to proceed. The all-you-can eat menu is priced at £29.95 for lunch and £37.95 for dinner Friday to Sunday and is slightly less mid-week. This price includes a full side bar (think cold potato salads, hummus, tzatziki, chilled meats, cheeses, olives, sauteed vegetables, pesto and sundried tomato breads and other little tasty accoutrements) which are available to get up and grab whenever you please, plus unlimited hot tapas – which you are invited to order fresh from the kitchen via an iPad. Now do not fear, said iPad stays with you throughout the duration of your meal, like a friendly little robot third-wheeler, and once you have ordered your first four hot tapas (so that was eight between the two of us) the iPad begins a fifteen minute countdown to the moment you can order your second lot of dishes. This intriguing game continues for the next fifteen minutes, and so on, until you’re full to bursting.
As a concept, I found it rather thrilling, and it does become somewhat of a fastest finger game watching the timer and plotting your next order between you. What I also loved about it is that all of the dishes are fresh and piping hot as you eat them because your food is naturally staggered, and by the time you’ve finished one round the next is virtually en route.
Staples on the menu and the dishes which came out trumps for us were the Champinones al Ajillo (sauteed mushrooms with oodles upon oodles of garlic), the Filete de Ternera al Romero (grilled sirloin steak with rosemary sauce – served medium rare), and the Albondigas de Vegetales – the latter being a plant-based meatball dish, served with an exemplary spicy tomato sauce.
Given that we are fast-approaching the festive period, La Fiesta have quite fittingly introduced a range of Christmas-themed tapas which are available now under a new dedicated section on the iPad. Options include pigs in blankets, but also a meltingly delicious pig cheek in a chocolate and red wine sauce. The pig cheek itself was tender as well as rich in flavour; the remaining sauce then begging to be mopped up with red-cheeked piles of patatas bravas. Spiced pork ribs are also available on the festive menu and pair well with the hot fried cheese with chilli jam. Of course, the fresh relief of the brimming salad bar is always a welcome option. Wash it down with a bottle of the fruity, full-bodied Montepulciano D’Abruzzo or the house-made sangria and I’d wager that you’ll be a happy customer.
Before I arrived at La Fiesta, I had cast a beady eye online, as I tend to do, and found a few reviews complaining about the system and that it didn’t allow them to order enough food in the one hour and thirty minutes for which you are allocated your table. Having now eaten there and experienced the situation myself, I find these comments not only unfair but astonishing. I can only surmise that said reviewers were either flummoxed by the finer details and ordered less than they could have, or had appetites that quite frankly would put Bruce Boggtrotter to shame. I can be a greedy swine, and I like my food – and myself and my partner were fundamentally full to bursting at a halfway juncture at which we could quite conceivably have ordered another mountain of tapas. That besides, there is a very tempting chocolate and churros station (complete with marshmallows) for dessert (this is included in the all-you-can-eat price).
La Fiesta is as the name suggests, a fun and happy, doors-wide-open sort of place. The introduction of their new Christmas menu (which is available throughout the winter period up until January) teases that the regular offering will be afforded seasonal additions throughout the year, which I very much hope is the case. It’s not just about the food here though. It’s about fun, friendship, and having a bit of a giggle. Whether it’s a Christmas party, first date, or indeed any get-together which welcomes something additional and quirky to bond over above and beyond simply the food – just be sure to go with someone you’re happy to share with. After all, that’s what this place is all about.
You can find La Fiesta at 7 Merrion Way, Leeds, or book a table via their website: La Fiesta Leeds
Photography by Amy Mortin.
