Boquerones Tapas & Cocktails in Newcastle offers tasty Spanish food at a reasonable price

It seems as if every few weeks there's a new eatery or cafe opening in Heaton, and the very latest of those is Boquerones Tapas and Cocktails.

Housed in the former site of Lost & Found on Heaton Road, this Spanish restaurant and cocktail bar has entered a crowded foodie market in this suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne.

We stopped by to see whether Boquerones is set to become a regular haunt for the foodies of Tyneside...

What's the place like?

When popular restaurant Lost & Found closed its doors, Heaton Road's food scene suffered a blow - but, given the volume of passing trade, a new eatery was always likely to take its place.

What the owners of Boquerones have wisely opted to do is to keep the original features of this former removal store - and it gives the place a quirky feel. The ceiling is made up of beautiful shiny-blue ceramic tiles, while the bar area is small but dominates the room.

Although the restaurant is on the small side, the tables are not too closely crammed together, and it has a nice relaxed feel about it.

And, don't laugh, but the toilets are of a very good quality. I always feel that the quality of the bathroom is an essential component of any restaurant or bar; it is a key part of the experience, after all, and the immaculate toilets in this restaurant get the thumbs up.

In general, the character of this unique eating space has been maintained - and, if anything, enhanced by the subtle changes made by the new owners.

How was the food?

As its name suggests, this restaurant specialises in Spanish tapas-style food - and the menu is full of all the favourites you would expect to be served at such a venue.

Having been advised that between two-to-three dishes per person would probably suffice, and that we could always order more as we went along, as a party of four we opted for the selection of bread (£2.20) and mixed olives (£3.00), alongside eight tapas dishes.

The olives were herby, salty and delicious, as expected, though if truth be told the bread was a little on the underwhelming side; rather than rustic Spanish rolls, it was sliced and a little limp.

Aside from that, we had few complaints about the rest of the dishes; this was not haute cuisine, but we did not expect it to be, either. This was thoroughly tasty fare - and that's precisely what we wanted.

Given that the restaurant is named 'Boquerones', we felt compelled to try the dish of the very same name (£3.50). Translated into English, it simply means 'anchovies' - and these delightfully salty fish came served in a tangy white-wine vinegar.

The calamares (£5), or deep-fried squid rings, were a tad on the chewy side, but the batter covering the fish was light and delicious. In fact, all of the batters which were served up were expertly executed.

Although the chicken skewers (£4.50) weren't exactly exciting when it came to their flavour, the meat was beautifully moist and well cooked.

As for the serrano ham croquettes (£6.50), they boasted just the right balance of salt, tangy and creamy potato filling, while the spiced pork and beef meatballs (£5) were flavourful and nicely soaked up the tomato and herb sauce they were served with.

One of the pleasant surprises for me, as someone who believes that cauliflower is the most-boring vegetable out there, were the fried cauliflower bites with a smoky tomato dip (£3.50); again the batter made this dish, and helped impart flavour into the florets.

Of course, any tapas meal would not be complete with some chorizo (£5), and these spicy pork sausages were given an extra flavour profile by the addition of honey.

However, the star plate was the cod fitters with pea puree (£4.50), little mouthfuls of fish and potato, accompanied by sweet peas, made for a scrumptious mouthful.

On to the desserts, and the crema catalana (£4.50) - a traditional custard dessert - was silky smooth, and benefitted from the citrus burst of the orange slices serves on top, as well as the texture of crushed pistachios.

The homemade cinnamon and vanilla ice creams (£3.50) were subtle in flavour but nice palette-cleansers, while the manchego cheese board (£4.50) also went down extremely well.

The size of the plates - both tapas and desserts - were just about right, and they represented excellent value for money, too.

What about service?

When we visited on a Sunday evening, the restaurant was only half full, and the staff were extremely attentive. Their knowledge of the menu - which is essential for smaller restaurants like this which offer lots of smaller dishes - was also to be applauded, and helped make the experience even more enjoyable.

So popular had the restaurant been since it opened just a few weeks before our arrival that they had run out of the red Rioja we ordered, but the replacement wine served up (£5.70 for a 250ml glass) was enjoyable to drink.

So, what's the verdict?

Overall, Boquerones is an extremely welcome addition to the thriving Heaton food and drink scene. The restaurant offers a relaxed setting for a meal, while it is also a nice space to sample a few of their house cocktails.

Smartly, the owners have made sure not to price the students and young professionals who populate the Heaton area out of making Boquerones a regular haunt.

The dishes range from around £2.50 to £6 each - with the majority at the £3-£4.50 mark - and our meal for four, which included drinks and three desserts, came to an extremely reasonable £73.50.

If truth be told, this was not the best Spanish meal I have ever eaten, but for the price I was not necessarily expecting award-winning food.

That is not to say the tapas on offer are not good quality - far from it - rather, Boquerones has embraced the target market of the clientele in an area full of students and young professionals.

Hopefully this restaurant and cocktail bar is here to stay because, on the evidence of what they've served up so far, it is primed to become a favourite for the locals.