【食記】La Tasca 西班牙風味小菜－il Giardino Romantico

等了好久，終於輪到該來寫這篇了。雖然已經被我拖稿拖了一個月，但是難得吃到好料，還是一定要跟大家分享一下。S小姐是我大學同學。雖然我們同屆，但是我們不同班。S小姐跟我的成長背景很類似。我們差不多在同一個時間被父母帶去泰國。然後大學又再回到了國土台灣。我們那屆還有一位跟我們類似背景的D小姐。由於當年的系主任認為強制我們上必修課『大一英文』好像有點不太妥當，於是約了我們三位去他辦公室安排要怎麼樣替代這門課的必修學分。有趣的是，系主任將我們彼此介紹認識之後得知我跟S小姐都是從泰國回來的，問了我們是否之前就認識。結果你說世界有多大，還是有多小？我們都在泰國住了時間，一個南，一個北，卻要等到回到了台灣才互相認識。

It took me such a long time to get to finally get to this article. After lagging for a month, I would have decided to ditch the article all together, but since I don't eat out much, I thought it best to keep it and wait till the right moment to write about this. S and I go way back since college. We were in the same department, but were in different classes. We had a similar upbringing. We were both brought up in Thailand, starting at pretty much the same age, then came back to Taiwan for college. There was also D that year, who had a similar background. The chairperson of the department that year decided that Freshman English might unsuitable for us three to attend, and asked us to meet at her office to discuss what to do to replace the compulsory credit for that course. Interestingly, when the chairperson introduced us, and learned that both S and I grew up in Thailand, she found out that we did not know each other until that very moment. Is the world big? Or small? For us to have grown up in the same country for ten years, one south, the other north, and not know of each others' existence until we come back to our native soil.

因為不同班的關係，導致我們從大一之後就很少有課能夠一起上。當然也因為大二的時候大家都不再住宿舍，連絡感情也變得比較不方便。不過我們的友誼卻沒有因此而減弱。畢業之後我們都一直保持著連絡。S小姐讓我覺得最感動的地方是，我在大學曾經對他說過想要去英國留學的事情，他竟然在畢業許多年之後還記得，並且還寄了一些有助於我完成夢想的相關訊息。另外，她也在造訪砍特柏里時，貼心的寄了小禮物給我跟D小姐。現在能夠在英國與S小姐再次相聚，真的是很難得的機會。

Because we were in different classes, our time together was very limited after freshman. Not living at the dorm also contributed to the inconvenience of keeping in touch. But our friendship did not subside because of that. After graduation, we kept in touch. S was absolutely a sweetheart when she sent me an email one day, that she thought would help me realise my dream to come and study in the UK. It was touching because I had never expected anyone to take my words seriously when I told people during those years in college about coming to study in the UK. Of the few people who did take me seriously, she was one of them. Also, when she went to Canterbury and visited the Canterbury museum, she remembered me and D, and sent us each a little souvenir! I appreciate this opportunity to be able to finally meet up with S again!

原本S小姐是想要找一個喝傳統英式下午茶的地方。但我兩分頭在網路上找了老半天，都找不到合適的地方。我們在碰面之後，決定找個離車站比較近的地點，若是談天說地耽擱了時間，至少不用擔心趕不上搭回倫敦的火車。因此，都曾經學過西班牙文也去過西班牙的我們，決定跑來這間連鎖的La Tasca來吃tapas，喝sangria，並談天說地。

Initially, S was thinking of a place where they served traditional English tea. But as neither of us could find a suitable place for that, we decided to go somewhere close to the station, to maximise our chatting time. That's why in the end, we decided to come to La Tasca, and have tapas with sangria, while chatting away and catching up what we'd missed out on each other's lives for the past seven or so years.

這是當天點的幾樣tapas.
The tapas we ordered that day.

喝不膩的sangria
Sangria I'll never ever get sick of

蘑菇
Yummy mushrooms!

茄子加上番茄、酒、起司
Aubergine with tomato, wine sauce, and cheese

炸魚
Fried fish

炸花枝
Fried squid

素食paella
Vegetarian paella

大蒜起司麵包
Garlic bread with cheese

雖然是連鎖店，但是服務品質以及食物都很不錯呢，我覺得。雖然我知道這一定跟西班牙道地的tapas比起來會有落差，但是食物嘛，好吃就好了呀。何況有好友相伴，還有什麼比這還要更幸福的呢？

Despite being a chain, the service was great, and the food was tasty. Sure, it's no comparison to the authentic tapas in Spain, but does it matter if it's delicious? Not to mention, I've also got my friend with me. Doesn't get any better than this, does it?

店家網址：La Tasca
Tapas for a Tenner