Tas EV

February 20, 2010 | Map

Tas is the first restaurant I blogged about – in German at that time. And nothing has changed: fresh ingredients traditionally prepared, tasty and good value. The only difference to my first blog entry is that tonight we went to Tas EV, the flagship branch of this mini-chain of turkish-oriental oriented restaurants. So, nothing new to report, is there?

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Well, two issues perhaps: what is this thing about groups being charged more than individual a la carte customers? I booked for only seven people and we ended up being only four, yet we were given a group menu by default, which had less choice (not surprising) but higher prices (surprising). While I understand the need to streamline orders of large groups, a bunch of seven punters ordering a la carte should be manageable quite easily, especially for a restaurant with 100+ seats. Upon request, we were given the a la carte menu without hesitation, so no harm done, and overall we were very satisfied with the food and the resulting rather low bill. However, I feel that large group menus, here and in a rising number of venues, are essentially a rip-off, and I cannot find a justification for a group premium.

Secondly, this was my first visit to the EV Bar next door, I was told by the barkeeper. And right he was, though why I have never visited before is a complete mystery to me! The bar is really nice, with a cool waterfall feature at the back, and the Cosmopolitan was quite enjoyable and with just short of £5 reasonably priced as well. What I found irritating, though: bar from the barkeeper, we were all alone in the spacious railway arch on this Saturday night. Great, free choice of tables, but this bar deserves more customers. They are not good on beer, though, but wine and cocktails to their job.

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