With its great food, friendly waiters and lively atmosphere, Casa Lola Spanish restaurant in Croydon Road, Caterham Valley, is one of the top spots in the area for a special celebration. Sharing tapas dishes is a sociable way to enjoy a range of Spanish fish, meat and vegetable specialities, washed down with one of their excellent regional wines.

In addition to the tapas menu, there is a choice of main courses, so my partner Keith and I decided to go for the best of both worlds and chose tapas dishes to start, with a main course to follow. The fish is particularly good at Casa Lola, so we ordered the Pinchos de Pescado (fish kebabs) and Patas de Cangrejo (crablets) for starters. The kebabs alone made a very substantial starter, coming with a generous portion of rice and covered in a creamy sauce. The crablets with their crispy coating were nice and light and juicy and were especially tasty dipped in tartare sauce!

Keith and I both had the Sirloin Riojana, Mushrooms and Cream, one of the main courses on the blackboard, to follow. Other choices available included Butterfly Breaded Prawns, Fresh Cod Piri Piri and Chicken Milanese with Spaghetti.

The steaks came beautifully presented with potatoes and mixed vegetables and were not only delicious with the mushroom sauce, but also very filling! We thoroughly enjoyed our meal, and as usual, I had no room left for dessert, although I was very tempted when I saw the amazing puddings being served at the next table. We, however, went straight to coffee.

To accompany our meal we had a bottle of 'fresh and aromatic' Vina Sol rosé, a very pleasant wine recommended by our waiter.

Casa Lola Spanish Tapas Bar, 8 Croydon road, Caterham Valley. Telephone: 01883 341010.