El Coto - Darlington

Probably the finest invention to ever come out of Spain is the tapas bar, that wonderfully informal form of eating, with lots of small and interesting dishes, eaten slowly with a delicious fino sherry or quickly if the need arises. The Americans may claim to have invented 'grazing' in restaurants, but the Spanish beat them to it by many hundreds of years.

The original El Coto is a good example of the breed and has become a much appreciated addition to the vibrant Newcastle eating out scene, so much so that they branched out to open this outlet in Darlington.

The tapas are good value, and offer many of the traditional favourites like sweet and spicy peppers stuffed with black pudding, or albondigas - homemade lamb meatballs in a Spanish sauce - that are tasty and spicy, giving meat balls a good name!

There is a huge range of tapas dishes on offer, from the usual omelette through to the more unusual Boquerones con tomate 'aliñao' - unsalted anchovies and tomatoes with an olive oil, chopped garlic and parsley dressing; and offer bocadillos, sandwiches for non-Spanish speakers, at lunchtime. All this is served by pleasant members of staff, who will explain anything that you are not quite sure about.

No wonder that it is extremely popular with those who know and likely to remain so.