Tapas in a Box

I love tapas food. I actually get bored of food quite easily. Plate of noodles? Yawn. Piles of rice? Bit boring, even with the amount of lovely lovely carbs involved. I get food envy too. I can be as happy as a clam with whatever I've ordered for dinner, but should we be out together, expect me to want some of yours too. Gimme. You can probably understand why tapas appeals. To me and anyone I happen to be having dinner with.


I've cooked tapas feasts a few times. But it's a bit of a faff. As much as I like eating it, I'm much more of a 'throw everything in a pot' kind of cook. I don't want to throw everything in lots of little pots, watch them all, get the timings right, and oh no look I'm drunk on sangria and everything is a bit ruined.

And then I stumbled across Tapas in a Box.


I actually discovered the company while looking for a chicken croquetas recipe (still looking, help). A box of all the tapas treats I like sent straight to me door? Big enough to feed me and my favourite friends? For the same price as takeaway? Hooray! I had to try it and they very kindly offered to send me a box to sample.

For the most part, our Tapas in a Box was tasty. Blue cheese croquetas were the highlight for me, they'd somehow managed to stay crunchy (even the next day). The chorizo in wine was excellent too. The cold hams were better the next day too. The warm dishes were a little hit and miss. I liked the patatas bravas, some didn't. I don't care for salmon but everyone else liked that dish. I enjoyed the albodigonas a lot. But there were some things that we in agreement on. The sauces were a little bland. And the potatoes were, unfortunately across the board, rather dry. I live for decent tortilla, and it just wasn't up to my perfectionist standards. But then, I don't think I've ever had a reheated potato that tasted right.


The food isn't bad for the most part, although I think some more seasoning wouldn't go amiss. I think it might be a case of getting the best dishes which could be a bit like pot luck in the first box. Unfortunately, as much as I like the idea, I don't think that Tapas in a Box is right for me. But if you're not great in the kitchen and you've got friends coming over this isn't a bad option. It's such a great idea, and you can really see that it's a company passionate about what it does. I just wish the dishes had delivered a little more flavour. Want to give them a try? A medium box (which serves 4-6) will cost you £48. That's just £8-12 a head.