We sat in the downstairs bar area, so a tad less formal than the upstairs inside restaurant space, which has lovely window views over King St. It was our choice to sit downstairs actually on the King St terrace though, as the weather outside was glorious and you have to make the most of that rare occurrence whenever you can get it in our fair city. There's seating just inside the dining room, right on the curb side, if you want to pretend that you're sat on La Rambla and do some people watching.

The tables and crockery in play are expensive, just like Man City's locker room. During a bustling and vibrant service, spare seats were hard to come by.

Money has been spent here, no question, and it shows a mile off. A handsome space, relaxing, comfy, yet proper in feel. We couldn’t have felt more at home.

Unavoidable plastic glasses and laminated menus have to be used in outside areas.  We sat with green eyes at the people with long stemmed glasses who'd chosen to sit inside on this glorious day.  It is what it is, and again, it was our choice to sit where we did.

We spent a total of £85 on 4 glasses of wine, 6 tapas dishes, table water, and service.  Not much to grumble about all in all, and very much what you'd expect to shell out.

Not much really.  Wine mark-ups are a bit steep, but then they always are in premium dining venues.  And service charge was added, but our superb server Lara was tremendous and fully deserved her 10% thank you.

Now we adore tapas style dining, along with the culture which drives it. It's communal, it's interactive, and you get to try tons of things instead of just a couple. What's not to love, assuming that you actually enjoy the company of your dining partner/s. It takes a very special person to take that last prawn, without me having a solid grumble.

No prawns on this occasion though, but here's the rundown of what we went through on a sunny Manchester lunch in June.

Duck'in Donuts (£3.90 each) are now an iconic bite in Mcr city centre. Duck mousse, shaped into rings and coated in white chocolate, topped with raspberry powder for some contrasting sharpness. When we first had these at the press launch several years ago, I remember saying at the time; they can't ever take these off the menu. Even Giles Coren who was sat on the neighbouring table couldn’t dislike them, unlike most food related things up north. Fortunately, they were never taken off the menu, for good reason. It's one of the best single mouthfuls in the city.

Sourdough Bread with Tomato and Olive Oil (£4.50) is a Spanish staple, and I could eat tons of this with a glass of white, whilst sat in the sun. Amazing bread, with quality oil, seasoned well, and juicy cherry tomatoes. It was great to see a higher end venue in the city not using Pollen Bakery bread for a change.

Catalan Charcuterie Board (£14.50) was a mixture of delights. A selection or cheese and meats, headlined by some super smoky Sobrasada and an outrageously good Buttifara sausage. Nobody on the planet does charcuterie like Spain does it, not by a country mile.

Croquetas (£7.60 for 4), Jamon ones in this case have always been a highlight at Tast, and were no exception to this rule during our most recent visit. Super crispy crumb surrounding a perfectly still-runny sphere of Iberico Ham laden bechamel. The contrast of textures between the two elements is always impressively done.

Tortilla (£5.50) was clearly made with super high quality eggs, along with extra yolk. The sunshine-yellow colour alone made you smile as soon as it hit the table. Simple, seasoned on point, made with quality produce. A few dots of aioli rounded off the presentation.

Xiuxo (£5.50) are a form of Catalan donut, paired up with chocolate sauce. Crispy, sweet, indulgent, filled with custard. An ideal way to end any meal really, and definitely a food product which needs to gather a bigger following here in the UK.

The Tortilla, whilst tasty, well-seasoned and all that, wasn’t at all runny in the middle as expected, and was very much cooked English style.  I'm English, so didn’t grumble too much, but those top notch eggs weren't happy at being cooked so much.

From the moment we sat down, we felt welcomed, engaged, well looked after, and like nothing was going to be too much trouble.  Lara was running around with a constant smile on her face, and clearly loved interacting with customers and making people happy. You just can't train that in somebody, and you either have it or you don’t.  Striking the balance of being so warm and also super professional, is very hard to do.   But this was done, at our table and all those around us.  Even the  handling of a clueless group trying to move tables around, after clearly missing the last 15 months just to get another inch of sun, was done with humour and professionalism.  Fantastic and perfectly suited to the terrace vibe.

Service charge is added, but you cant really moan about paying it based on the level of professionalism and charm on display here.  Just put prices up by 10% as staff will unavoidably warrant an additional tip at such well-run venues.

One of the last restaurant reservation's which was had before lockdown #1 was at Tast. It was in mid-March 2020, and was an evening with the legendary Albert Adria. But he couldn’t make it to England for obvious reasons, and I was absolutely gutted. They say that you shouldn’t meet your heroes, and C19 ensured that advice came true. So, even without Mr Adria, it's been a priority to get back to Tast.

It's become a city staple, striking that perfect balance of being quality, just the right level of informal prestige, along with the obvious footballing association, all of which we love as a city. Spanish food is one of the things which Manchester does really well, whether it be traditional or more Spanglish stuff. We invented the now departed La Tasca, after all. Sure, there's been a few casualties as of late, but we are still blessed with strong Spanish options. But Tast is without question right up there with their tapas offerings. We love the mix of proper tapas, simple charcuterie, along with some technically sound and untraditional plates. It just gives the whole thing a major lift and makes it a bit more interesting than some patatas bravas with a glass of San Miguel.

High end tapas, done well, served in the way which Manchester enjoys, even when it's inevitably raining.

Just that 'English' Tortilla, on this occasion.