Que Tal, Glossop Road
Despite having walked past Que Tal countless times during my three years in
Sheffield, I’ve never been overcome with a desire to venture inside. Call me superficial, but the luminous plastic tablecloths and tacky looking décor of the restaurant frankly sent me running. Unsurprisingly, when my housemates decided Que Tal would be the perfect place to go for a quick and cheap pre-theatre meal, I wasn’t exactly overcome with joy. My apprehension was furthered when a friend, unsure which restaurant I was going to, remarked, ‘is that the one with really minging tablecloths?’. Needless to say, I was expecting the worst. However, upon leaving Que Tal, I was forced to well and truly eat my words. Serving a diverse combination of Mexican, Italian and Spanish cuisine, the menu at the restaurant is varied, but not mind-bogglingly large.
Being a house full of girls, we took far too long to get ready and therefore only left ourselves an hour until the start of our play. As a result, we had to give starters a miss, which was a great shame as the garlic mussels and quesadillas were, according to the table next to us, absolutely delicious. They looked it too. To drink, we ordered two bottles of the house wine to share between the seven of us. The bottles were massive and the wine was tasty- the two main qualities I look for in a wine!
Being starving and feeling rather cheated at missing out on a starter, I decided to pick the biggest, most filling sounding dish on the menu. I went for the Pasta Al Forno (oven baked pasta with…wait for it…mushrooms, salami, peppers, chopped ham, bolognaise sauce, béchamel sauce and mozzarella cheese). Three of my companions went for various types of pizza, all of which were apparently very big, very tasty and good value for money at roughly £7 each. Two of my housemates, both pretty picky vegetarians, were pleasantly surprised at the excellent variety and quality of vegetarian food on offer. One had a very tasty looking veggie lasagne while the other went for the roasted vegetable spaghetti, both of which came in at a very reasonable £7.50. While no-one could mistake Que Tal for being a particularly sophisticated restaurant, I was surprised to see that the menu included a list of vegan starters and main courses- an impressive feat, considering the fact that most restaurants, even the seemingly urbane ones, fail to cater specifically for vegans. While Italian food dominates the majority of the menu, the few Spanish and Mexican dishes on offer made the food at Que Tal stand out from that of the generic Italian restaurants there seem so many of in Sheffield. One of my housemates chose the Chimichangas, a baked tortilla filled with chicken, vegetables, cheese and chilli- served with a monstrous portion of chips and a selection of Mexican dips. At £9.50 it was slightly more expensive than the rest of the meals, but my very full and very satisfied housemate failed to complain! Overall, the bill worked out at about £13 pounds each- not at all bad for a big main course and a few glasses of wine.Despite the fact we were eating at 6.30 on a gloomy Tuesday evening in a practically empty restaurant, the atmosphere in Que Tal was warm and friendly. From outside the restaurant may look dingy and a bit dated, but once inside it’s thoroughly rustic and inviting. Even the walls, completely covered with sombreros and random musical instruments, have a kind of kitsch charm. Although I still remain unconvinced by the plastic tablecloths! Even though there was only one (clearly overrun) waiter on duty, the service was relaxed and friendly. After telling our waiter how short for time we were, he made every effort to serve us as quickly as possible. All in all Que Tal is not a particularly glamorous or sophisticated restaurant, but then it doesn’t claim to be. The atmosphere is un-pretentious and warm, while the food is well-priced, tasty and above all plentiful!
