But after a return visit with my fiancee, Caroline, I am now a fan of the Spanish-themed restaurant on Hartlepool Marina.
The only problem is ordering the correct number of tapas dishes.

Last time we went for six but Caroline complained that hadn't quite fulfilled her needs, so we went for eight this time.

And yes you've guessed it, eight was too much so I reckon lucky seven is the magic number, at least it is for the two of us.

It was a busy Friday night and we didn't have to wait long to be shown to our seats.

Perusing the menu is a difficult job, as there are so many dishes to chose from.

You are given an order sheet and you tick which meals you want – there are around 40 dishes to chose from.

After spending what seemed an eternity, Caroline – who lived in Spain for a year and claims to be an Iberian expert – helped to chose the seven dishes from the extensive list.

We went for pittas with dips (£3.45), nachos (£3.45), judias en salsa (green beans and chick peas in tomato and garlic sauce £2.95), greek salad (£3.95), brie (£3.75), gambas pil pil (Tiger prawns in garlic butter and chillies £5.25), albondigas (meatballs in tomato sauce £3.95) and favada asturiana (broad beans with chorizo and black pudding £3.95).
It was hard to say which was the nicest, but it was great to have a bit of everything and we had successfully ordered a nice mixture of different tastes.

There was more than enough to fill two hungry stomachs and Caroline remarked that she was impressed with the amount of pitta that arrived, as well as the quality of the food as a whole.

She even tried to speak a little Spanish to impress me – she took conversational Spanish before her sojourn to the Iberian peninsula – but I didn't have a clue what she was talking about, so no change there.

It was all washed down with two pints of San Miguel (£2.70 each) and a large glass of house white wine (£4.90).

We'll definitely be back to pay a third visit – apetito bueno!
– Richard Watts.

Casa del Mar, Navigation Point, The Marina, Hartlepool. Telephone (01429) 222223. Cost was £41 for seven dishes, two lagers and one wine.