Carpet Bagging

Nibbles, cocktails and tunes – KATHERINE MACALISTER discovers her spiritual home.

I just can’t eat as much as I used to”, I told Mr Greedy, in disappointment, looking at my bulging bowl of green curry.

We were in Bangkok House on Hythe Bridge St, a Thai favourite of ours, and having had the legendary soup and curry, I couldn’t finish it. In fact, I could barely start it.

And instead of the romantic meal I’d been hoping for, I was writhing in discomfort and desperate to lie down and undo my buttons for all the wrong reasons.

Nope, huge meals are no longer for me I decided on the way home, vowing never to eat again.

Which is why a visit to Café Tarifa on Cowley Road later that week couldn’t have been better timed, because it bridges the gap perfectly between drinking and over-eating.

And if one end of the scale is a liquid-only diet, or in my case a mammoth cocktail drinking session without any sustenance at all, the Bangkok House experience is the other, however wonderful they both are.

And when you’re younger – great. ‘Eating is cheating’ used to be our motto at university, but these days the thought of a big night out without lining my stomach first is scary if not downright kamikaze.

Yet if the alternative is a sit-down meal, it’s a hard call because sometimes you just want a fun night out without all the trimmings.

So Café Tarifa’s extensive cocktail menu and platter selection is genius because you can sit at the bar in the Moroccan interior, gasping at the decor and working your way down the cocktail list (ahem) and when you get a pang of hunger, a feast of nibbles can be brought out on an ornate platter for you to pick and choose.

It’s all very decadent, and feels like something out of Lawrence of Arabia, reclining by the carpet-covered tables, lounging insolently while glugging down your fresh fruit martini (watermelon since you asked), accompanied by a juicy olive, slice of salami or scoop of couscous, not having to pause for breath during a particularly juicy piece of gossip and only having to get up to order another caipirinha.

Bring on the dancing girls. Actually there was a beautiful singing girl in the corner complete with guitar and her own songs, because this is what Café Tarifa does; music, hanging out, drinking, a bit of food.

Oh yes, the food. We tried a variety of the platters and soon our carpet table was covered in delicious-looking titbits. The tarifa platter (£12.50 for two) included chorizo, proscuitto, olives, salsa, marinated anchovies, seafood salad, tabouli and garlic pitta bread, while the Tarifa Vegetarian Platter (£11.50 for two) boasted dolmas (stuffed vine leaves), falafel, tabouli, grilled halloumi, stuffed chillies, houmous, salsa and garlic pitta bread. There is also a dip platter for £6.50. And you can eat as much or little as you want.

Perfect for sharing, the platters’ ingredients were delicious, because antipasto is all about sourcing and finding the choicest olives, salami and cheeses, and Café Tarifa has worked this one out for itself.

It doesn’t take a Michelin chef to put together a good plate of nibbles, as long as someone hand-picks the selection, and doesn’t skimp on the produce.

And with a weekend bap menu from ‘fishfingers with lime mayo’ to ‘full English’ and a perfect Bloody Mary, between 12-5pm on Saturdays and Sundays I think I may have found my spiritual home.

Incidentally, Bangkok House, where we started, can be contacted on 01865 200705.