It takes a canny businessperson to see a trend and move in at the right time. Restaurateur Mel Tanyeri, who previously ran the Meltz sandwich bar in Bonn Square, has taken over the tapas bar in Little Clarendon Street, previously called La Plaza, and renamed it Al-Andalus.

Mr Tanyeri, who is Turkish, has kept the same Spanish chef and a similar menu. We entered to the sound of very fast, expressive exchanges coming from the Spanish waiting staff at the bar, where one solitary customer was sitting.

The place soon filled up though, and it is obviously very popular with people who don't want a large meal, but are looking for something more interesting than a sandwich.

The ambiance was definitely Spanish, with ceramic tiles and the promise of Flamenco dancing on weekend evenings. Sitting on the carpet-covered window seats at the front on a sunny day, people-watching in Little Clarendon Street, it is just about possible to imagine you are on a mediterranean holiday.

Of course, it is nothing like a Spanish tapas bar — for example, I have never actually paid for tapas in Spain. In the dark, dingy bars in the alleyways of Moorish Granada, you get a tiny, free taste of something on a saucer when you order a drink. To get enough food for lunch or dinner, you would end up blind drunk. The Spanish need tapas because they eat their meals incredibly late by English standards — in the evening you are lucky to sit down for dinner before 9pm.

However — as with curry — the British are good at adapting foreign food to their own taste. It is interesting that Oxford restaurant owner Clinton Pugh has transformed his organic burger bar into another mediterranean/Moorish bar called Cafe Tarifa, having abandoned the burger experiment after only a few months in favour of the formula he has tried and tested at the Kasbah on the opposite side of Cowley Road.

One reason for the current popularity of tapas bars may be that you can order small dishes, which fits in with the trend for 'grazing' rather than eating large meals.

At Al-Andalus, you can ask the staff to bring a selection of tapas — an invaluable time-saver for big parties which avoids a long, complicated discussion about who wants what. And the lunchtime menu is a real bargain, with two tapas at £7.50 or three tapas for £9.50 per person.

However, being fussy, we ordered named dishes, rather than going for a selection. There were a few disappointments, notably the chickpeas with spinach, which didn't taste at all fresh.

On the plus side, the 'bread with tomato sauce, Catalan-styleturned out to be a baguette — something which I have never eaten in Spain, but fresh and warm and acceptable enough for an English spring day. The taste of Catalonia came in the cold puree made with fresh tomatoes, served in a separate dish for dipping. To my taste, it was actually nicer than the thick 'pan con tomate' I've eaten in Spain, where you tend to get a tiny amount of tomato smeared on to impossibly chewy bread.

The grilled asparagus wrapped in serrano ham tasted fine. The baked potato and ham dish with goat’s cheese was unusual enough to seem suitably exotic, however.

The best dish by far was the skewered beef, which came with grilled pepper and dates wrapped in bacon. The only problem was that it arrived about half an hour after the rest of the dishes, and only when we inquired after it. The moral seems to be to go for the freshly cooked food, but to check how long it will take, if you are in a hurry.

The name of the restaurant suggests Andalucian cuisine, but the menu was eclectic, and none the worse for that, with several delicious-sounding Catalan desserts. The Crema Catalana was pronounced 'fairly good' by my husband George, who is a crème brûlée expert.

The waiters and waitresses were unfailingly pleasant, and the only hiccup was the non-arrival of the beef dish. They passed the 'tap water' test, providing a glass of iced water quickly when asked.

If you want a quiet conversation, it might be as well to check whether there is a large group booked in at the same time, as Al-Andalus markets itself as an ideal party destination.

In university term time, being drowned out by noise from neighbouring tables seems to be one of the hazards of eating out in Oxford.

We went in the early evening, when it was pretty quiet. The evening menu is more expensive than at lunchtime, but still reasonable. All in all, good value for money, but don't go if you are a stickler for authenticity.

Tortilla (Spanish omelette) £3.50; chickpeas with spinach £3.60; potato, Serrano ham, goat’s cheese £4.40; pork loin marinated in paprika and olive oil £4.40; grilled beef skewer £5.20; asparagus with serrano ham £4.80; salad £3.90, Bread with sauce Catalan-style £1.50; Catalan-style crème brûlée £3.75, glass of wine £3.20, non-alcoholic beer £1.75 TOTAL: £40 CONTACT: 01865 516688 WEB: www.tapasoxford.co.uk