A GIRLS' night out on a Friday evening, and surely one of the most sociable ways to catch up with friends, is to share some tapas together?

Tapas Plus in the town centre provided a convenient meeting point and I joined two girl friends at a table in the large conservatory style frontage of the restaurant.

To get to the dining area I had to walk past the bustling bar area which created a lively atmosphere initially, although as the evening wore you could find the noise from the bar a little distracting!

Over drinks, the three of us discussed the extensive menu. One of the group recommended the paella based on a previous visit, so we opted for that as well as a selection of tapas, prawns in a cream sherry sauce, Spanish omelette, deep fried cheese in a marmalade sauce and a mixed salad.

It took around 40 minutes for our food to arrive so we were grateful for the large complimentary basket of bread which arrived with our drinks.

The prawns were delicious with a very generous amount of sherry sauce, but the four medium sized prawns looked a little sparse in the dish priced at £5.50.

The deep fried cheese was delicious, the omelette a good texture although it lacked a little in flavour and seasoning and the mixed salad very basic; a few lettuce leaves, one tomato cut into four, a few slices of cucumber and four olives.

Next our paella arrived.

We had taken our advice from a very attentive and friendly waiter and opted for a paella for two to share. A very generous looking dish arrived and this proved ample for the three of us. The chicken was cooked perfectly, but we thought the rice was a little stodgy. There were plenty of large moules and large prawns, although we were slightly surprised that the very small prawns still had shells on, but the dish overall was a hit.

The service was pleasant and we very much enjoyed our visit. There were some nice touches including complimentary liqueurs and chocolates at the end.

MY BILL (for three people)

Prawns in cream sherry sauce £5.50

Mixed salad. £ 3.50

Spanish omelette £ 4.95

Deep fried Brie £ 4.50

Paella £ 24.95

4 glasses of wine at 4.95

Coke (2) at £2 each

Coffee (2) at £ 2.50 each

Total £79.15