Encasa, Lane Cove

When I heard Encasa - my favourite tapas restaurant - had now expanded to Lane Cove, I was very excited. Some 10 years ago I used to work on Pitt st in the city and would often visit Encasa for lunch. I hold very fond memories of Encasa.

Encasa is a family restaurant which offers up delicious spanish tapas for a reasonable price. Encasa is located in the main strip of the Lane Cove shops. Since opening up in Lane Cove, I've been told that they have regulars who come in once or twice a week with their families. When I arrive on a random Tuesday night, the venue is packed by 7pm.

The menu

Encasa in Lane Cove has the favourites from their city venue such as potato bravas and chilli garlic sizzling prawns on their menu however there is no pizza or pizza oven in Lane Cove. Encasa in Lane Cove also have some unique dishes exclusive to the venue. They often rotate the specials every few weeks as well in Lane Cove. 

MW and I order an array of tapas and MW is starving so naturally we over order. 

The grilled baby octopus ($17) is a must order, lightly marinated in herbs and a bit of lemon makes for a delightful mouthful. This dish is very delicious. The baby octopus is perfectly cooked and is soft and the tails are slightly crunchy. It's not rubbery at all.

Their signature potato bravas ($11.50) is another must order. I can't resist the little fried cubes of potato with lashings of tomato salsa and aioli sauce. It's such a simple dish but it always is one of my favourites. Those little potato cubes are heavenly.

I also order the croquettes (4 for $12) which is a creamy, cheesey croquette with bits of ham. The crumb is still quite light. 

One of my favourite dishes is the Sizzling prawns in a garlic and chilli oil ($16). This is such a perfect combination as prawns loveeee the garlic chilli oil. Be careful though as the plate is super hot. 

The prawns have nice colour and due to MW's shell fish allergy, I'm able to devour this entire dish to myself.

This scallop dish ($16) was one of the specials (that are available for two weeks) which sat on a black sausage and cauliflower puree. There's nice variety of texture with the cauliflower puree, soft scallops and crispy chip on top.

One of the most popular dishes that is ordered at the lamb skewers (or so the staff tell me, $17). The lamb is marinated in Morrocan spices. MW really enjoys the lamb dish. It's not spicy and the lamb is cooked well

This is another Lane Cove special (two weeks) which is a poached tomato stuffed with squid, topped with spring onion and they also sit on a bed of black squid rice ($17). This dish is surprisingly delicious and I had left overs for lunch the next day. The rice is so flavoursome and I love the bits of squid that add to the texture.

Finally for dessert (even though I was extremely full), MW always wants dessert. We had the churros with chocolate sauce. Ohhhh yeah. I love a crunchy churros stick, lightly dusted with cinnamon.

Summary: Encasa delivers the goods again and I love the homely decore of the Lane Cove Encasa. I went on a Tuesday night and it was PACKED so I would recommend booking. You should order all the usual favourites and some more - i loved all the dishes.  Encasa is not currently licensed but you can BYO. Enjoy :)

Price: $50 ish per person

Location: 132 Longueville Rd, Lane Cove

Opening Hours: 12pm to 2pm, 5pm to 9pm daily

Weekend Food Escapes dined as guests of Encasa.