Dining Out: Jamie's, Highfield Road, Blackpool

This seemed to be blamed on diners being too polite when it came to sharing dishes plus the complexity of wide-ranging tapas-style menus.

But walking into Jamie's on a Saturday night, there was no indication here to suggest people had fallen out with this type of eating.

In fact the restaurant is so busy, it operates a two-sittings system.

We were among the early diners arriving for the 6pm sitting, with the second sitting starting at 8.30pm.

Water was brought to our table and we also chose a bottle of Tempranillo from the wine list.

As we perused the menu, it quickly becomes clear that while some dishes are traditional Spanish tapas (potatas bravas for example), the choices extend to other cuisines including Thai, Indian and Greek.

Our waitress asked if we wanted all the dishes brought out together or in two servings.

We opted for the former, but chose a serving of iced olives with a sunblushed tomato paste from the nibbles list to keep us going until our main choices arrived.

When our waitress brought everything out, getting all the plates on the table was like solving a Rubik's Cube puzzle as platters were slotted alongside each other to deliver our feast.

Our challenge was then to fit food onto the tiny dishes given to us to eat from, with stray rocket leaves and sauce inevitably ending up on the table.

But this is just a minor inconvenience compared to the complete pleasure on the palette from the exquisite cuisine which emerges from the kitchen on view to diners.

Our choices included Teriyaki beef fillet with the meat melting in the mouth, and the coriander and onions bursting with flavour.

Other spicy dishes were Thai salmon fishcakes and curry sweet potato fries. We felt quite daring opting for the latter, which came with Madras Aioli (have to admit not sure what the latter is).

Either way they went down a treat.

Grilled halloumi with roasted red peppers and textures of beetroot (who knew it could be served as a pickle, a puree and a sorbet!) completed our banquet.

Between us we cleared every plate and no mouthful disappointed.

There was still room to enjoy desserts, and after all the plates were hauled back to the kitchen and the table wiped down, our heads were soon buried back in the menu.

Trio of creme brulee caught my eye, while my husband Clive opted for lemoncello syllabub.

Both were visual works of art, and lived up to their promise once consumed.

Throughout our meal, we were surrounded by the happy buzz of fellow diners, and despite the need to vacate the table in time for the second sitting, we were not rushed out.

We will certainly be back for more small plate dining regardless of what's trending elsewhere (although the menu does include some a la carte choices including sea bass and steak for those who don't like to share!).

Our total bill came to £63, which included a £10 deposit asked for on booking.