La Vina Manchester in Manchester

really lovely food but extremely slow server and rather rude waiter, had to ask for menus and was 45 minutes before we finally ordered

The croquetas and pastas bravado were ok but the chicken lemon marinade was ordinary. At no time were we offered water or how we would like the dishes to be served. They all came in quick succession. Then when the bill is presented after a lengthy period it contains a 12.51% SERVICE CHARGE!! Do not go to this restaurant. It may have been operating for 20 years but its days are surely limited given its current approach.

Manager Rui, aggressive and rude The supervisor Nic has a superiority complex. Food is average though x

Went on a Saturday evening for food. The atmosphere was good and the food lovely, however the service was not good at all. None of the waiters or waitresses made any eye contact whatsoever! We had to get up and “track them down” to get any service. They really need to take this as constructive and learn to acknowledge the customers

Unfortunately our order didn't have enough variety but it may just be how we put the order through and for how much (quantity). Nice atmosphere though.

We were very disappointed in this tapas restaurant. Although the food was cooked well the flavours were seriously lacking. Table service was poor. We were left seated for quite a while before having to attract someone’s attention to order drinks and food.

Beautiful food and amazing service

Beautiful food in an amazing establishment. The staff were absolutely amazing for our visit for a friend's birthday. Mariah and Nik were so friendly and accommodating it really made our night. I cannot recommend enough.

If you’re looking for authentic Spanish food c excellent service and beautiful atmosphere this in the place to go. Everything was delicious. Incredibly authentic.

Lamb was very tender. Great service from Miah. Very friendly and helpful.

Very neat environment and friendly staff.

Once again food great but service extremely slow. To be honest i booked here by mistake I meat to book another restaurant on Deansgate. I had to ask for everything food , drinks, clearing the table, twice for water and didn't get it. Everything very slow. I was embarrassed as I was treating work colleagues. In the past I've said it was because they were busy but the place was empty and there was just 2 people serving. After many years of coming here we are done.

As reliable as ever. Haven’t been here for 8 years but it never let me down in the past. Service was excellent. Offered us a larger table to accommodate what we’d ordered. Generally staff couldn’t have been nicer. Food was excellent, if occasionally salty for my partner’s taste. Lovely relaxed vibe. Expect to be here again.

Nice little Bar to stop off for a drink in a busy city center friendly staff reasonably priced. this is why l give 5 Star ⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'd booked a table online and so when we arrived I expected to find a table reserved for my wife and I. Instead, we told we'd have to go upstairs and were given a table underneath a speaker with unspeakably loud music. Meanwhile, downstairs there were several tables waiting to be cleared. I asked to be moved and was told to wait while a table was cleaned. We ordered a litre jug of sangria, which was good, but the litre included a lot of ice and finely chopped fruit. The tapas were disappointing, lacking flavour and were soggy rather than crisp or flavoursome. Our server was friendly but generally the staff were inattentive. It was not a great experience and was very expensive for what we received. I could not recommended this restaurant.

Simply the very worst tapas I’ve ever eaten. The food was lukewarm, the tomato bread was dry, tasteless with a smear of crushed tomato, and it was a smear. We had to wet it with gravy from the meatballs. We paid almost £80 for very poor fare. Calamari - just 8 pieces, over £1 per ringand some were minute. Even the litre of Sangria we paid for had so much ice and fruit, watering it down. We don’t mind paying for a decent meal but this was a total rip-off.

The people in charge can't manage anything and are rude. They're extremely unprofessional and the food comes out cold. ALSO the churros are from frozen not fresh. Just don't go there

Couldn’t compliment this place even more. Every dish was unreal, the staff were amazing and we had the most amazing time. Can’t wait to visit again!

came here on a date night with my girlfriend, food was beautiful. Atmosphere and service 10/10. Served by staff member Noah very lovely and friendly would definitely recommend!! had starters main and drinks very reasonable prices

Fabulous find… booked last minute on a Monday night. Very warm welcome and offered tasting glasses of wine as we couldn’t decide which wine to choose. The food was outstanding, portion sizing perfect and service excellent. Great choice of wines too… when we’re back in Manchester we’ll be back to eat here again! Thanks

We had Sunday Roasted, it was fantastic. Foods are good and staffs are friendly. The place is really well decorated.

We had some lovely tapas dishes of which two were the tomato salad, yum. Sea bream filet and Berenjenas fritas were also tasty. We recommend La Viña for service and food.

Excellent restaurant, service exemplary. I would recommend you visit.

Loved our meal tonight at La Vina, Lemar is a credit to you Nicola and the staff are friendly and warming. Food excellent as well, good job guys x. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Amazing food, staff were extremely polite! Excellent service, highly recommend. Will definitely be returning soon

We were greeted wonderfully and sat quickly. Ordered taken within 10 minutes of being sat. They don’t have the beer on the menu - sorry. Ok, we can cope with that. We didn’t receive our drinks for almost 20 minutes and we had to ask two different people for them (we ordered draft beer). We had a tomato bread, with no explanation dropped on us. We thought it was an apology for waiting so long and ate it. A waiter started to put food on the table after another 20 minutes and we knew it wasn’t what we had ordered. We explained what we ordered but he walked away. A lady asked what the problem was and we explained. Cut to two of the dishes from the kitchen (now tepid) coming back to the table. “I think another table has had your food”. Ok, mistake made, we get it and ate them. We then waited another 10 minutes for the rest of our food to be with us. We had to ask more than once for the bill. Service was really sloppy and no way of an apology made on the bill - the tomato bread that we didn’t order was knocked off. Food was good. Service was awful. Won’t bother again.

In my honest opinion, bang average. - all the food came out at once, which for a Tapas restaurant, is mildly concerning - this also resulted in 3/4 dishes being lukewarm. The bill was £100 which although isn’t steep, the food was more worthy of a mid tier priced restaurant. Personally I wouldn’t go again

Not been here for a while but we went yesterday whilst in Manchester. We won’t be returning. This was very disappointing. Luke warm soggy food. Arrived very quickly and maybe because it was microwaved it didn’t taste like fresh food. Sparkling sangria was flat. All food was tasteless.

While visiting Manchester I stumbled upon this nice bar. Good wines, good food, great service. I will definitely come back this week, I can recommend it.

La Viña Tapas Restaurant in Manchester offers great food, reasonable prices, and excellent service. The diverse and flavorful tapas, coupled with attentive staff, make for a delightful dining experience.

Went with a friend. Shared some tapas. Mostly very good. The tomato bread could have done with more flavour in the tomato (bread was amazing though). The patatas bravas were actually roast potatoes but nice though. They had saffron lemonade on the menu but didn’t make it any more. Need some sort of homemade lemonade and not the nasty bottled stuff. I would go back. Service was good

Lovely wine, shame we didn’t eat there as it looked great.

Good service and ambience. Food only OK going by my calamari.

We love La Vina. Very relaxed atmosphere and great food. The staff are amazing and freindly. We are fairly regular diners and its lovely to be met with a smile of recognition from previous visits. Darcy in particular is a lovely young lady and greets us as if we are family.

Lovely tapas bar. Attentive and friendly staff. Excellent selection of wines. Highly recommend the chorizo tapas plate. It was excellent. The calamares were good too.

Food menu not as good as previous menu. Prices are now more expensive and then also add a 12% service tip. Better places to go.

Great staff and service. I think price and quality could be better. I will try again and another time Great atmosphere . Juliana was the best.she went above and beyond to help our needs. I will learn Portuguese on my next visit

Food is good but don’t expect anything that resembles Spanish tapas taste

Food was nothing special. Tapas shrimp was nice, bur Brazilian steak was ‘sour’. Music played too high. We visit Manchester often, but we will not come back to La Viña.

Wonderful place, wine and dinner

Great tapas, didn't have a bad bite

Lovely food enjoyed with great company

Popped in here in the early midweek evening ahead of a theatre night. Lovely food, very good service and even had a live guitar player just starting up as we were about to leave. Would definitely recommend the tostada de salmon but all the dishes were tasty.

If you have the chance to book a table, ask for Square One, because the round (barrel) ones are not comfortable at all.

Service fine. Food woeful. 7 tapas dishes ordered and at the table within 5 minutes so clearly not freshly made - everything tasted reheated via the deep fryer and bland. 11 quid for chorizo, how can you mess that up? This was a few slices of normal sausage covered in pickled cabbage. Strange

We had a quick lunch here on a weekday, and it wasn't too crowded, with less than five tables occupied, including ours. They offer a reasonably priced lunch tapas menu, with 3 tapas and a drink for £24. We tried six different tapas between the two of us. While nothing stood out as particularly amazing, the overall experience was decent. The service was good. However, we probably won't be coming back.

From the moment I arrived, I was greeted with warmth and genuine care. The staff went above and beyond to ensure every aspect of my experience was perfect. Whether it was offering recommendations or simply engaging in friendly conversation, their attention to detail and commitment to guest satisfaction were evident at every stage. Every interaction was so welcoming, creating a sense of comfort and relaxation throughout my dining experience. It's rare to encounter such genuine hospitality, and La Viña exemplifies it flawlessly. The best tapas in Manchester by far. My time here was truly enriched by the kindness and professionalism of the staff, leaving me with fond memories and a desire to return soon. Thank you for an unforgettable experience!!

Had a lovely late lunch here yesterday. The food was delicious and the service was exceptional. Highly recommend if you fancy Tapas in Manchester.

The food was awful!! The paella was dry and I left most of it. The good thing about La Vina was that the waitress who was attentive however nothing else.

Poor food, ok service. The food was average at best, mostly tasted of garlic. We ordered several tapas dishes and an antipasti meat board. The antipasti meat board was honestly the worst I’ve ever had or seen. About 5 slices of chorizo, blended chorizo (very weird!) a little prosciutto and this is the strangest thing….crisps. Ready salted crisps 😑 and not cheap at £16!

The tapas is great however unfortunately the service was disappointing. La Vina was a place we'd been to a few times in the past and really enjoyed however this time we noticed a big difference in the service and atmosphere. Once seated we were completely ignored. There were many staff (definitely wasn't short staffed) however not one of them thought to come and take our drinks order. We were sat there for half an hour, quite obviously waiting to be served before we had to make a point of asking someone if they could take our order. Staff walked past multiple times in this half an hour however we felt complete invisible. When we asked about the wine, the server said 'don't know, it's something spanish.' and didn't offer to find out more information for us. Despite being advertised as a bottle it came in an open carafe and tasted potentially watered down. Also other times we'd visited we loved the atmosphere as there was usually live music on. However this time there was none. I'm not sure if this is a permanent change or whether we were just unlucky that night. Food was good however unfortunately the service completely let it down so we won't be rushing back

Very quick and friendly service. Certainly very fair prices and value for what we got. The croquettes are nice and soft and filled with tasty ingredients. Very rich sausage. Juicy sweet prawns. The sangria was slightly lacking. A bit watery and more fruit needed to sweeten it more, but apart from that a very nice restaurant with very warm and inviting decor

I love La Viña, the tapas were fresh, and aromatic, with interesting combos of ingredients. The vine was delicious, enhancing the overall dining experience. However, while the desserts were tasty, there's room for improvement in their presentation. Peter was very attentive and helpful- a true gem!

Estábamos mi novio y yo de paseo por Manchester y vimos el bar que nos recordó mucho a uno de nuestra ciudad. Entramos para ver qué tal estaban las tapas y nos sorprendió muchísimo. Cogimos unas croquetas de jamón, un pincho de tortilla y unas bravas. Estaba todo buenísimo. Lástima que lo descubriéramos tarde, habríamos repetido sin duda. Lo recomiendo muchísimo. Del mismo modo, la atención por parte de los camareros fue inmejorable, muy atentos y agradables. Lo recomiendo muchísimo. Pese a que el cocinero no es español, estaba todo riquísimo y sabía a España.

We came to La Vina since we moved to Manchester in 2009 approximately 2 times a year. Unfortunately, the recent changes to menu, music, and ambience for us were not an improvement. The menu is smaller, portions are smaller but more expensive, and the service charge on the bill did not match the service. For us, the last time we were here. We are going to explore new tapas venues now.

Nice food but not great value. Tapas dishes were a bit overpriced for small plates. Drinks were very expensive. Also not sure why a Spanish Tapas restaurant is cranking out R&B music at high volume. It spoiled the atmosphere. I'm sure they didn't used to do that but we've not been for a while.

Group of 10 people. Excellent service and food. Would definitely go again.

Very attentive from start to end, never rushed but very busy with xmas parties. Dont know why negative views. We had a great time.

Good atmosphere but had a poor experience on Tuesday evening. Waited an hour for some very soggy calamari. We were just charged for drinks to be fair. Even still we had planned to have dinner and decided we’d go round the corner for pizza instead. Waitress was kind.

Popular tapas restaurant/bar on Deansgate. Tapas dishes are reasonably priced , all the options that you would expect. Good choice of wines. Heavy on the garlic across several dishes so guaranteed to cure colds !!

Food was delicious and cocktails were good! The young lady who served us was really helpful and knowledgeable about wine. Will definitely come back

Average, i wont be rushing to go back. They Sat us upsatairs where there was zero atmosphere and the steak and fries wasn't great.

Unfriendly, rude and off hand female server unfortunately spoiled our much anticipated return. We looked forward to enjoying food but cancelled our booking and only stayed for drinks due to the unacceptable service provided by the young lady. However when the male server took over, I would rate him 5/5

Amazing place. Would happily go back if in Manchester. Decor, food, wine and service all fantastic.

Only had the Bread with Hummus & Anchovy Butter which was all delicious. The Wine was lovely too 😋

Great food & service. Good value.

Cold average food, service wasn’t great, just overall disappointing

Great quick, friendly service on a busy Saturday evening Good food and desserts It was a little expensive for Tapas but probably on par with similar restaurants. Foot note, I don't like service charge. it's part of the cost of your business and can't be its a % of the cost of your food. I do choose to tip directly for good service and did but had the service charge taken off

Good waiter’s and table service. Apart from the pork belly being bland and dry. The mushroom albondingas was an odd taste and the texture firm. Everything was covered in crispy onion. Finally the patatas bravas was unseasoned and hard, the aioli was more of a solid texture than creamy. The drinks however were very nice, lovely sangria.

A good deal more expensive than just a year ago. Now charging for small tapas plates the same as main plates in some other places. Atmosphere was dead, mainly due to a large party booking that hadn't arrived while we were there taking up half the ground space. Plus the upstairs was closed so only a few bar tables available. A couple of groups turned away as 'no room'. Haven't been coming here for a year as tapas choice receding. Probably will not come back again.

Service is very nice, seems a little bit more expensive than the same type of restaurant but quality or quantity not better than others. I'm not sure if I would go back. Overall, nice experience.

Great food, wonderful service and friendly staff. Booked to go yet again for a Christmas get together with friends.

Best Spanish restaurant in town, the service was so good specially Erion.

Comida española, mejorable, pero no está mal. Servicio muy amable y rápido

The food was "ok". My husband and I love tapas and were excited to try La Vina for the first time. We didn't have a booking and there was a bit of confusion before a table was found for us. We ordered 7 dishes between the two of us and when they arrived the only way to describe our reaction was "meh". Nothing tasted bad, everything was just "ok". Every dish was lukewarm at best. We wanted the chorizo and the prawns to be bubbling in little dishes full of garlic and flavour but they were just lukewarm plates: the meatballs were in a kind of mushroom gravy. All of it was just ok, just not what we'd expect from a tapas restaurant, and not a single dish made us say "wow!" Also the staff cleared our plates so quickly each time we finished we felt under pressure to leave asap, plus initially they gave us the bill for another table that was higher than our bill! Don't think we'll be back unfortunately.

Had a meal with a couple of friends. I arrived really early. Sat me and took drinks orders. The servers were really friendly and polite. Food was fantastic. Air con was on too cold so we had to wear our coats

Quiet Wednesday night but even so drinks and food ordering was slow. When it arrived it was good but I would recommend ordering 3 or 4 dishes for a group of 4 then order some more if still hungry to stop food cooling somewhat.

To be honest the food was a bit cold.

Attentive staff and service with good food

The service was top class. The food was excellent however the steak dish was a little fatty and chewy. The camerbert dish was superb. They add on a service charge which the waitress said went to the owners not the staff. We requested the service charge to be removed and we gave it in cash, which they get to keep. I don't see why the owners should steal the tips from the excellent staff.

Didn't eat here just had a drink. Nice selection of wine and reasonably priced

Met the master chef Artur and had an amazing tasting meal. The portions are very good and the taste of the food was absolutely spot on, no need for extra salt and pepper as everything was seasoned perfectly!

Beautiful food lovely wines great service

Overpriced dishes, two dishes were disappointing (mussels sent back as served cold like cooked week ago!). On the other hand the staff was very friendly and polite.

I was visiting Manchester for a night out, I was with a close friend who took me to this lovely Spanish restaurant. Amazing features and decor. The food was amazing. I loved the house wine too. Definitely will be there again.

Tasty food and helpful service. Would recommend staying to the regular menu items as the specials other day we had seemed to be blander and less exciting.

Great restaurant with Spanish tapas feel & menu.

A great place for a meal, quick and attentive service and lots of great wine and food options. We had 4 tapas which was surprisingly filling on its own, the chorizo was really good in a cider sauce. Also an amazing espresso martini here!

Perfect food, atmosphere and service. Really enjoyed meal and will look forward to returning again soon!

Reservé para el almuerzo y, como de costumbre, fueron tapas increíbles con las mejillas de cerdo, alitas de pollo y bravas de papa y algunas otras cosas.Me encanta este lugar, el personal siempre es acogedor y la comida también está bien desde Weldone.No puedo esperar hasta la próxima. visitar

Best Tapas restaurant in Manchester.Jyst had lunch, staff excellent, very friendly. Tapas very tasty well prepared .10/10. Tony & Kathryn Flynn

La Vina es una joya de restaurante / bar de vinos que se puede encontrar en Deansgate cerca de King Street y Bridge Street. El personal parece ser todo español y es muy acogedor. Las tapas son excelentes con una buena variedad de vinos. Si te gusta la lager, genial, aunque si quieres cualquier otra cerveza, difícil. Me gusta el ambiente, la diversión y (en estos tiempos raros) la limpieza. Darle una oportunidad. No hay muchos lugares como este.

Era un lunes por la noche y muchos restaurantes cerraron debido al virus Corona, pero me encontré con La Viña mientras estaba en un hotel local. La comida era deliciosa y el tamaño de las porciones de tapas muy bueno. Tuve una selección de todo el menú y no puedo decir una mala palabra. El personal fue servicial y amable y me hizo sentir bienvenido.

Después de especificar a nuestro servidor que soy vegetariano estricto y de ahora en adelante ordenar del menú vegetariano, me presentaron un plato de carne de cerdo. El cerdo estaba escondido dentro de mi estofado 'vegetariano' y podría haberse consumido fácilmente por accidente.No hace falta decir que este error me pareció extraño y bastante ofensivo para ser sincero.Le envié un correo electrónico al gerente sobre este lapso en el servicio, sin embargo, claramente no considera que molestar a sus clientes sea un problema apremiante, ya que todavía estoy esperando una respuesta casi dos semanas después.Pésimo - nunca volvería otra vez.

friends out for a sat night meal. Squeezed into a table upstairs Food took 1hr 30mins to arrive ..drinks served after food (and a polite prompt to waiter). Food average at best, 1 dish was cold (not meant to be) Drnks were warm and proseco was flat.....second round drinks didnt arrive. No front of house/management at end to complain too. Very dissapointing for our trip.to manchester....thankfully had two super lunches in the city. Aoid this redtaurant if you like authentic tapas and good service.

I wish to write a review to explain the greatest displeasure at the experience that myself and my girlfriend encountered whilst visiting your Deansgate restaurant in Manchester on Saturday 15th February.To explain the back story to the disgust that was caused by your so called manager 'Adam Peel', at the failure to satisfy a first time customer at the restaurant. Myself and my girlfriend received 3 £20 gift cards as a Christmas present from my girlfriends father and we thought that we would use the vouchers as a combined Valentines and anniversary meal out at a restaurant that was named on the gift card, and a restaurant that we both liked the look of.We booked a table online approximately the middle of January and rang the restaurant a week before our booking just to confirm that the booking was correct and going ahead. We walked in to the restaurant on Saturday evening at approximately 5:50PM and was met by a young man, who gave us a frosty reception and had a can't be bothered attitude explaining that our table was upstairs. Myself and my girlfriend expected to follow the gentlemen, however he said that he would follow us and when entering the room where our table was, said it's over there yours, pointing to a table and then walked off. We didn't really think much of this until what was to happen at the end of our meal.The meal was received in good time and the server that brought our food was very attentive and got us anything that we wanted. The food was consumed and as we asked for the bill my girlfriend presented me with said gift cards. This seemed to cause a stir with our server who said that 'we might not be able to accept those'. To which we appeared shocked and stunned because of the name being on the gift cards. As you can imagine we were not happy about this as our bill totalled £62 and there was no mention anywhere of not being able to accept our gift cards. Naturally we asked to speak to a manager.What approached us when we asked for a manager was a young gentlemen who at first, seemed to want to help us in what transpired to be a very difficult conversation, but ended up in a one sided argument with a gentlemen who didn't seem to accept the customer coming first and was repeating himself offering no sympathy or empathy to ourselves.He explained that due to La Vina not being part of a certain restaurant group he wasn't able to accept our gift cards and that, as it transpired, the restaurant was taken over only days previous to our visit. As of this afternoon, 17th February, there is no mention of any takeover on the website, and also on our visit, 15th February, there was no mention of not being able to accept gift cards that we had as payment. Adam, the manager, explained that they couldn't accept the gift cards due to this takeover. How were we to know this? If we were aware of this then we wouldn't have chosen to spend a special occasion at the restaurant. As I have previously mentioned, he just didn't care about our situation and didn't want to help. Over the next 10 minutes a number of different scenarios were discussed, still to the same answer. Whatever happened to a bit of empathy? Whatever happened to customer satisfaction? Whatever happened to the customer being right?I explain that if we were aware of this issue we wouldn't have eaten at the restaurant. I would've imagined if this takeover was an issue then customers like ourselves have a right to be notified. This could come in the form of a sign on entrance to the restaurant or the server asking what method of payment would be being used in order to avoid this situation happening to both ourselves and other customers. Adam mentioned that the gift cards that we held were a '1 in 4 month occurance'. Does this make our situation any better? No of course it doesn't. Adam then proved his point factually incorrect when, as I was walking out, another customer asked me what the problem was and he in fact had the same type of gift card that we held. The only option that we were left with was to pay for a bill that we should never have had to pay for. We were not notified of any changes to the gift cards not being accepted until after we had eaten. There was no compromise from the manager when suggested, only you have to pay for your bill. In addition to this, and I quote, point 6 on the terms and conditions of the gift card: "We reserve the right to amend these terms and conditions at any time or withdraw the card at reasonable notice". Where was our 'reasonable notice?' At the point of no return?The bill was paid on a credit card as we did not have any other form of payment and feel that the situation was dealt with in a horrendous way, spoiling our Valentines and Anniversary night, one that we had paid for a hotel for in order to make a night out of it.

This restaurant is the most traditionally Spanish in Manchester, food is like back in Spain, service is very much Spanish. A great vibe in the restaurant too.

Great choice of food. This place is a regular haunt for me and my friends to get together. Can highly recommend

Having only just got over celebrating my dining partners birthday, I find myself in the unfortunate position of having to celebrate mine. Don’t take me the wrong way, I mean I always love a celebration, and I’m quite happy to unwrap presents and cards, drink free drinks, and get kissed on the cheek a lot, I just don’t want to get any older! I’m well past the high point on my life expectancy graph, and seem to be slithering down the second half of it a lot faster than I climbed the first half. I can’t remember things if I don’t write them down, I can’t see things without my glasses, I can’t hear people in busy pubs, I have four grandchildren who are fast growing up, and I’m dreading the day when I swap my lifelong incompetence for incontinence. It’s all rather scary! But, as much as I didn’t want it to be, it was actually my birthday last weekend, so my apprentice meal sampler was set the task of sorting us out somewhere to eat. This was to be her choice, and as such, all arrangements were left in her more than capable hands. All I had to do was turn up in Manchester appropriately dressed at the prearranged time and do as I was told. As it happens, I went down to Manchester early afternoon, and we jumped into the car and had a drive out to Wilmslow, where we had a nice walk around the shops, drank some milk shake, ate some cake, and generally enjoyed mingling with the well to do. The highlight of the trip was watching a Rolls Royce Cullinan drive past with a dodgy shut line on the driver’s door. The chrome trim was a mile out with the rest of the car, and it made an already ugly SUV look even less attractive – it’s amazing how excited one can get over such a mundane event! After our little tour, we returned to Manchester where I retired to my room and began the transformation from casual afternoon to glamourous evening. I know that all the above has absolutely nothing to do with where we went to eat, what we had to eat, and how much or how little we enjoyed it, but as I have told you before, it’s all part of the deal. If you want to read my reviews, you have to put up with a bit of background waffle as well. It’s just another symptom of getting older – you simply have to tell people about things they aren’t interested in, even when you know they aren’t interested in them. As you would expect, we kicked the evening off relatively early with a drink in the Goose. The apprentice is on a health purge at the moment, so she is not drinking, and I had to drive home later in the night, so I also was not drinking, but this does not necessarily bother us. We are actually more than capable of enjoying a night out without alcohol (another sign of aging?). We had a couple of diet cokes, and then made our way round to the taxi rank on Chorlton Street ready for our trip into town. By this time, having been given various hints and clues, I was already aware of our destination and was more than looking forward to dinner at La Vina. La Vina is located at 105/107 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 2BQ and is contactable through all the usual modern day methods of communication, including telephone, email, Twitter, Facebook, Semaphore, Smoke Signals and Morse Code. It is a reasonably large venue, with the dining areas being spread over ground and first floors, and I do believe you can nip in to the ground floor bar for a drink without dining if you so desire. Our table was booked for 7-00pm, and on our arrival, it was good to see that things were in full swing. Without actually standing up and counting, it appeared that the restaurant was more or less full most of the time we were there. There was a constant stream of people leaving, and more people arriving. I did note that some “walk-in” diners were turned away, so presumably bookings were good.Once we had introduced ourselves, we were given a choice of tables – one in the heart of the ground floor area, and a second, higher table next to the window overlooking Deansgate. As it was my party night, I was given the choice, so I opted for the window table so that I could have a good ogle out onto Deansgate. You can’t beat a bit of Saturday night on Deansgate people watching. As it turned out, had I been a bit more observant, I would probably have opted for the other table based on comfort issues. The high table by the window was basically a table top fitted to a large wooden beer barrel with two high back stools to sit on. Due to the fact it was an enclosed barrel rather than a normal spindle type table leg set, we were unable to tuck our legs under the table, and spent the evening sitting sideways, trying hard not to expose too much underwear to the rest of the diners. (You will note I said not too much rather than none at all – I always like to flash a little underwear where possible – keeps them on their toes!). This position was slightly less comfortable than the usual “legs under the table” option that is normally available. As I often point out, everything in life unfortunately has some form of price, and the price for watching oodles and oodles of talent walking along Deansgate was leg ache, risk of splinters to the knees, and risk of underwear over-exposure. Never mind, it was worth it.So…………… I hear you say. Did you actually eat at any point, or are you just going to continue saying lots and lots about very little?We actually ate, and this is how it went. Having been shown to our table, we were presented with menus on which there was a large choice of Tapas dishes. There is the choice of a few larger Paella dishes if you prefer, but we were more than happy to opt for the Tapas. We ordered a couple of Diet Cokes, and then studied the menus, making a mental note of what we fancied to eat. The assumption was that I would pick a couple of meat / fish dishes for myself, and then we would share a quantity of vegetable dishes between us. The menu recommended that you order three or four Tapas per person, so just to ensure that we didn’t go hungry, we ordered eleven between us. Oh yes, we can eat! We started off with the PanTumaca which is bread brushed with fresh garlic oil, grilled & served with grated vine-ripened tomato & smoked sea salt. This was obviously shared, and was quickly followed up by Fabada Con Verduras - rich tomato & cannelloni bean stew with fresh spinach, roasted carrots, courgette & beetroot, Berenjenas Con Miel Y Trufa - crisp lightly battered aubergine slices stacked & drizzled with honey & truffle oil, Patatas Bravas - crispy cubes of potato with a spicy sofrito tomato sauce & alioli topped with cheese, a similar portion of Patatas Bravas topped with a fried egg, Setas Con Salsa - a selection of seasonal mushrooms cooked in a sherry cream sauce, topped with toasted pine nuts, and Pan Con Berenjenas - grilled aubergines, goats cheese & dried tomatoes, topped with pine nuts & red amaranth, again all of which we shared, and then I had a portion of Porrusalda De Mariscos described as tail on king prawns, mussels, squid & white fish in a creamy leek, potato & cider sauce and a portion of Carne De Cerdo Y Miel which consisted of a bit of the old crispy pork belly cooked in honey & sherry vinegar, served on a fennel & apple slaw.As you will have gathered, it was a fair selection all of which was duly dished out and eaten. Unlike our last Tapas experience, all the dishes were served pretty much at once and we were able to mix and match to our hearts content. The table, whilst being a tad uncomfortable was of sufficient size to enable us to eat comfortably even though there were ten food dishes on it as well as our places and cutlery. The only thing I would comment on is the fact that the “tail on king prawns” were far from king, and had long since lost their tails. They were very ordinary sized prawns without tails, but they were tasty. Also one of the mussels decided to be a bit shy, and just wouldn’t come out of its shell. I had various attempts to open it up with the knife provided, but it wasn’t for making an appearance and it was becoming apparent that I was in danger of stabbing myself in the hand, so I conceded defeat and sent it back to the kitchen intact. Otherwise, everything was perfect. Apart from the shy mussel, every dish we sent back to the Chef was empty.I have to say, we both admitted we had eaten sufficient, and desserts were not required, but it was after all a special occasion, so just to be polite and for the sake of completeness, we agreed to go through the motions of studying the dessert menu. The result of this study was in fact a breakdown in self-discipline, which in itself then resulted in the ordering of further food. Looking back, neither of us can actually remember at which point it went wrong – we just know that it did. One minute we were sitting quite content and well fed, and the next minute we were tapping our feet and waiting anxiously for the arrival of more food. You can see how easy it is to fall into unplanned greed.Luckily, due to the number of people now being served, there was a little wait before our desserts arrived. Had we been in a hurry, this would have been a nuisance, but in view of the fact that we weren’t, and also considering that we had just polished off a shed load of food between us, the wait was well appreciated, and it wasn’t over long before my trainee foodie was tucking into Churros - cinnamon sugar-dusted Spanish churros with a rich warm chocolate sauce and I was devouring a dish of Crema Catalana Helados which was made up of two scoops of indulgent custard ice cream infused with, vanilla, cinnamon, orange & lemon topped with shards of caramelised sugar. We were now, officially full. Any further suggestions of more food would have been met with protest from both parties. What we had eaten had been more than enjoyed. The service was pretty good, with the only delay being the dessert which as I said was actually appreciated. Our table was served by the one waiter all evening who was very friendly and sociable, and everything arrived at the table pretty much when and how it should have done. The surroundings are clean and pleasant, and the fact that the venue was busy provided a readymade atmosphere - the one where you can hear the buzz of everyone else’s conversation, but still hold your own. We sat and chilled, and then I made the obligatory trip to the Ladies so that I can provide a full appraisal of all facilities on offer. The toilets are on the second floor, which I guess is a bit of a pain, but once you are up there, they are well lit and were clean and well maintained at the time of our visit.Once the bill had been paid, we headed out onto Deansgate, from where we walked round to the Revolución de Cuba on Peter Street where we had a few more Diet Cokes before moving further up the street to Peaky Blinders where we had another drink. Both places were absolutely packed, but I maintained my record of being spotted by bumping into a girl who knew me in Peakys. Very rare I go out without bumping into someone who knows me!A final cab ride saw us delivered back into the Goose, where we had arranged to meet up with a couple of friends and finish off a perfect Birthday evening.As you would expect, I will now ask and answer the two usual questions. Well actually, I can only answer one of them, but I will at least ask it for the sake of completeness.Value for money? I don’t know. The Mentee paid. She had been sent some money as a joint present for us both from her parents, so I must say “thank you “ to them and as you will have gathered, let them know that we thoroughly enjoyed it.Would I go again? As is often the case, I have eaten many, many times at La Vina and have always enjoyed it. I therefore conclude that I will indeed go again.

Nice restaurant. Food was lovely and so was the wine. Nice variety for wine list. Service 5 star wasn’t felt rushed. Will be coming back