Villa Marina in South Oxfordshire

Perfect food, perfect ambience, perfect staff. A wonderful evening, nothing was too much of an effort, a top restaurant.

We came to them too early, they were closed. We had to dine elsewhere. But we were so excited to at least try their desserts and decided to come back later. When we returned to them, 3 tables were occupied in the restaurant, that is, it was almost empty. They brought us a menu with main courses, but we asked for a wine list and a dessert menu. A tall man approached us and began to speak very rudely: We are not a coffee shop! You must order the main course and after that I will give you the dessert menu! (I remind you that the restaurant is empty) We decided to leave but he continued to repeat these words: We are not some coffee shop! we have laws! Ok, we wish you good luck and patient clients who are ready for your disrespect.

I was there with my family and it was a great experience as usual, the food is amazing, the staff is friendly and professional, we always enjoy Villa Marina and we’ll be back soon. Grazie Nando!

It had been a long time since we had been to Villa Marina and our memories of excellent past dining experiences were reinforced once more, with this recent visit. An absolutely delightful Sunday lunch. Friendly efficient and knowledgeable staff served a superb three courses to a table of five. Superb cuisine and lovely ambience. Thank you for a very enjoyable experience.

Great restaurant. The staff were very friendly and the food arrived quickly. The place is clean and comfortable. The food itself is delicious

Excellent lunch with friends We went Sunday 3 March. 9 of us in total. Three is a three course meal available for £25.50. The food was excellent, the restaurant buzzing and service excellent. Would we come again. Definitely.

Went at Villa Marina for my birthday for lunch with my wife and my daughter. Is not my first time visiting the place, I had good experience in the past, and the restaurant is still keeping up the standards, the food is very good quality, the service is very attentive and atmosphere very vibrant. I will be returning again..

Such warm and friendly service and a lively atmosphere where you are made to feel most welcome. Always top of list for a fun night out. Thank you.

Ate here twice in a month. Once for Birthday and the second time for Valentines. Excellent food, large portions, veg that is actually fresh and beer that is cold. Very clean restaurant with nice linen and cutlery. Love the staff who are all Italian. Well worth a visit and the Thames is directly across the street.

Food is Good.But the person who took our order, who was kind of bald, was mean, which negatively impacted our dining experience

Nando and the team hosted 18 of us for my wife's birthday! It was absolutely flawless, don't know how they do it! The food, wine and service were all exceptional - genuinely could not recommend more highly.

Really enjoyed my lamb. My son said it was the best steak sauce he had ever tasted. The dessert was sublime.

Classic Italian restaurant in Henley that has been popular for many years. Menu is reasonably priced and house wine is good at £26 but the wine list is extensive. Great service even when busy. Will be back for more!

Really enjoyable evening. Service was attentive but not over bearing, and the food wine was sublime. Go - treat yourself!

This is a well situated restaurant close to the river specialising in high quality Italian cuisine. I had the salmon served with prawns, which was wonderful accompanied by spinach. My guests had the shoulder of lamb, chicken, and pasta arribiatta all well presented.. service was efficient and a good selection of wines were on offer. Highly recommended!

Excellent as always. Grazie team

Food and service was great highly recommend

I love this little Italian in Henley. It’s what I would call ‘old school’. The staff are very professional and smiley and the food and wine is delicious. We chose from the set price lunch menu and a couple from the party had the specials. Great for any occasion and when I come here my only regret is not coming more often.

Great food superb service. Sunday lunch is such great value. With a great choice we will be back again xx well back again as usual food excellent and services outstanding 👌 once again we will be going back

We did a walk in today for lunch, the place was full and now we know why. A table was found for us four and menus were presented by smiling waters. The lunch menu is not massive but caters for every taste. I ordered prawns they were superb as was all the other starters. My main was the Lamb again superb, piping hot and served correctly. We all enjoyed our food and had empty plates. The food is served on nice plates and well presented. We then got the desert menu and after seeing the deserts offered on the next table we could not refuse and were not disappointed . Why has it taken us so long to find this little gem. The Lunch menu is a fixed price and offered good value. We can not wait to return but will book ahead to ensure we get a table. There is a service charge included in the price, the waiters deserve every penny of this as they are so professional and attentive

Excellent restaurant. Deserves all the 5 star reviews it receives. The 3 course lunch was great value, with good choice and friendly service

Lovely lunch. Personally, I found the lovely venue a bit noisy. Service good. But if I like my meat cooked a certain way, that's my preference. To be told it had to be well done - didn't work for me!! Would I go back, yes probably.

Wonderful cosy little restaurant with a great atmosphere throughout. We were there in a Thursday night and it was almost full. Always a good sign. Hard to fault, food service faultless. We will be back very soon :)

Hadn't been for years but the restaurant still delivers. Very tasty set lunch with reasonably priced food and wine. Great service.

From a really warm and helpful welcome to the very professional and friendly service, from the delicious food to the sophisticated atmosphere: add all these together and the result was a wonderful family birthday for five. Long may they thrive and thank you very much indeed!

From entering the restaurant it was heaven. Friendly welcome into a wonderful restaurant. Sitting down you notice the attention to detail by the table setting and unique cutlery. We just stopped here on our way to Marlow and popped in for their set lunch. Incredible choices cooked up to 5 star standards and good portion size. Served and presented with impeccable style. Could not believe how reasonable the cost was for such quality.

I actually cannot find fault with the service. ☺️ It was impeccably timed without being over bearing. Our glasses were never empty but I didn’t feel like I was being rushed. 🍷 The wine was advised by our friendly waiter and a good choice. We had scallops and prawns to start. Calves liver and a huge T-bone 🥩 steak for mains. I cannot fault the food quality or presentation. It was superb. My only complaint would be I wished I lived nearer so I could go here more often! 😆 Keep doing what you’re doing Villa Marina.

Came here for early dinner - what a treat! Good atmosphere, smart decor, first class service, very nice Primitivo red wine and the star of my meal was the seafood pasta - delicious. The courgette fries were also excellent. Highly recommend.

Lovely food, great non rushed atmosphere, good staff. All of our food was great. Glad to see it nice and busy. Service was included, which I love, so no worrying about tips

Such a lovely restaurant located near the river in Henley. The food was absolutely fantastic as was the service.

Amazing staff, wonderful atmosphere, great food. The best. We are lucky to know the Billionaire Duncan! We only ask for a couple more pasta dishes.

We went for lunch to celebrate my wife’s birthday, a halfway house with her daughter. We were welcomed nicely, sat and order taken nicely. The food when it came was as described on the menu, and was nicely presented and tasted exactly as was expected...

Felt like the waiters wanted you out of the restaurant really quickly as soon as you had the menu they were over wanting to take orders of wine and then food. There were hardly any gaps with serving the bread before you were trying to...

Absolutely delicious food, prompt and very correct service. The music was on and off, the only downside.

Excellent food at very reasonable prices at lunchtime. Tables always properly laid and service excellent.*

Absolutely delightful lunch with friends. Food fabulous and service excellent, very attentive, polite, courteous and helpful staff Would definitely recommend

This restaurant was fabulous. I have been to Italy 4 times for weeks at a time and have eaten in a lot of fine Italian restaurants and this was magnificent ! Very high quality products and amazing taste and service was spot on! I cannot wait to go back to bd honest. I live 1.5 hours away. Lovely day in Henley Upton Thames. I would like to add that this restaurant was better than some Michelin star restaurants . Excellent value for the money. We had lobster spagheti, and the sea bream with veg and the light but tasty sauce that came with both were amazing. We had spaghetti fruiti di mare and prawns with white wine sauce for starters . For dessert we had the chocolate mousse and the amaretto cake! Honestly the finest quality.. all of it .

What a fantastic experience from beginning to end - great service so attentive- the food surpassed our expectations- for freshness and quality- best Italian food I’ve had in a long time. Definitely will be back.

A birthday celebration with friends - we all had the set lunch menu - good value - presentation and service excellent. For anyone gluten free - they were very accommodating. The only down side was when letting the waiter know that a drink had been...

Lovely ambiance and friendly service. Very good value set lunch menu with plenty of choices. Supplement for dishes of the day. Some of us possibly made better choices than others. Smoked Haddock main, very salty and quite a few bones !

Villa Marina has been consistently good for so many years now. The food is of the highest quality , the service is top notch and the overall atmosphere is exactly what one would expect from a highly recommended restaurant . I must personally mention Nando...

Fabulous evening, 80th birthday surprise! Staff were great, candle bought to the table and everyone sang happy birthday 🎂 Can't fault anything!

The customer service was unlike anything that I have experienced before. They were so friendly and the wait times were very decent. The food was excellent as well and the dessert was heavenly! All in all, I would one hundred percent recommend this restaurant to anyone.

10/10 Perfect evening great little Italian the food was amazing for my wife and myself ,we will be returning soon on our next trip to Henley

Excellent food and drink the service was amazing, so attentive but not intrusive, can't wait to visit again, hopefully very soon. Thank you so much!

Had lunch today,6 of us,excellent attention from staff,set menu good choices,chose mainly specials,very tasty meals,feel of restaurant calm,inviting. Visit again YES.

BEST food in Henley! Great service! Delicious food! We're going back again soon. Definitely make a reservation!

Wonderful food, fantastic service. Highly recommend!

I have delayed saying anything about this place coz I DON'T want to book only to find that the likes of you have nicked my table. If I could, the rating for Villa Marina would be 10 stars not a mere 5. Nuff said. I could not believe my eyes when all my scallops had their CORAL!!!!!! It has been years and half centuries since I have seen those, my dear. My fellow diner, in the know, told me it's because of the Americans and some completely idiotic idea that if you throw back the coral it replenishes the stock. Utter you know whats! I have been going to Henley Royal Regatta for 50 odd years and never dined in the centre of town because of the crowds. I can only weep at the missed opportunities of eating at Villa Marina! That is about to change dramatically- if Fabio ( the owner?) would be so kind....

Staff lacked charisma and generally uninterested in our visit

The goat cheese with mixed vegetables was as adventurous as a Friday night in Bucharest. For main I had the pork fillet wrapped in parma ham. Pork was dry and the parma non existent. Can’t understand how you can ruin a fillet. Thanks God the company was great. £180 including drinks? Probably was a bad day? Roma lost to Sevilla.

The best place to eat in Henley.

Lovely Italian restaurant right by the river. Service is excellent (not too attentive, but always there when you want something) and the food was very enjoyable (the pepper steak has to be the best value meal in town...lovely, and huge!). Good wine list with a...

First time visited Will def be coming back. Very friendly and food excellent. Thankyou

We were invited to celebrate my sister in law's birthday and experience the exceptional good food served at a reasonably moderate price. We were not disappointed either and wish to wholeheartedly recommend Villa Marina.

Lovely dining area and polite staff. Food was ok but really didn't get value for money. We had steak and a bottle of house red which came out at over £100 . We didn't have starters dessert or coffees. The steak was tasty but had quite a bit of fat. Not in a hurry to go back. The prices in the window are not the same as in the restaurant or online.

Doesn't seem to have a large choice of Italian food, best to avoid if you're expecting Pizza, Pasta for example. Menu is small and not much choice.

Delicious food and great service

Food ok but expensive for what you got so that's why I have marked it down. The beer price was a complete rip off. Staff very friendly It could do with updating the restaurant

Fantastic traditional Italian restaurant. £23 for a three course lunch Tues to Sat is an absolute bargain, lots of choice on menu and all perfectly prepared and served.

This was a great restaurant. The staff were very friendly and the food arrived quickly. The place is clean and comfortable. The food itself is delicious, and I thought the price for the set menu was very fair. I’d particularly recommend the prawns with black pepper for a starter as this was delicious. The espressos were also excellent and traditionally Italian. I would definitely come back here.

We had the 3 course meal. Food was delicious and staff were super friendly.

The food was excellent and the service good. However, just wanted to say that it's important to be told that the daily specials cost extra and that it's added to the cost of the lunch menu. I had a bit of a surprise when I saw the bill.

Valentine's Day lunch! Exceptional food, great quality house wine, brilliant service and all in the company of my beautiful wife.

Villa Marina is a fantastic restaurant that offers a truly unforgettable dining experience. The restaurant has a charming, elegant atmosphere that sets the stage for a memorable meal. The decor is tasteful and sophisticated, with beautiful lighting and comfortable seating, creating a relaxed and welcoming environment.

Excellent location and really good food

We used to dine here regularly and thought it really super. Very sadly, we haven't done so for around four years until yesterday. If in my memory I 'thought' it really super then based upon yesterday's experience I can now say that it really IS SUPER. Lovely setting, attentive and professional staff, a very good reasonably priced menu and top quality food.

My husband and I had to cancel planned celebrations for our 30th wedding anniversary just before Christmas due to illness, so scheduled an impromptu visit to Henley with our two sons for a belated and quieter celebration between Christmas and New Year. We are frequent...

I have been here for three years pre Christmas and never had a poor experience. Yesterday 15th December was no exception and if anything surpassed every other visit. I always judge an Italian restaurant on a Carbonarra. This was not on the menu so a special request. It was sensational. The best Ive ever had. The service and ambience was excellent so a very enjoyable lunch. Thank you

A group of six of us had a meal here on a Saturday night whilst visiting Henley - England vs France World Cup match meant restaurant was not quite as busy as it would like. The welcome was warm and cheerful and the staff were...

All of us enjoyed our choices. The only thing is that the set lunch menu has not changed for quite a while and I have been quite a few times and now would like a different selection

Villa Marina did not disappoint. Lovely home made soup followed by steak for my husband and lemon sole and lobster sauce for me. Cooked beautifully. He had the lemon tart and I had an Irish coffee. Nothing was too much for the staff and everything...

Excellent food couldn't fault it. Only small complaint is the waitress didn't know what the soup of the day was and had to find someone who did! Staff should be told when they start work.

Excellent. Friendly team immediately knew we had booked (Critical to book as it will be full as it was today). White linen table cloths. I had the Prawns for my starter. They were hot with tangy black pepper. Very tasty. For my main course I...

So pleased we found Villa Marina during our first visit to Henley. Food was excellent with the staff very friendly and efficient. A classy well run Italian restaurant

Told by locals this place was fabulous but our experience was different. Special starter of calamari fritto was not crispy and rather chewy, exactly what was not wanted. Aubergine parmigiana was pretty tasteless, veal needy more flavour. Overall the food was totally ordinary. Service was...

Enjoyed a thoroughly super meal here on a Tuesday night as a party of 4. Very close to river. Restaurant larger than we expected (made to look larger bymirrors) and full. I can understand why as the food and service were excellent. Worth a visit. Has a sister restaurant in nearby Marlow. Parking available in station car park about 250 metres away or car park adjacent to River. Will revisit when next in Henley and perhaps try the other restaurant too

Really enjoyed our meal with friends. Scallops and Skate dishes excellent as were all dishes. Loved the Falanghina wine too. Friendly and fun service.

The food was delicious. But we went on a Saturday evening and it was so noisy that we could not hear each other talk. We left after the main course.

Excellent tasty food. Quick service despite it being busy. Excellent communication with the team checking we were all okay. My only criticism, personally speaking, for the price of the food the portion was quite small in comparison to similar restaurants in the same price bracket. However as stated the quality was second to none. £60 per person at dinner with 3 courses, glass of wine and Prosecco is very well priced. Will I go back? Yes Will I recommend to a friend? Yes

Beautiful little Italian restaurant alongside the River Thames. Delicious food. You get quality not quantity so the portions are quite small. Authentic Italian restaurant. The manager is Italian so you can speak Italian to them and they will answer in Italian. The menu is quite small when it comes to options but the food is absolutely delicious. I recommend getting a main and to always order a side or two. They will let you taste the wine first after they open the bottle in front of you. The food is adequately priced for the cuisine. However, remember that you will get quality but not a big quantity. Parking is available on the side of the restaurant across the road but be quick as there are only a few spaces available (3 car spaces). I would definitely visit again when I'm in the area.

Highly recommend this authentic Italian restaurant. The food was delicious, the service fabulous and, for the quality, it was very reasonably priced. The puddings, in particular, were absolutely amazing. We paid and made to leave, only to find it was pouring with rain outside. We...

My friend and I, both in our seventies, decided to finish our morning shopping in Henley with lunch. Villa Marina was fairly busy and the selection on the three course menu costing £22 was good. We both chose the Amaretto pudding - it was excellent....

Excellent value, quality of food and service. A real Italian hospitality restaurant. Will certainly go back again. An extensive set price lunch menu

A cool, calm atmosphere matched by a professional service. The lunch menu offers so much choice - I was hard-pushed to make my selection. Everything was a pleasure to eat and is such good value. Roll on my next visit.

Excellent meal at Villa Marina - consistently high quality over the years. Top quality cod and liver main courses with generous serving of side dishes. We will be back. Bread served with drinks needs an upgrade, basic supermarket baguette?

Although the new-style dinner menu is a little strange in that it is difficult to identify which dishes are the Starters, the waiter was very accommodating and split a main course risotto between two and happily Parma ham and melon off the lunch menu. For...

We were very much looking forward to a meal here, but came away disappointed... The restaurant itself is clean, and the decor is pleasant. However, the bread they brought with the drinks was Tesco tiger baguette, we both recognised it instantly, cheap and nothing like...

Amazing food great value and service. Thank you

I've been for lunch before but this was the first time for dinner. Only a la carte available but a varied menu with a couple of starter and main course specials. Attentive service, tables not too close together and the food is lovely.

Stunningly fabulous lunch here as always, faultless quality, taste and customer service

Excellent food, excellent service, good lively atmosphere. The restaurant is air conditioned which is a real bonus in the current heatwave. Set lunch menu at £22 for a three course meal with excellent choices for each course is really very good value considering the setting,...

Henley hot and busy outside: inside all cool, calm and professional. Our first visit in over two years and we realised what we have been missing. Their fixed price lunch menu is excellent with a wide selection of choices (there are few restaurants I visit...

Had a meal here on Sunday 26 June to celebrate a birthday in the family. On arrival we were presented by a basket of tiny bits of bread, not enough to feed a bird let alone a person. Pitiful. Starter was ok, but nothing special....

Fabulous food and drink and staff on my list every time I'm near Henley

VM are a wonderful place. I am currently living in Oxford but my elderly grandmother lives in Henley. I try and get down to see her as often as possible and ALLWAYS take her out to VM as unfortunately due to my working hours and...

Fabulous meal and a great evening out.

Upon entering was confronted with a challenge on whether we’ve booked and once we shared our details, we weren’t told to wait but we weren’t directed to the table so we had to hang around by the door waiting for someone to decide what to...

Came in for the set lunch menu which turned out to be very good value in light of excellent quality and delightful service. This is a super place for lunch

We luncheoned yesterday it being a surprise birthday party for my wife . As usual the staff were very friendly , attentive and thoroughly professional. All seventeen present remarked on the quality of the food and the ambience the restaurant offered. It was a very enjoyable and memorable occasion. A big thank you to Villa Marina!