Villa Marina in South Oxfordshire

Superb lunch menu. Delicious food, the house white was perfect with it. The waiting staff were attentive, professional, efficient and charming. The restaurant with its selection of pictures and clever use of mirrors created a fabulous and comfortable environment. We'll be back.

Visited here whilst staying in Henley. We have been before and this visit was just as good. Service friendly and efficient. Food itself was excellent. Started with complimentary bread with 2dips. I had the scallops wrapped in parma ham special to start it was delicious. Then spaghetti with lobster in tomatoes, there was plenty of it. Washed down with a lovely bottle of pinot grigio. Give this place a go, you will not be disappointed.

Food and staff were wonderful. My only criticism is that the toilet seat in the ladies needs to be replaced as it moved. Thank you for a lovely meal 😋

We had a delicious meal with really nice service in a bright & well maintained restaurant. A new restaurant to add to my favs list in Henley.

Food wonderful, great service, will be back soon

How disappointing! Lack lustre staff and food below par, though my husband said his Dover Sole was very good. The mussels starter and my calamari were beyond disappointing and my veal dish was not great either. All in all a rather disappointing Birthday celebration, I won’t be rushing back.

The food here was really delicious. The setting is nice, as the restaurant is close by the river with a short walk from the train station. We visited from London to take my mother who lives nearby for a birthday celebration. We appreciated that they managed a couple of food intolerances really well, and changed a couple of menu items very easily. Two things could have been improved. First, when we arrived, we think we could have had a bit more attention. It was a while before we even got water for the table, which we had to ask for. We certainly would have had an aperitif, nothing was offered (as somebody who has worked in the industry this frustrates me because it’s sheer profit lost). Secondly the acoustics are very bad, the restaurant becomes noisy very quickly, we struggled to hear ourselves and even the waiters struggled too. There is no carpet, a nice wooden floor but this probably makes the noise louder. But eventually the service was good and the food good too. But for the reasons the experience felt a bit average.

Absolutely excellent on all aspects. What I a find. Highly recommend. Staff work really hard and not over the top. Thanks

We visited this lovely cosy restaurant when we had a week in Henley recently and was a lovely find Excellent Food Wonderful Staff very attentive making sure we had everything we needed The Ambiance was great. Mike had fish and meat I had fish for both courses Both of us really loved the meals plenty of it. We will be returning in November definitely another visit planned to this restaurant

Excellent! Proper Italian style. Food really good, service was excellent. I felt really welcome!

Amazing! Super recommended! I would say best Italian restaurant in the area.

V good, charging for extra bread was a bit of a surprise but the effort with getting us a glass of rather good italian red was really appreciated. Wonderful crab and prawn cocktail and fergato (calves liver) and the Italian amaretto cake amazing. Three courses, negroni, glass of good red for the dinner price.

Lovely food served with professional aplomb. Nice venue with good choices on the menu.

The food was realy good. Although the staff are fine they could make you feel more special. It was a big wedding anniversary (which I had told them when booking) but we were treated like anybody just having a meal. So a little disappointed

We had a lovely lunch in this wonderful traditional Italian restaurant close to the river Thames The food was very tasty, well presented and the portion sizes were just right I had a glass of house wine which was good value The staff are very friendly A great experience

An early Saturday dinner after visiting the Oaken Grove vineyard (well worth a visit) this long established Italian sits in a low building by the river - from some tables you can see the water. The restaurant was quiet when we arrived though filled up quickly with a mix of locals, day trippers and guests from the hotel over the road. Everything we ate was fine with our starters a seafood pasta and the crab) and a desert of lemon tart standout. Our mains of swordfish and duck were average - okay. With a couple of glasses of Prosecco and a bottle of red the damage £165 for 2. This is about average these days. We had an enjoyable meal if felt a little rushed towards the end.

Booked Villa Marina for Henley Royal Regatta Saturday lunch. Excellent food, attentive staff and prompt service, would definitely recommend for Henley lunch 👍

Another fabulous meal at this wonderful Italian restaurant, with outstanding service and a lovely atmosphere. The food was superb - we both ordered from the specials menu, so do wait until you hear the specials before deciding, as they are always excellent. The service was faultless too - always so warm and friendly. Villa Marina was our restaurant of choice for every special occasion from my 20’s onwards, when I lived in the area. Now, almost 30 years later, it’s as excellent as ever. We are infrequent visitors now, as we aren’t often in Henley - but every time, it is outstanding. Nando, Peter and the team do an excellent job. I highly recommend it!

Fathers Day. It was hectic, but very well organised with excellent service. Menu was ' fixed price' but very good, given the occasion and the numbers booked for lunch. My party selected a range of dishes over three courses, and everyone was delighted. It's a gem!

Was treated terribly they were rude tutting pressing us to choose what we wanted to eat to do it quickly had prawns to start chewie couldn't eat disgusting so we left felt unwelcome we live in Shiplake will not be returning ever and will not recommend such a terrible service and food disappointed upset customer

Fantastic institution of Henley. Proper restaurant/ great food and great service! Love it! They look after and cater for locals. Thanks so much.

Aunts 70th birthday lunch … we celebrated my aunt from New Zealand 70th birthday for lunch with family . The food was amazing , service was excellent and they went out of their way to accommodate the cake etc. x thank you we will be back x

We had the 3-course lunch menu, reasonable food (pasta & fish, good but not refined) and attentive staff!

Great place to eat in Henley… fresh home cooked food.. tasty …. Great friendly service.. nothing not to love ….

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

What a find. The food was amazing. The service excellent would definitely go again when we are in a Henley on Thames. Thank you Villa Marina

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.

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...

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.

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

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.

Delicious food and great service

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.

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