Vinoteca in Islington

My husband, friends and I couldn't enjoy ourselves enough during our recent dinner in Farringdon. We enjoyed the atmosphere and the delicious food as always but were disappointed with the service from the new waitress, she talked much more than necessary while showing no attention to the table service at all. We had to raise our hands for everything, even every time we ran out of water. The waitress was distracted and often checking up behind the bar. She didn't seem to have any knowledge of wine (she made up everything she explained) and clearly showed she didn't know what gluten is. When taking our order she offered us the croquettes mentioning that she would ask the chef to remove the gluten and instead she said we couldn't order mackerel because it had gluten. Totally disappointing, we miss the old staff. We feel abandoned and at the hands of unqualified staff.

Food is not worth it, there's far better in this price range available. Pearl barley cheesey Rissotto with steak and bisto tasting gravy is not ideal for £28. Wine was bloody Bob on though.

Yesterday, after my friend had a medical procedure at the hospital we went to Vinoteca and our experience was extremely agradable! Very nice place,lovely atmosphere,kind staff,absolutely clean restrooms! Planning return there soon! Well done Girls!! Thank you so much! Best,Maria & Maria

Manuel made us feel welcome and catered to all of our needs. Food was amazing as well. Definitely recommend the bavette. Good to know: really popular lunchtime spot so book in advance

Very nice place for a good selection of food and wine. Overall, the atmosphere is relaxed and the service is friendly and attentive. Had a very lovely Cornas wine from the northern Rhône region, chosen from their ‘not coming back’ wine list. Had a nice selection of small dishes, all very delicious. The dessert weren’t fantastic, but tasty nonetheless. Would absolutely be happy to come back!

Nice place and Good selection of Wines. A bit noisy

Had the set lunch menu, which is good value for money. Good portion, and the food was ok. The waiting staff are nice and attentive however the kitchen is too slow, it took ages for our starters and mains to be served.

Busy little place for lunch. Has a nice buzz to it

Fantastic service - weren't sure what we wanted so we were allowed to taste a couple of wines before settling on two different glasses.

Good food and a good varried choice of wines. Service was friendly.

Cozy little restaurant. Employees are extremely friendly and helpful. Wine is good! Food is tasty!

Private dining room used for event. Service, food and wine was excellent - highly recommend!

Excellent wine. Meat and cheese platters were decent but way overpriced. Both the cheese platter and meat platters were £18 each and they were so small.

We passed this restaurant by chance and had the 3 course set menu. Excellent food, hospitality and wine. We will go back when in the area again. Thank you

We had dinner there last Friday night and the food was tasty but the portions were ridiculous (small...). One starter of watermelon with 6 olives was ridiculously small for 9£ and the glass of wine very expensive for a small glass... We had a very very light dinner, only 1 dessert to share (tiny!!!), one starter to share and paid 48£ p/p.... The vibe was good and staff nice, but we won't repeat...

Dependably good food, super value wine, attentive service. Not hard to see why we use this chain far more than most!

A place where I can always go being sure I’ll be 100% satisfied ❤️

Fantastic service, very attentive and lovely food.

Good food (I had chicken peperonata, very nice flavour) and good wine (grand cru Bordeaux). Kitchen is open from 6 pm and we were a bit misinformed, but overall a very nice experience

The food and the service was great. It was a bit hot though in the restaurant with no fans on or anything to cool down on this hot day.

I have ordered a selection of sides and can say that each of them was quite tasty. The portions of the sides were smaller than I have expected. If you are having a lunch or dinner, selecting a main course is the way to go. The vine selection is rich and the two reds I have tried were very good. Overall staff were very kind and friendly and I recommend this place.

Great place. Does what it says on the tin. Lovely affordable wine list, big juicy prawns to start lathered in butter and garlic, fab chicken, and attentive service. Thank you

Trying to be optimistic about my experience here but my gut says no. If it’s a casual drop in or to grab a bottle while you’re on your way to your friend’s dinner, it’s ok. Other than that it’s a mediocre place to give a try. Food and service was subpar, and the wine selection on the menu was just ok.

Great selection of wines & the food is always lovely and most importantly the staff are amazing. Very warm, kind and offering a lovely service and ambience.

I really love this wine bar – tucked away in Farringdon think it’s my favourite of Vinoteca the chain. Lovely staff, selection of wine and nibbles as always and plenty of seating.

Atmosphere: Buzzing on a Thursday night, appeared to be fully booked Service: Unbelievably slow unfortunately. We were a group of 8 & had to wait 45 minutes just to order drinks, and then even longer for the meals. Our server didn’t write any orders down, meaning we received the wrong items on multiple occasions, or some items were missed entirely Food: Wine & cocktails were nice but some of the dishes were average, some portions were small (one large prawn as a starter!), and prices are too high for what you get

More than price performance more than enough

Loved our impromptu visit here. Staff were very welcoming and advised on wine menu. Food was top notch as could be expected

Meal was amazing. Suggested wine pairing was perfect. If we're ever back to London we will plan to eat at Vinoteca again. Many thanks to the friendly staff.

I have frequented Vinoteca at Farringdon on few occasions since I discovered the place around 4 months ago, and each time my friends or family we left happy thinking to come back and repeat. I give 5 stars regarding the huge great offer and variety of wines, they never disappoint us and new wines become favorites. Excellent wines ! There is also great deal buying a bottle of wine to take at home. The place is great even if is just for a drinks, lunch or dinner. I highly recommend visiting. I give 5 stars to the chef and the entire kitchen team because all the food dishes were delicious and very tasty, and well presented. Tapas , mains and also the desserts. Very well done 5 starts food restaurant. The Monfish, the pork belly without forgeting the famous croquettes, burrata, the gnocchi and the scallops.. etc are always tasty and delicious. The food is definitely high quality. It was a very great help that we received from the manager ( French accent ) who did everything possible to find us a space to sit last time when we arrived at night without a reservation and the place was completely full. We are still very grateful for that! I give 5 stars to the young Spanish waitress for offering good service from beginning to end. On every occasion she has given us perfect service, the restaurant was fully busy and she did not forget a single detail and was always kind to us. She always helped us choose the wines and she offered us to try them when we had doubts. The restaurant is small and cozy and there is always a good atmosphere. Great location, just 5 minutes or less walking from Farringdon station. We will be back soon, to try the spring menu for sure! Lian , Mike & T. C

I had the most disgusting food at a London restaurant here - burned veal that tasted like vomit and charcoal. Couldn't finish more than 1 bite, and my partner as well. We also waited more than 1hr for the food, and the service was terrible as well. Real shame

Perfect lunch spot and the food was delicious. Highly recommend the salmon

Went mid afternoon for drinks and nibbles. Very underwhelming welcome, and although the wine was good the food was really disappointing. Granted there was a limited menu because the kitchen was shut (understandable as it was mid afternoon,) but unfortunately our server was unsure of the dishes that were available. No problem we thought, maybe they are new…the food that did arrive consisted of really dry bread, which tasted old, a nice olive oil for dipping, but sadly this didn’t hide the stale, crumbly bread. We also ordered the charcuterie board, which was really uninspiring. The nicest bit were the olives scattered over some sad looking ham and some potted meat (corned beef?) which we couldn’t identify. To top off our disappointing visit our bill was incorrect. There are much better places to go in the area, and I’d recommend choosing one of those and giving Vinoteca Farringdon a swerve.

Good restaurant. Nice atmosphere. Went for the lunch time with friends. It took us a while to get served. Service too slow.

I had lunch with my daughter at Vinoteca Farringdon. I chose the Cauliflower soup with croutons for my starter. The waitress took the knife and fork away when she brought my soup and left the dessert spoon. I requested a soup spoon, so she brought a serving spoon. I explained I wanted a soup spoon, not a serving spoon. It appears they do not have soup spoons. I do not like eating soup with a dessert spoon. The Cauliflower soup was delicious and filling 😋 The Sea Bass, my daughter, had for main course was well presented. I also enjoyed the chocolate brownie with ice cream for dessert.

Great food and lovely service. Best recommendation.

Very cozy and good atmosphere for a drink. Highly recommended as the wine list is for all type of tastes.

Food and wine are excellent. Understaffed so slow service

Very average food, after slow service and overpriced for what we had. Dining room experience was at times overwhelming smoky from open plan kitchen cooking. The quality and size of the Parmigiano Melanzane was very poor, as was the handful of undressed rocket that accompanied it. Where are all these great dining experiences everyone says London is famous for- certainly not worth the effort or the train fare to go to this one, in my opinion.

If you go there for the wine, I think you'll enjoy it. The food menu looks exciting but for us it was a big disappointment. The aubergine dish was substantially overcooked and our plaice order overlooked until the waitress saw one of us missing a dish. Then told us it was just coming when clearly forgotten as she rushed over to have the chef cook it. Seasonally they had turkey - but just one slice on top of not so warm veg?

Food was very nice. We had a selection of the small plates which were all lovely. Service starred off very attentive then went downhill as the evening progressed.

the wine offering is mind-boggling. they are spot on with the pairing with the food. you can sense the staff there are very motivated and like their job ita shame that its a franchise though, I thought it was a family run business

Worth a visit! Food and service excellent! It all just "happens" without any ado.

Excellent food, service and atmosphere. Definitely recommend booking. The menu is excellent.

Delicious and amazing hospital service

Good restaurant. At lunch time it took us a while to get served.

Absolute joke, our server Joao was just trying to hard to make us believe he has any wine knowledge, because in reality he doesn’t unfortunately. Nevertheless he was just overbearing and over intrusive and making really wrong wine descriptions, we really thought that your team should actually be trained? Also to mention that this same loud server, has real attitude problems. Sadly will never come back to any Vinoteca, if that’s the type of people you hire to work for you.

I had a lunch menu on Wednesday around 2.30, the staff were friendly and brought the food quickly. The fish was delicious and flavoursome

Great snacks and wine by the glass selection. Friendly knowledgeable staff.

Very nice small restaurant close to the Farringdon Station. Great variety of food for most of lunch preferences and great quality. Super wine selection!

Good quality food for the price and relaxed atmosphere, good for informal business lunches

Cosy place, not too busy even during the peak hour.

Nice and cosy place. We enjoyed the dinner and the food was delicious. The lemon chicken was so soft and yummy. The service was a bit slow though and we had to wait for some time to order and be served. It was a busy evening!

Really nice lunch. Unfortunately, they mixed up our order and brought us the wrong thing. However, they did their best to give us an alternative given we had to get back to work, and didn't have much time. They didn't charge us for lunch in the end, which was really nice. On the whole, the experience was really good.

Quality of food really good, but small portions... I ended up paying £16 for a spoon of pasta... a bit excessive! Small space too, so out table was near the stoves: super hot. Loud music did not make our conversation easy. All together, good but I will not come back

Rude staff. Arrived when it was practically empty and asked to be seated near open window and was told no despite not being able to book certain tables. Won't be back. Food was good but stuck up staff ruined it for me

Horribly chewy bavette. The meat tasted like a cheap, low quality cut, was like chewing leather, and lacked taste.

Poor service. Spent £93 on wine and food and was abruptly hurried to make way for new customers.

The food was very average and not worth the price. The tap for the draft beer wasn't working so only very overpriced bottled beer available. Also our bill had items on that we didn't buy so had the hassle of having to sort that out when we needed to rush to catch a train. Nice wine and friendly staff so we had a nice evening but wouldn't rush back.

Great freshly cooked food, huge wine menu in a comfortable atmosphere

Well I don’t know what to say, just had the most shocking experience. So I came with my team for a work event, we all work in tech. We were having a good time, food was okay, Customer service was excellent, drinks were flowing, we were enjoying our time and then our operations manager said we will play a game of pub quiz. We are literally in teams writing down our answers on a sheet, being respectful not too loud because again it’s a work event, we have to be professional. The manager comes in full blazing saying she “doesn’t know if we are gambling or what but this is not allowed, we are not a pub, your time is up, you got go” We are all sat here in complete shock and actually feeling very embarrassed as she was even turning red whilst going in at us. I have never had such an experience. We only spent over 1k for you to treat us like gangsters, just woooow!!!! You could have spoken to us in a better manner. Wont be back even though it’s round the corner from our office!

Food was very high quality. Pasta was delicious and steak was tender and flavoursome. Lovely atmosphere inside, but is slightly loud

Consistently good food and value for money in all locations. Routinely use for work lunches as the setting is light and airy, set menu is tasty without being showy, and the service is quick. Excellent wines.

Starters average, mains average although nicely presented I must say, staff average, price rather pricy, comfort average. Wouldn’t come back for food, didn’t even have wine.

Good food, fabulous wine selection. Professional staff offering excellent service, great atmosphere. Well worth a visit you won't be disappointed. Great location with good train & tube connectivity close by.

I had the porchetta which was lacking of any flavor due to fact that the slice was fried heavily,porchetta should be baked, sliced and served. This was poorly prepared and executed. The smoked aubergine was freezing cold, the confit potatoes were lacking salt and looking unhealthy grey. I tried the bavette steak which was though as old boots not a pleasant eating experience. The only good thing was the service.

Good wine selection and service, but the food… no. I wasn’t expecting fillet levels of tenderness from a bavette steak, but the first one I had to send back as was borderline inedibly chewy. Second one was better - I got through about half.

I have been here before and it never disappoints. My pal with me loved it too.

Had lunch here today as part of an industry meeting and we had the basement private dining room. Host was gracious and looked after us well but the food and lighting was atrocious. Fixed menu selections: Starter: mushroom soup was cold and resembled mushroom flavour porridge Main: Bavette Steak was far too rare for my taste, I noticed most who had it left more than half. Desert: strudel was ok, but just meh. A shame that the food wasn’t amazing but my main issue was the continually strobing lighting downstairs that would flare up every 10 minutes, killing our group conversation and making our guests wince.

Cozy restaurant in Farringdon. Felt a bit cramped given the number of tables in the small space (was very busy when we visited on a Tuesday lunchtime in February). Staff were friendly and the food was freshly prepared and piping hot! Good choice and the set menu was good value for money.

Went for a nice bottle or white wine... We're lucky to get a seat at the bar.

One star only for the atmosphere. Very long wait for getting our drinks and longer wait for the food. Wine was fine but the dishes were below average tasting and portions were very small and prices are unreasonably high. Service was lacking unfortunately.

Unfortunately I think I must have chosen the wrong stuff off the Xmas menu. The pumpkin soup didn't have enough salt. The hake dish had no flavour and the tart tasted like it was out of freezer and not fresh. They took ages with the food even though everything was precooked. Won't be coming here again sorry

Nice cosy place with friendly staff and a great variety of wines!

Starting with the positives the place has a great atmosphere, the wine was great and the food was up to par for a wine bar. We were initially served by young slim guy who was very polite and helpful. Now for the disappointing part we had some friends joining at 10:30 who without knowing the place was closing at 11 ordered a bottle of wine and a cheese board. Then at 10:40 a waitress came for last orders when I ordered I large glass of wine which came at 10:45. A minute later a short waitress brought the receipt and at 10:50 she came with the card machine to get paid when we asked for more time and she replied with a rude attitude that we need to leave in ten minutes. This happened again when she came back five minutes later she rudely again told us we need to leave at 11. Never have I been told to leave a place 5 minutes after getting the last order so we requested to speak to the manager who was a blond lady who came and told us again with an attitude that we came late and we should have known that the place closes at 11 and it’s our fault we came this late. I tried to explain to her that if waiters come for last orders they should allow at least 30 minutes for people to finish their drinks and in this whole time we were met with an extremely unprofessional attitude of this was our fault we can do you a favour by giving you another 15 minutes but you need to leave. Eventually the manager tried to remedy the situation by giving us a discount. As I explained to the manager, when a client provides feedback at the very least you need to listen. If you disagree you can say you will take it into consideration and leave. The role of a waiter let alone a manager is not just to move plates around but to make sure customers feel heard and respected and tense situations are handled professionally. I understand we are human and we are doing the best we can but being polite and showing respect when someone is voicing their dissatisfaction is the bare minimum. Even if we were completely in the wrong giving us attitude and being disrespectful really doesn’t help. Very rarely I write reviews let alone bad but I wanted to make sure the message comes across. Please do better and train your staff because before our night was ruined we really wanted to come back as we enjoyed the place a lot.

Starting with the positives the place has a great atmosphere, the wine was great and the food was up to par for a wine bar. We were initially served by young slim guy who was very polite and helpful. Now for the disappointing part we had some friends joining at 10:30 who without knowing the place was closing at 11 ordered a bottle of wine and a cheese board. Then at 10:40 a waitress came for last orders when I ordered I large glass of wine which came at 10:45. A minute later a short waitress brought the receipt and at 10:50 she came with the card machine to get paid when we asked for more time and she replied with a rude attitude that we need to leave in ten minutes. This happened again when she came back five minutes later she rudely again told us we need to leave at 11. Never have I been told to leave a place 5 minutes after getting the last order so we requested to speak to the manager who was a blond lady who came and told us again with an attitude that we came late and we should have known that the place closes at 11 and it’s our fault we came this late. I tried to explain to her that if waiters come for last orders they should allow at least 30 minutes for people to finish their drinks and in this whole time we were met with an extremely unprofessional attitude of this was our fault we can do you a favour by giving you another 15 minutes but you need to leave. Eventually the manager tried to remedy the situation by giving us a discount. As I explained to the manager, when a client provides feedback at the very least you need to listen. If you disagree you can say you will take it into consideration and leave. The role of a waiter let alone a manager is not just to move plates around but to make sure customers feel heard and respected and tense situations are handled professionally. I understand we are human and we are doing the best we can but being polite and showing respect when someone is voicing their dissatisfaction is the bare minimum. Even if we were completely in the wrong giving us attitude and being disrespectful really doesn’t help. Very rarely I write reviews let alone bad but I wanted to make sure the message comes across. Please do better and train your stuff because before our night was ruined we really wanted to come back as we enjoyed the place a lot.

Nice food and great wines. Would come again. They forgot my desert but frankly I was full.

Good food and wines, excellent desserts, nice venue with high ceilings

Really lovely evening, excellent menu and drinks choice and staff were e tremely pleasant and knowledgeable. A really buzz about the place.

This is an extremely pleasant restaurant and wine bar, tucked away in the streets of Farringdon. As the ‘Vino’ in its name suggests, wine is a huge feature of the life of the restaurant. Its wine menu is huge and internationally comprehensive, and the restaurant offers a great selection of good wines available by the glass and at reasonable prices. We had a late lunch here last month, and it was an enjoyable experience. The restaurant was well known to my dining companion, but my first time at Vinotech (there are a number of them around London). The dining menu is good, not huge but with selections for everyone. We actually chose from the seasonal set menu - £21 for three courses - as the choices for the day on that little menu suited us perfectly. We both had the watermelon salad for a starter, followed by a pasta dish and a fish dish for mains. Desserts were an ice-cream selection, and a chocolate brownie pudding. The servings weren’t huge, nor did we expect that for the menu price. However they were more than ample for us, and absolutely delicious. The food was fresh and the flavours spot on! Service was relaxed, efficient and friendly, without being overbearing or intrusive. We had a really relaxed lunch with a few glasses of Prosecco. Tables are nicely spaced and as it’s on ground floor level it’s fully accessible to those using mobility assistance. Overall it was a great dining experience and I’ll certainly return to the restaurant.

Delicious, particularly the trout

Nice set menu for lunch. And a get choice of wines. Friendly waiter

I've been here twice for drinks. Unfortunately it never had the chance to try the food. In the summer it was really lovely as they opened up the massive doors and had some seating outside, and more recently just popped in for some wine and cocktails at the bar. It has a great atmosphere the staff are very lovely. A lot of choices for wine as the name would suggest, lots of new world wines too.

Good food, excellent wine knowledge and interesting range of wines.

Good wine bar in London. The staff is friendly and has a nice selection of wines

Good food, great wine and excellent service

Great place to meet for a quick and friendly meeting with good food and drink.

Really relaxed atmosphere. Service excellent despite it being very busy. Liked the 3 tasting glasses white, rose or sweet wines. Good menu with refined but very tasty food.

Staff need serious training - no idea about their wines or how to wait tables. Food was average, no interesting flavours.

Good spot in Farringdon with a decent priced menu and wine list. We had a couple of courses each and a few bottles of wine and it was about £50 a head. Helpful and friendly staff too.

Phenomenal private room experience. I'm sorry if I misheard the name as it was quite loud, but a big thanks to Tony. Very gracious hosts who continued to look after us after the night formally ended.

The meat platter was like something you’d buy in sainsburys for a picnic. The cheese platter for two was for one if that one is a tiny mouse. Lovely wine - as you’d expect.. it’s in the name after all

Serate a Londra alla ricerca di ristoranti un po speciali ,questa vinoteca è piccola, ma offre una vasta scelta di vini, anche una buona qualità di carni e dolci. Unica pecca essendo piccola risulta un po rumorosa.

Il locale è molto caratteristico, piccolo e per trovare posto bisogna prenotare online. La simpatia è ottima, ma per parlare occorre un megafono 📢 bello potente. I vini sono tutti abbinati alle pietanze, ma la scelta è libera. Discreta la carne.

Great place with very polite and friendly staff.

Had a very nice meal with my team here. The environment is very nice and relaxed. The doors to the outside were open because it was a very warm day. The food was very nice, I had a steak and was amazing. Unfortunately I didn't like that there were so many chips on my plate, I wish there were more greens, or vegetables instead of so many chips. The horseradish sauce with the dish was very tasty. I finished my meal with the Moscatel de Setubal and truffles and it was amazing, I would definitely recommend it. I was very happy with the meal, and the full team enjoyed the restaurant also. Great and quick service. Will definitely return.

I made a ten person reservation for my birthday - very simple, booked online and followed up with a phonecall and e-mail. Staff lovely, food great, all came in a timely fashion, and large group managed really well. Nice atmosphere in the restaurant.

Great wine menus, the sharing platters could be broader however the staff are amazing. Love this place

Not entirely sure what is going on with their booking system, but I reserved a table 2 days ago via Google. Took them until the day of the booking to tell me that they actually had no availability and my booking was cancelled.

Had previously been to the Chiswick Vinoteca where I was pleasantly surprised. This was a very different experience. Ordered a bottle of red, they brought the white one which, had I not been paying attention, they would have opened. Starters were fine. I had the bavette medium rare which comes with "thick cut" fries. The fries were about the thickness of McDonald fries, dried out and bland, unlike in Chiswick where I had chunky fries. The steak immediately started drowning my plate in juices. When I mentioned it to the waitress she talked to the chef and proceeded to explaining how I ordered it medium-rare and this is normal. Yes it is normal when you do not rest your steak which any chef should do. Really only two ingredients, steak frites and you got both wrong... I was not in mood to complain further as we were there on a special occasion. We both left very disappointed definitely not going back to this branch.