Eat Out London!Reviews and related sites
Vinoteca, Farringdon, London | Party Earth
drinks
The combination wine shop, bar, and restaurant has been a big hit with a diverse mix of regulars since opening in 2005, catering to foodies, snooty oenophiles, and plenty of budget-minded grape enthusiasts with its vast selection, regularly changing menu, and wholly unpretentious vibe.
Relaxed during the day, the small space picks up energy as gentlemen gather after work, their Financial Times abandoned as they reminisce over a bottle of Chianti, while trendy-hip locals perch on side stools at the bar to review the daily specials scrawled on the giant chalkboards.
Full-length windows and an array of wooden café furniture foster a relaxed yet sophisticated environment, buoyed by the dressed-up girls drenching chunks of baguette in olive oil and the creative groups of friends trying to pick from a seasonal menu that might include mussels, roasted pigeon, and spinach lasagna.
Serious connoisseurs are drawn to the corner alcove beside the bar, where row upon row of bottles for sale weigh down thick wooden shelves, while celebratory groups take advantage of the massive table in the private dining area downstairs.
With a selection that would please a sommelier and the laid-back ambiance of an Italian café, Vinoteca satisfies every kind of wino.
Vinoteca | Modern British Restaurant | Farringdon, London
drinks food
'Vinoteca marks a return of the wine bar to fashionable London,' observed Decanter magazine about this terrific, 'gleefully informal' venue in the heart of foodie Smithfield.
Billed as a 'Bar, Wine Shop & Kitchen', it scores heavily with a truly exciting 250-bin wine list from ten different suppliers; wines by the glass are excellent and mark-ups are refreshingly restrained across the board.
The kitchen delivers a broad mix of European-influenced food tailored to the needs of socialising wine drinkers as well as restaurant types.
Menus are peppered with fashionable ingredients from home and away, and each dish is paired with a spot-on wine recommendation: grilled mackerel with beetroot, horseradish, fennel and crème fraîche deserves – and gets – a glass of 2005 Jurançon Sec, while a lively spring braise of rabbit with green lentils and young vegetables keeps good company with Italian Lagrein.
Vinoteca is also featured in: Michelin Guide, Good Food Guide, Hardens
Vinoteca Farringdon | Love Food Give Food | Action Against Hunger ...
Vinoteca Farringdon
Luxury Private Dining Rooms at Vinoteca Farringdon
drinks staff
Big or small, private or corporate, birthday or launch event, we’ll help you plan the perfect occasion in our Private Rooms in Farringdon and Marylebone.
The Private Room in Vinoteca Farringdon is cosy, intimate and relaxed with an adjacent wine cellar.
You’ll have your own chef and an integrated private kitchen with a glass sliding door, as well as dedicated waiting staff.
Our Private Rooms include free Wi-Fi, a projector and screen.
Ask us about hiring the Private Rooms for meetings, business lunches or presentations!
Vinoteca | Bars and pubs in Farringdon, London
drinks
The original Vinoteca in Farringdon is full to-heaving most nights, so it’s no surprise they have kept their winning formula for this second branch: it’s a wine shop as well as a restaurant, the visual focus being the full-wall display of wine bottles.
There aren’t many places in the capital where you can order a glass of müller-thurgau from Slovakia or Arbois Traminer from Jura – or you can choose something equally pleasing from the 285-strong list to take home (at shop retail prices); the enthusiastic staff are happy to make recommendations.
Each of the dishes on the modish, frequently changing Modern European menu (smoked mackerel salad, parmesan pancake filled with wild mushrooms) comes with a suggested wine by the glass.
The food doesn’t play second fiddle to the wine here, though.
Even if you’re just here for drinks, you’ll need to nibble something (licence laws) but small bar snacks (£2-£4) are available.