La Vina

La Vina Tapas bar, in my opinion, is the best of Tapas restaurant in London. The food is fabulous and even includes vegetarian menu. The porcion is great. The food arrives a few minutes. There is no need to wait too much. The environment is nice and cozy. The waitress are very nice and, together with the bills, comes a spanish liquor. I commend Wednesday, as 3 tapas by leaving only £ 8.50.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, August 19, 2008

La Vina Tapas bar, in my opinion, is the best of Tapas restaurant in London. The food is fabulous and even includes vegetarian menu. The porcion is great. The food arrives a few minutes. There is no need to wait too much. The environment is nice and cozy. The waitress are very nice and, together with the bills, comes a spanish liquor. I commend Wednesday, as 3 tapas by leaving only £ 8.50.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, August 19, 2008

I visited La Vina a few weeks ago with some friends and will definately NOT be going back. Previously the food had been good. This had been our third visit and although the service wasn't great before, this visit was by far the worse.

After an hour we sat amongst our dirty glasses from the drinks we had finished long before. After over an hour we were told that the salmon that had been ordered was out of stock, also half of us still had not had our starter. Orders were delivered incorrect and sent back. Eventually we decided to leave the restaurant without eating our main course and some of us still not recieveing our starter. We had now been in the restaurant an hour and forty minutes in total.

The manager argued that she expected us to pay for the drinks we had despite us wasting an evening sitting around waiting. She appeared to be irritated by my complaint and this definately was not in my opinion and that of my friends a friendly service. We never recieved an apology. I do not know how this restaurant has recieved good reviews for service as I found the service utterly appalling in every sense and this ruined our whole evening.
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Jei Mapp
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Ok it's greasy but the reviewer failed to notice........it's run by Greek people that have never been to spain...i know this...

The food is greasy...Greek style...

But it has a great atmosphere & it's friendly...the food is nice if you take lots of bread to counter the oil....

The light is not that bad infact i never noticed it being dark...i have been about 40 times so i know they use candles & have ok light..

as said there greek so dont order the piella because it's not at all spanish....or nice...

I once found the fish was oversalted & they took it off my bill without me asking..

the owner is very good & puts her heart into the place...i would take a first date there anytime unless she was a chef...

it's nice to visit with your wife...

Oh another comment on the reviewer ...he said about tiling...well it's nice but the bathroom had severe damp issues they need a salt bowl now & yesterday plus removal & re plastering of walls due to damp from salt in walls from leak...male toilets back wall.....love the tiles but shoot the cheap stupid decorator........given a perfect wall he would have been ok....but now it's just a waste because it needs re doing....damp in the wall.....salt will help absorb it but won't solve it.....oh heck it's only the toilet....it's a lovely place.....
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Daniel servante
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

An unimpressive visit many years ago and the bad reviews below would make a second visit seem a foolish idea. Contrary to all expectations though, the restaurant excelled this time. They are quite happy to let you just choose from the tapas menu and not indulge in the mains - the tapas menu is not the most extensive but with unusual dishes such as Quails and Squid Stuffed With Prawns there is enough to interest a seasoned tapas devotee. The more regular tapas fare fared pretty well as well.

The layout and (very) low light levels made for an enjoyably intimate atmosphere but unfortunately made it impossible to read the menu without actually taking it outside - some candles on the tables would have helped there methinks (must remember the pocket torch next time).

La Vina passed with flying colours in two general areas of restaurant malcontent: the house white and the toilets (no connection). The intricate Spanish tiling of los servicios revealed an attention to detail that indicate an intention to impress and please on behalf of the owners. Even the tables were large enough to fit all the tapas onto!

Worth a try in my humble opinion.
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Pendar - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, April 25, 2007

I have been going to La Vina for a number of years now and the food, atmosphere and ambience is as good as it always was. The food is delightful, especially for the cheap prices and the house rioja is a joy to drink, again especially considering the cheap price.

The service is really friendly and polite, you get a free shot of liquer after your meal and the patatas bravas is the best I've had in London, along with the Tortilla. As a vegetarian I am always impressed with the vege selection and the portions are truely big enough. You only really need 4 dishes between 2 (5 if you are REALLY REALLY hungry!).

I have recommended La Vina to lots of people and they have also NOT been disappointed. It is a great restaurant in a mainly Turkish restaurant-ed area!
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Anon
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, February 28, 2007

My husband and I were regular customers at La Vina for at least 6 years, but the last time we went (November 2006) we vowed that we would not be returning. We used to live very near to La Vina but moved away from the area approx 4 years ago to East Finchley. We kept returning (Harringay is a long walk from East Finchley) because it was one of our favorite restaurants. Sadly, this is no longer the case. The prices seem to have increased hugely (doubled??) and the portions are about half the size of what they used to be. The quality of the food has also deteriorated. We used to love their Sangria, but even this is disappointing now (and like everything else it is now loads more expensive). Given the massive hike in prices and the huge fall in standards, we feel it is no longer worth the effort to go all that way. It is a shame because if you had asked me what my favorite restaurant was a couple of years' ago I wouldn't have hesitated to say La Vina. Judging by how few people there were last time we went (which was on a Saturday night) it would appear that we are not the only people to be of this opinion. Please someone let me know if it improves and then I'll be straight back there - but for now it's just not worth the effort.
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Caroline Hunter
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Friday, February 16, 2007

Forgettable!

Visited La Vina for the second (and last) time this weekend. My previous visit was in April this year. That visit was far from memorable and things have gone downhill since. Utterley tasteless (and cold) food, drinkable (if overpriced) wine, slow and surly service. It is perplexing to me how this place gets any good reviews - clearly some people are very easily pleased!!
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Roberto Angel
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Sunday, December 03, 2006

This is a great little find. The food is good, the wine is fine and the overall effect is great value for money.

We go regularly and have never been dissapointed.
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Jo
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, November 27, 2006

I have eaten tapas all over the world and this place is far and away the best! Also great for a big-ish group (we often eat there in tables of 12-16) and friendly staff. A real find I would highly recommend. (My husband and I are both somewhat baffled by the review below as we have eaten there maybe 40 times and have never experienced anything vaguely approaching bad service.)
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Pru Sly
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, October 01, 2006