Shambles Bar & Restaurant

I recently went to this wine bar and agree that it's a good place. I've read the comments and some (especially the gushing ones OTT). This is a fair -to -middling restaurant. Food reasonable but the wine as someone else said, was very poor. Wouldn't rush back and actually prefer the restaurant (whose name escapes me) across the road.

You shouldn't be put off by the reviews here, but don't expect great things either.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

This is a very fine restaurant indeed. Some of the comments below have little basis, really. George wonders aloud whether loyal customers recommending their favourite restaurant is a bad thing. Surely that is what this website is for. As for the contributors being family members or ringers...what's to say he isn't a jealous restaurateur from a less esteemed establishment? It's the Net..... of course there's a risk.

As for drinking good wine for 8 quid in a licensed building. Anywhere south of Reykjavik, I think not.

The fish specials are always first class here, the salads crisp and innovative, the pastas light but satisfying. A professional place, in short. Miss it at your peril. But it does get busy, so whether you are a ringer or someone who last bought wine in 1987, call to reserve.
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Tim
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, July 14, 2008

Great food but pricey. Only shame is the wine. The lower priced wines (and nothing is cheap here) are dreadful - the cheap trade wines that are marked up 300% + and full of sulphates. Perhaps they could allow you to but some decent wine from M&S next door and just charge corkage?

Great venue and great food although recently portions have been getting smaller.

Biggest pity is that for a wine bar, the management are so out of touch with customers' tastes. Most of us can enjoy a great bottle of wine for £8 nowadays and being asked to pay £15 for a bottle of nasty stuff is an insult. The house red recently was undrinkable, so we left. This problem has been going on for years and I really hope they find some integrity and source good drinking wines. Hopefully with a bit of fine tuning and a bit more integrity, they can really start to become an honest, good quality wine bar again.
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steve
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Thursday, July 10, 2008

We absolute love Shambles.We go at least once every two weeks and we love it,We have never being dissapointed in seven years that we lived in teddington.Is a bit expensive but I think you pay for the quality you eat.

Eva.Teddington
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Eva Brownlee
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Thursday, April 24, 2008

Great food, great service and a great atmosphere. Have eaten here more times than any other restaurant in the area and have never been disappointed. Bar menu offers excellent value in a more relaxed environment than the main restaurant but there are some real gems on the restaurant menu as well. Boules in the garden is also fantastic in the summer.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Thursday, February 14, 2008

Shambles is my favourite Italian restaurant in South West London. The atmosphere is great and the food is top notch. I recently had Bolito Misto and Insalata Nervetti which was delicious, and I've rarely seen this on menus in London - only when I've visited Italy. The fish is always fresh and tasty - I recommend it, especially the oysters. The wine is very good too - the Salice Salentino is fantastic and great value at £16.95. I can't forget to mention the blind pianist who plays at the weekend - amazing!
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Sarah
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Monday, January 28, 2008

I am afraid we had a very expensive meal here.My risotto contained four king prawns chopped in half ! The other main course was a very dry chicken breast with very salty spinach !!!

one of my favourite places for lunch but was very disappointed with dinner!!
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Thursday, June 21, 2007

Excellent restaurant and wine bar, the food and wine were exceptionally good and the ambience quite delightful. Quite simply, the best restaurant in Teddington.
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Chairman
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, May 29, 2007

After all the great reviews on this site, we thought we'd try this Shambles. Don't believe the hype. It's ok, and it is friendly, but it is NOT a 10 out of 10 by any stretch of the imagination.

- They sat us down next to an old refrigerator before we had to ask to be moved.

- We asked for Verdicchio (properly pronounced, I'm Italian) and the waiter said "Dickio?" This exchange was repeated about 3 times. Had to point to item on menu

- the menu was pretty standard; specials looked interesting but the asparagus dish we tried only had one piece with an asparagus tip. Fairly average taste.

- kid goat ravioli was ok but nothing to write home about

- squid ink pasta was nice

- real hot chocolate was a treat

All in all, our conclusion was this is an OK place, but the 10 out of 10s on this site are obviously from loyal regulars or other such planted "ringer" customers to get the numbers up. Maybe worth a 7 or 6.5
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George
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Saturday, May 19, 2007

This is a real treat in the heart of Teddington and I would highly recommend that you pay a visit. The food is second to none and the service is friendly and attentive. I recently had my birthday here and the staff went out of there way to make sure I had an enjoyable evening...
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Adrian - Teddington
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, October 17, 2006