La Vina - Wallingford

Bob (30 June 2008)

We live in Wallingford and have visited La Vina a few times in the past. The service has been passable before, and once it was exceptional. On Saturday night though, the restaurant had only two waiters for about twelve tables. We waited ages for someone to attend to us, and then were told, when we called a waiter over, that one of the drinks we'd ordered wasn't available. About an hour later we finally got our food, it was thrown onto the table in passing. The meat was overcooked and when the waitress asked her standard 'how was the food' we said it was horrible. She grunted and walked away. We decided to stay and finish the evening, so when we eventually got the waiter's attention again, we ordered dessert. A half hour later my wife's dessert arrived, but mine didn't. I told the waiter that he'd forgotten it, and said to cancel the order. He then made a scene of storming into the kitchen to shout at the chefs, in front of the entire restaurant, and then emerged about a minute later with the dessert that had clearly been there and waiting.

I had also ordered a liqueur and my wife ordered a coffee. Again after a long wait we were told that the liqueur was finished and the restaurant had no milk for coffee. We settled for cream with the coffee and I ordered another liqueur. I received a liqueur that I hadn't ordered or even heard of, but by then I just wanted to leave. The cherry on the top was when he brought the bill and presented it to me, and was then incredulous that my wife was paying. A truly awful evening and our first night out as a couple in two years was ruined.

Linda (4 May 2008)

I really enjoyed eating there. The tapas was freshly cooked and tasty. I recommend the chicken and chorizo kebab.