Vinoteca has become my new favorite eat-in place for lunch. It is always packed but eat here just once and you will understand why. Simply put, Vinoteca serves great food in a buzzing upscale yet casual environment. Thomas A is right that at first glance Vinoteca looks to crowded---the table are squished tightly together and the wait staff seems to be frantically running around with the vino---however, you don't really notice that once you are seated. The acoustics magically work and make for an enjoyable meal. But the main reason you go to Vinoteca is for the delicious food and wine. I've had both the mixed green salad with confit of pork and the seared rare bavette of beef. Both are highly recommended. Excellent selection of wines---I need to be sure to come here for dinner so I can have a few glasses. Be sure to book ahead---even for lunch!

Vinoteca is a lovely little wine bar in Clerkenwell East London, which offers an excellent wine list, and what's so great is that it is also a shop, so you can buy yourself a bottle or two to take home. The wine bar on the upstairs is quite cramped. We went on a weekday for lunch and it was packed with people, and we all sat like sardines squashed into a tin. But the atmosphere was lively and thoroughly enjoyable. When the weather is nice, the windows open out and the street and interior blend together. Its design is simple, the furnishing is all made out of oak creating an entirely relaxed atmosphere. You can choose from a list of 25 wines by the glass (prices start at £3.25), which are changed weekly. And you can choose from a list of 275 wines from the bottle. Their choice of wines is unique, and with each dish you order a recommended wine is listed. So great wine: check. Great atmosphere: check. Friendly staff: check. Did I also mention that aside from stocking great wine, they serve up hearty dishes from 12pm to 2.45pm and then from 6.30pm to 10.00pm. You can only book at lunchtimes. I enjoyed a large plate of chargrilled steak with a garlic and oregano butter, served with chunky chips. The wine they recommended was the 2006 Barossa Chook from Maverick (Australia). My friend had the sea bass, with sprouting purple broccoli, and the wine was a Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa. The only real criticism was that though service was very friendly, we did have to wait a while for our food and service. But to be fair, it was packed to the rim so I guess that's understandable! You can tell that the people who work at Vinoteca are passionate about their wine and food from and know what they're talking about. This is great as there is nothing worse than going to a restaurant and faced with people who don't seem to know a thing about what they're serving.

A very good wine and food place in the heart of smithfield ad land. Extensive wine list and a daily food menu served by efficient friendly staff. Recommended.

A lucky find after an evening at the Barbican. While most of the more affordable eateries were packing up for the night Vinoteca was still buzzing and the kitchen still open - mind you, we opeted for a nice selection of cold meats and cheese to go with our wine, rounding off the evening very nicely.

For full ramblings, go to http://thehappinessprojectlondon.wordpress.com I've been meaning to go to Vinoteca for aaaages, having been told by a couple of friends-in-the-know how wonderful it is. When you find a restaurant that people go back to time and time again, you've definitely found a winner. And I have to say that having been, it has sailed to the top of my (as yet unwritten) best restaurants in London list. So why did it take me so long to go? My problem was the no-booking policy. I get that this makes it more of a local restaurant, but dinners at Wahaca and Polpo failed because we didn't want to wait 2 hours for a table (Polpo on a Thursday night) or we had to wait until everyone had arrived before we could put our names on the waiting list (Wahaca). Both me and my friends are guilty of rocking up to dinner late depending on our workloads so we've always gone for places we could book. But the good news is that the wait at Vinoteca was fine. I went with Escobar and we rocked up around 7pm on a Friday evening, got a nice seat at the side bar (some people after us didn't though) and nattered our way through half a bottle of delicious French white wine (see photo below you can also see from Escobar's lovely hand gestures how he felt about my taking blog photos during our meal). We were seated within around 30-40 minutes and it didn't bother me one jot, I quite liked the pre-dinner drink aspect. First, I loved the laid-back wood floor long-conversation vibe of the place. You weren't rushed, service was lovely, it felt like a comfy French bistro inside. It was relaxed and homely my perfect resto. Then, the wine. It makes SUCH a difference to have a delicious well-priced bottle of wine served at the perfect temperature. At first the huge wine list was a bit scary, but we took a punt on a lovely bottle of white (2009 Coteaux de Languedoc from Domaine La Croix Gratiot although I was also thinking about an Aussie Verdelho) which was brilliantly priced at £19. When emptied, we had the recommended glass of wine per main course, again really reasonably priced and absolutely perfect with the meal (a deep red with the bavette and a light fruity riesling with the mullet). I was also massively impressed at the food right up there with the best I've had in London. To start, we shared toast with chorizo with quail's egg and some amazing sauce that I can't remember which was incredible sooo tasty and warm and delicious. You know when food's so good you make impromptu appreciative noises and scrunch up your face in appreciation? Just like that. We almost licked the plate clean. And then Escobar had the char-grilled bavette (med-rare), chorizo butter, chips and smoked ketchup washed down with the recommended red wine . I managed to grab a bite and the meat was perfectly tender and juicy, delicious. I had the red mullet with samphire (sadly ran out but instead it was a herby thing) with a sort of bulghur wheat, washed down with the delicioso riesling. It was a fantastic mix of tastes and textures and absolutely delicous. I admit sometimes I find fish dishes a little dull but this was interesting and rich. The amazing thing about all this? For a 3 hour or so meal, with two wonderful courses, a bottle of wine shared and two large glasses with the main, it came to a brilliant £40 each. So not an everyday meal but a nice meal out with friends, or your mum, or a date. And it is truly a local neighbourhood place - somewhere you could rock up for an impromptu bite to eat after work and have a chat, drink wine and eat superb food. I have never found a restaurant I wanted to return to regularly and could actually afford to do so, but this is it. I'm so pleased I found it!