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La Vina - Hale

La Vina - Hale

173 Ashley Road Manchester, WA15 9SD, WA15 9NY, Altrincham, United Kingdom

Tea • Fusion • Spanish • Chicken


"I advise not to book through open table. We were told upon arrival that our booking was not valid, and that they were fully booked. We were also told, this had happened before and they had no access to the system to turn bookings off? So you’re happy for people to make wasted journeys for special occasions and turn up to be told that their reservation isn’t valid? Very strange. It was Father’s Day and we travelled one hour with a 10 month old baby. The manager was happy to politely apologise and have us on our way, no offer of a voucher or much effort to ‘fit us in’. We politely pushed for any alternative table at all as we were desperate. We were then offered to sit outside (not really the special meal we came for nor particularly appropriate with a baby) but after sitting at the bar and scouring the internet to find a table anywhere else we accepted sitting outside as a last resort. We were then given our diet cokes free as courtesy. We like to think we are very polite, so we accepted the mix up and didn’t say anything despite there being 8 tables free inside the restaurant. We kept quiet thinking perhaps they were expecting an influx of bookings soon. We were however quite shocked that 1 hour went by and still there were 8 empty tables available inside whilst we remained outside? We could have sat inside for however long was available and then moved outside which would have been better than nothing? Again. It just seemed a very odd decision on our part, maybe an explanation would help if this were to happen again. From a customers point of view it was baffling. Further to the point above, not at any point during our stay was there ever full covers on the tables. There was always empty tables available inside. We would have even been happy with a maximum table time if that would have been offered to us. Moving on to the food, Our bread starter was nice, no complaints Our roast dinner again was nice. Everything came pretty quickly. However, it went downhill from here. We got forgotten about for a very long time after our mains, we waited an exceptionally long time to be asked if we wanted dessert. We actually finished our main and starter within 1 hour. However we spent approximately 2.5 hours at the restaurant, waiting for a waiter to come over to take our plates away and ask us if we wanted dessert. Dessert finally came, which was quite possibly the worst desserts we’ve ever experienced. I ordered a cookie and ice cream which ended up being goo and ice cream, the ‘cookie’ was non existent and was infact just goo that would drip in a soup consistency from my spoon. My husband ordered a sticky toffee pudding which wasn’t cooked. We had been polite the entire time, despite our frustrations. We were quite honestly just baffled, and although staff were very polite. We just couldn’t understand our experience. We politely asked a member of staff if the desserts were supposed to be like this and we were told, absolutely not and that they would be taken off our bill. We received 20% off, and our desserts and initial drinks were taken off which was appreciated. It’s difficult to get out with a baby, so it was disappointing that this was our experience on my husbands first Father’s Day, which was supposed to be a special day for us."

Camino King's Cross

Camino King's Cross

3 Varnishers Yard, London I-N1 9FD, United Kingdom

Vegan • Spanish • European • Vegetarian


"the best sangria is here. here in king’s cross, london town. at camino. camino means away or away in Spanish and it is one that I certainly want to take again. the sangria was silky smooth with a caramel/vanilla (I could not decide which) aroma. in any case the best tasting sangria I had ever had. the secret, because I asked, is liquor 43, a Spanish golden lacquer, which has 43 crumbles, spices and fruits. next to red wine (obvs,) whitley neill gin, orange juice, zimt and limonade. how often do I have to try to get home before I get it right! but we didn't just come for the sangria. that was an additional joy. gin and tonics are also a speciality, served the Spanish away with a lot of ice and perfectly matched garnish. I had the gin mare that was infused with botanic like zitrus, thymian, rosmarin and basilikum. the chase sevilla orange was tantaslising, with orange, waxy and oldest. but eat it. here at camino it is excellent. Tapas dishes, but without faff or imagination. yet elegant and more than edible. for six of us (including a vegetarian and a gluten-free) we ordered 14 dishes and it was just enough. I could have eaten, of course, but it was just enough. for dessert (and more sangria.) the best dish of the general consens was the Aroz-Negro, a black rice with tinten fish and tinten fish, with a creamy alioli dolloped. the special was recommended by our waiter with gusto, ripen with caramelized earlylings onions, and many other things we have the last. the only court that was not overheard were the Piquillo pfeffer with black quinoa. there we were, trying to be trendy and healthy, at the same time no, quinoa will never do it for me, and it ruins a perfectly beautiful pfeffer. dessert. churros natural! long doughnut sticks with a melted chocolate dip. real spanies in your mouth. I had only one taste of the mandeltee, apparently it was quite tart, but the creamy custard was sweet and light. tocino de cielo, for my gluten-free friend, was literally, heavenly custard. tee was served with a multi-egg timer so that they can measure the desired strength. we all want to buy one of them for our own houses now. to add the ambiente of the Spanish ness, the people sitting on the bar grain, drinking glasses of vino tinto and order tapas dishes seemingly how they feel like it. large legs of iberico jamon sitting on the table plates, cut as we saw. Latin and jazz plays in the background while all around us relax and drink cerveza, cava and carafes of vino. directly over the hof in varnisher's yard is bar pepito, london's first sherry bar also tapas, and managed by the same company. imagine sunny afternoons, drinking the sangria in the plaza. are they here in Spain in london. I encanta."