"I had no idea that Reading had a wine bar this fun, it’s a very well kept secret. From the outside it looks like a shop, but inside it’s all cosy tables surrounded by walls of wine. We chose to sit upstairs, which is quieter, out of the draught from the front door and felt a lot calmer. It’s candlelit, with piles of board games and a great atmosphere. The idea is that you have a card to put in ‘The Machine’ and then select your chosen wine and the size of the glass you’d like. You then present the card and pay at the end. This worked well for us; I wanted to try a mouthful of all the different wines (red, white, rose and an Orange Wine) and my companion wanted to try a large glass of every red available. We ended up getting through a couple of cards. Originally, we’d planned to have a couple of drinks and then move on to get dinner. But then we saw the menu and the chef. The menu was an array of exciting tapas, put together by the lovely Laura. I’d been to her previous business venture (Nomad Bakery) and it had been amazing, so we stuck in and ordered most of the menu. It didn’t disappoint; in fact it elevated the evening from fun to outstanding. I loved the Halloumi Burek, I was over the moon with the orange infused rice pudding. It was some of the best food I’ve had in Reading. Worth noting that they only do food on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings; I don’t think we would have enjoyed ourselves so much with just nibbles. I’m a bit puzzled as to why some reviewers have been asked to pay up front. We definitely weren’t, we just ran a tab with a card behind the bar for food and drink. I want to give this more than 5 stars. I want to go back again and again and eat and drink and laugh. You need to book because it gets busy, but that’s because it’s so good."
