Restaurant Review - Vino's Greystones
Thursday 11 October 2012
There was almost an air of a Greek Taverna or Parisian Café about Vino’s in Greystones as we arrived in to meet four friends who live locally. The place was abuzz including a couple of big family groups celebrating birthdays, and the décor and ambiance gave it a nice feel. We had made the pilgrimage on the DART, which is unbelievably convenient for Greystones restaurants, and indeed Vino’s actually backs onto the platform, which meant we could relax and enjoy a couple of glasses of wine.! Vino’s was originally Vino Pasta for many years but was taken over by two brothers, David and Jeff Behan, and has proved so popular that it has, in fact, recently doubled in size with the addition of a café retail area.
Our waitress martialled us into our table fairly smartly with the air of a lady looking after a bunch of kindergarten kids, or a dress dance group, but then I guess it was a busy Saturday night and messers were not going to be tolerated! Whilst it is now simply called Vino’s and the cuisine is more general Mediterranean, the menu retains a pasta section, but they also offer a really good daily selection of fish, which is rather attractive.
Starters ran from €6.95 to €8.95, apart from an Antipasti Platter for two at €12.95. Popular stalwarts included bruschetta and homemade duck liver pate, whilst corn fed chicken wings are beefed up with North African spices . Brendan started with Calamari (€7.95), as did a couple of others in the party, which were of the uniform thin lightly dusted variety sitting on rocket with garlic aioli and lemon to the side. “Very nice”, the locals all proclaimed in unison. Who would I be to argue? I still had my ass in Greystones! I was tempted to share the Antipasti platter for two at €12.95 but, as my Zorba was dancing his own dance at the far end of the table, I went with a Pear and Blue Cheese Salad (€8.95) which was excellent having lightly poached pear chunks tossed with cubes of Wicklow blue cheese, dressed mixed leaves, and pine nuts.
Mains include good pasta dishes €15.50 - €18.50 and further carnivorous and seafood dishes €14.50- €28.95. Fettuccini comes with fresh monkfish, black olives, semi sundried tomatoes and rocket, tossed through a light tomato and fresh herb sauce, whilst there is also Dolcelatte and Walnut Tortellini, a beef Tortellini, and Lasagna and pan fried chicken breast with red pesto, cream, cherry tomatoes and Greek olives. Carnivorous mains had supreme of chicken with a porcini mushroom risotto, as well as escalope of pork with Feta cheese, Greek olives, oregano, tomatoes and rocket, and a trio of steaks – Surf n Turf, Fillet Steak and Filetto Al Pepe. The fish offerings came as Specials – salmon, cod with Puy lentils and a chorizo and citrus butter, Monkfish and grilled lemon sole. What is nice about the food at Vino’s is that it generally feels freshly and simply prepared – there is no overkill of fashionable food – just good ingredients simply cook and served with appropriate sauces.
Zorba had a generous tranch of baked monkfish (€22.95) lavishly coated with a light wholegrain and dill cream sauce, which he said, was all rather moreish. I opted for Filetto Al Pepe (€24.95), again a generous portion, with four or five good slices of beef fillet tossed on a pan and napped with a light pepper sauce. Mains came with dishes of mixed vegetables - sliced carrots, courgette, mangetout and cauliflower florets, and nice crisp Pommes Parmentier. There was also a list of side orders such as Amalfi, tomato, or rocket and Parmesan salads. All in all we were all happy campers.
We soldiered on with an Affogato (€7.50) for me - vanilla icecream, espresso coffee, and a splash of Bailey’s in a tall sundae glass, whilst Brendan had a lovely crisp lemon tart (€7.50) with fresh raspberries and whipped cream. With a bottle of Anselmi, San Vincenzo, Soave 2010 (€27.50) our bill for two including 10% service came to €118.03.
Very pleasant neighbourhood spot that could become a habit!
Vino’s Restaurant & Café,
Church Road,
Greystones,
Co. Wicklow.
Tel: (01) 287-4807
www.lucindaosullivan.com