Enoteca Da Luca

Service is so bizarre here. It started feeling like déjà vu after we were greeted and asked how many were in our table, if we wanted tap water, if we wanted dessert, if we wanted the bill, by three different hostesses. I suppose it gives them the flexibility to help tables, but it feels very disorganized when you’re constantly telling a different person what you wanted.
So anyway, the food was good. It’s unfortunate the service was so weird. We ordered the burrata with honeycomb which was a lovely combo, the tender ox cheek, the perfectly cooked pappardelle with lamb, and everything was reasonably priced.

Cute new wine bar, the third outpost of its name I think. Their motto is ‘small is beautiful’, referring to the small tapas style dishes they serve, but I think you could say it about the place too!
A colleague hosted some drinks there to celebrate the birth of his new baby boy, so my team went to suss it out after work. They clearly have more wine than they know what to do with as that’s the main décor too — rows upon rows of wine bottles lined up along the brick walls and above the brushed-​metal bar.
The wine selection is excellent and covers quite a wide price range, so watch out as once you get comfy it’s easy to get carried away — as proved by the guy in our party who splurged on a gorgeous bottle of Tiganello later in the night (and v generously gave me a glass yay!).
They do proper sit-​down lunch and dinner, but we sampled some meat and cheese sharers whilst standing for drinks. I liked the taste of the simple plate of ham they brought out, and the burrata was lovely and fresh, if a little tricky to eat.
The main problem however was that the ‘area’ they’d reserved for our drinks was actually the only space right in the middle of the room — between the bar, the till, the kitchen and the tables. Not very clever. It meant someone had to walk through it every 10 seconds, until I started to feel like I was hearing a song called ‘excuse me sorry’ stuck on loop and wonder if the waitress kept brushing past me on purpose.
It got quite ridiculous after a while, so I’d suggest they either clear out some tables if they have a drinks booking or just don’t accept that many people. Other than that the staff took very good care of us, so despite there being tons of places around here for a drink, I’m sure I’ll be back — though probably without the big group next time and in a cosy 2 or 3.