The Wine and Bottle Grille
This bar & grill is located in Westlands, in Ambience mall. It has two floors, the ground floor has an outdoor section which I think is more of the dining area, it’s set up is quite different from the upper floor. Inside the restaurant though (still on ground floor) just has the kitchen and yes seating but it was so empty - from the time I arrived (3pm) to the time I was leaving (9pm), there was barely anyone sitting down there so I guess people prefer the outside area and the upper area.
The upper section is very much a bar aesthetic, high tables and high chairs, a DJ booth in the corner and of course a bar. The hanging plants along the big windows and the wooden beams make for a nice rustic feel:) Of course we sat by the window because - fresh air and views and people watching 😄
Their menu is a scan to open type but tell me why they only had like three QR code cards in the whole restaurant as opposed to one on each table? We weren’t given time to go through the menu nicely before it was taken to someone else and because they have three different menus (food, drinks, wine list) we had to keep asking for the card back just to check for this, that or the other… just print more cards please - for convenience.
That being said - the menu is vast, so much to choose from! As we know from past experiences… long menus are usually a red flag so I was already concerned 😬 My dates had the quesadilla (KSH1,200) and the mushroom beef & cheese burger (KSH1,550) while I had their signature burger - minus the egg (KSH1,350).
Before I get to the burgers, let me speak on the quesadilla first - that was definitely NOT a quesadilla. It was a wrap. Granted they did say it’s a chapati quesadilla so I get the presence of chapati but why was it a wrap instead of a flat-based quesadilla filled with cheese?? This wrap also had zero cheese 😬 I really think they need to rename this dish because it’s giving rolex without the egg. I didn’t even taste it but according to my friend, it wasn’t good at all, I would not recommend it.
Now for the burgers - they looked AMAZING. Stacked, accompanied with a nice little basket of fries, I was worried how to start eating it, only to bite it and find that the buns were cold and the patty was hot - very odd. I thought that maybe I had just taken too long to start eating it but my other friend said the same about hers - the patty was nice and hot, fresh off the grill but the bread bun was cold. Did they not toast the bread enough? Did they toast it at all??
My burger had the patty, bacon, caramelised onions, cheese and their house dressing. The patty was actually quite salty - and if you know me, you know I already take quite a lot of salt so if I’m saying something is salty, it’s very salty 😮💨 A salty patty, plus already naturally salty bacon was quite a lot for me, then the cold buns on top… yeah issa no please. Couldn’t finish it. It’s meant to have an egg too but had that removed so I wonder how it would have tasted with said egg - sodium levels on 100!
The mushroom burger - as explained to us by our waiter, was meant to have a layer of mushrooms on top of the patty and the patty itself is made with mushrooms in it hence the name mushroom beef. There was no layer of mushrooms on top… but that patty wasn’t as salty as mine. It also did not come with a side of mushroom sauce as well. Was it amazing? Not so much but better than the signature one for sure.
So far… food wasn’t going so well. Service was really really slow as well. The place wasn’t full throughout the afternoon so I’m not sure why the wait staff were not on it, and when it got more packed in the evening, the service became even worse.
As for drinks - my friends tried some of their cocktails, and according to them, this place does not mince on the alcohol one bit so that’s a good sign. Nobody ordered their famous fish bowls because who was going to drink all that? I did get a pic of one from the bar and as you can see below, that thing is massive! Why is that glass bigger than my head?? 😅 Whoever has tried these fishbowl cocktails let the people know if it’s worth it please.
I had passion juice (boring I know, but accept me please). I really had to wait for said juice for a while though. I thought maybe the waiter just forgot amongst his many orders. Turns out, they were really squeezing actual passion fruits to make this juice because that ish was freshhh! That’s probably the best passion juice I’ve had in a very long time, so delicious 😋
Since I didn’t finish the burger - I had room for dessert. I was wary of this decision but decided to try the Sticky toffee pudding (KSH800), just to see how they’ll match up against the best sticky toffee pudding ever from Sierra. When I tried to order, I was told they can’t make it because it takes quite a while - but I wasn’t leaving anytime soon so they could just go ahead and make it, I was happy to wait. The waiter conferred with the chef and came back to tell me it’s still not possible because the pastry chef is too busy with cooking the main food orders. I find that odd because why have a full on dessert menu if there’s nothing that can be prepared?
He said if I came back the next day (Sunday), I’d be able to have the dessert that comes with their Sunday brunch but that they won’t be making any desserts that day. Maybe it’s just me but that doesn’t sound like good business. If you’re running a restaurant that consistently has high numbers on weekends… why wouldn’t you plan for the desserts the same way you’d plan for the food? And yes I know dessert isn’t too priority in a bar but why have a whole menu for it then? 🤔
Anyway… now that I was stuck with passion juice and water, we spent the rest of the time vibing to the great jams the DJ was playing, I think he’s called DJ Elvie? He did a great job. The place gets quite packed at nighttime and loud because it is a bar so plan accordingly for the type of vibe you’re looking for.
Overall I liked the vibe of the place, it’s a chill place to hang with friends, not really ideal for a date unless you want a sherehe date which is perfectly fine too 😄 Their service needs serious help and if their focus is in the drinks then they should think about reducing their menu to avoid having lacklustre food.
Ratings
Food:⭐️.5
Service:⭐️.5
Ambience: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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