Old Winery Wine Bar — Restaurant in Kotor

a very unpleasant experience – what a shame!

We only intended to stop by for a quick aperitif at the wine bar, but unfortunately, it turned into a very disappointing experience – both for us and due to what we witnessed at the table next to us.

Starting with our own experience: We waited an unusually long time for two Aperol Spritz, which turned out to be the most expensive ones we’ve had during our two-week stay in Montenegro. Sadly, they were nothing special in taste either.

What really compelled us to leave this review, however, was what happened just behind us. Two women had also ordered aperitifs along with a cheese platter, some pickled vegetables, and a small salad. They barely touched any of the food and called the waiter to complain: the cheese was visibly grey, the salad limp, and the vegetables soggy. They even showed the food to us – and we can confirm, it was not acceptable.

Rather than offering a reasonable solution, the staff insisted the full price (20€ just for the platter) had to be paid, despite the complaint and the untouched food being returned. No one seemed to take responsibility, and nobody showed any form of customer-oriented attitude. The situation escalated to the point where the manager had to be called, as none of the staff appeared to have any authority or willingness to help.

In the end, the women were forced to pay the full amount. The entire scene was handled very publicly and awkwardly – to the point that several guests, including ourselves, clearly noticed and many got up and left shortly after.

I myself work in the hospitality industry – from service to management – and I can say with confidence: this is absolutely unacceptable. Handling complaints with empathy, flexibility, and a sense of responsibility is essential in this line of work. If a guest is treated like this over a 20€ issue, especially when the fault lies with the kitchen, it reflects a deep problem in management.

Afterward, we looked up recent reviews – and it seems that poor management is a recurring issue here.

Bottom line: If you treat guests like this, negative reviews are inevitable. We will certainly not...

Tasty wine but bizarre service We came for the 3 wine tasting and charcuterie and were met with some confusion. The wine tasting states that you can mix which wines you will taste so my partner and I selected different wines to taste. This caused great confusion with our server who kept getting the order wrong (maybe a notepad would help). He then came back to check our order and got the order wrong again, we clarified the order and when he delivered the wines a few minutes later, they were incorrect. He then stated we would receive the additional wines after, even though we only ordered 3 wines each (this would’ve been 12 wines total). He then shortly after that said that we would only get 3 wines. He kept coming back to the table to make up for what we thought was slightly rude service and asked where we were from. We told him and he said that he’s been there and the food isn’t good and the people are rude and he didn’t like his time there??? He came back to the table and told us that we can use a fork to eat our cheese and meat (as we were eating with our fingers) which we found rather rude. After that we asked him what condiments were given to us to have with our bread, he said he didn’t know as he doesn’t speak well with the kitchen (it was olive oil and balsamic?). He then asked us where we are staying and he told us we were probably ripped off and that he knows of places that are much cheaper. After this, someone knocked over the tip jar for the musician and he joked and said that they need the money as they are not paid enough. We left a tip and he thanked us but said that people don’t do it anymore and made us feel guilty.

Every single interaction with this member of staff ended in negativity and made us uncomfortable, we really just wanted to leave. The wines were fantastic but I feel let down after reading so many positive reviews, maybe they did not have the server we had who is clearly annoyed with the way of the world and projects this...

I never write reviews but I had to do this one: bad wine, bad service and bad food.

We stopped here for a wine tasting with some side dishes before dinner. Overall disappointed with the experience, especially for the price of €55 for two people.

We chose the option of three wines, bruschetta, meat and cheeses for €26 each. The wine arrived first, this was poor quality and no information was provided about the origin, grape varieties or tasting notes. In addition, the white wine was so poor that it was undrinkable for my girlfriend. The rosé and the red were ok but nothing fantastic - this was also served in such small quantities that it didn’t really match the price.

The menu also stated that the three wines came with bruschetta, ham and cheese. This didn’t arrive until 30 minutes after the wines - despite asking the waiter, so we were almost done with the experience when they turned up. The bruschetta was made of cheap processed tomatoes and toasted white sliced bread (like you’d get from the supermarket). There was no cheese or ham on the platter.

Overall we were really disappointed, since the place had been recommended on travel videos on Kotor. We felt like it was such bad value and service we told some other potential customers that they should probably try somewhere else.

As I said, I don’t normally write these reviews, however hopefully this one prompts a bit more attention...