Venga Cocktails & Tapas Bar — Restaurant in England

Venga Tapas Bar Review by Giles Coren

If there’s a recipe for capturing the essence of a local tapas bar, Venga Tapas Bar in Portishead has nailed it with effortless charm. Strolling into Venga is akin to being welcomed into an old friend’s home; it’s relaxed, unpretentious, and every bit as friendly as you’d hope.

The interior is a delightful nod to Spanish culture. It cleverly avoids the garish pitfalls of theme bars, instead opting for subtle touches that evoke a warm Mediterranean spirit without the need for flamenco dancers or plastic bulls. It’s the kind of place where you could lose a whole afternoon, basking in the comfort of its laid-back ambiance.

And then, of course, there’s the food. Ah, the tapas! Each dish is a little celebration of flavour, from the succulent albondigas to the perfectly charred padron peppers. The patatas bravas have just the right amount of kick, and the chorizo is a smoky dream. It’s all so effortlessly lovely, you almost forget you’re in a small town in Somerset and not a bustling bar in Seville.

Now, let’s talk about the garden. The back garden is Venga’s best-kept secret—a serene little haven that feels a world away from the bustling High Street. It’s the perfect spot for a summer evening, where you can sip on sangria and watch the sun set in a blaze of oranges and pinks.

In a world awash with pretentious eateries and over-hyped culinary fads, Venga Tapas Bar is a breath of fresh air. It’s the kind of place that doesn’t need to shout to be heard; it quietly goes about its business, confident in the knowledge that it’s doing something really quite special. Worth a visit? Absolutely. You’ll be...

Hmmm... This is a tough one. It's Tapas, it's expensive, it's not a place for a 'main meal'. The issue I have with Venga, is that it only offers Tapas, but implies that it's a restaurant on its menu. All this would be Okay, except it charges main meal prices for its Tapas dishes. Now this would be Okay, if they were main meal sizes, or Tapas prices... But they aren't. £12 (at time of writing) for Prawns Gambas in which the prawns were just bog standard prawns... Not even king sized and only about 8-10 in the dish. Tapas is about a quick nibble while out with friends and traditionally priced accordingly... A few Euros, maybe 5. On top if this the new menu was trying to charge £12 for a single (medium) sized baguette with two very small dips (olive oil and balsamic + and Aioli) So I think my advice to anyone going here would be, don't plan to eat here as your main meal, if you do, be prepared to get small portions and pay a lot for them and don't expect to fill up on bread unless you want to re mortgage the house. The atmosphere is what you go here for, which is great, as are the staff who were very friendly and helpful. Please hit like if this...

Four of us went for lunch and ordered from the sharing menu. We ordered chicken, lamb and pork. Chicken came with a delicious spicy lime sauce, pork with crackling etc... sauces were delivered separately and all the meats arrived in a large sharing dish with the potatoes and vegetables underneath. At first we were a little unsure, as we'd taken the parents and wouldn't usually share like this, but once we got over that, everyone got stuck in and we all agreed that the food was absolutely delicious. The meat just fell open/off the bone and everything was cooked to perfection. We love our vegetables, so the only change I would have made, would have been to have had more vegetables as potatoes and carrots aside there was very little else. The only reason I gave a 4 was because the seating was a little uncomfortable for two of us and the seat kept moving, so we had to keep resetting it. Staff were lovely and I actually think the chef came out at one stage, which is always...