Humble Grape Islington - Wine Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in London

I’m a local and used to love this place so I’m sad to report that I had a shocking experience here this afternoon. Yes, my name is Karen and this is my complaint to the manager 💁🏻‍♀️

On arrival I asked if we could sit downstairs as had my two small children with me. This would of made everyone’s lives much easier but the front of house told us that everything downstairs was reserved.

It turned out this was untrue as, after I noticed that downstairs wasn’t getting filled up and already had a small family group and couple other diners, her colleague confirmed that, in fact, the area shut at 6. We arrived before 4.

He offered us to move but by this point we had a mountain of glasses and whatnot on our table and the kids were settled. It wasn’t the time but we felt lied to.

The front of house basically chose not to accommodate or understand what might be nicer for a family with two small kids, as well as what would be best for her other diners that had to endure our hungry kids.

We’ve brought our kids before, always been put downstairs and always had a great time (also arrived similar time in the past with no booking).

So it started badly. We were all hungry and ordered bread thinking that would be fairly quick - it took ages to arrive (had to ask for it twice) and when it did with no butter or oil - unless you’re serving some oil based bread, butter or oil is kinda an important option. Let’s be real, I don’t know many people who enjoy dry bread unless they’re recovering from a bad stomach

We then ordered the roast. Potatoes were an awful mush, the Yorkshire pudding was a flat piece of hard dough and the meat was rubbery and dry. Just terrible.

To top it off, we had to get our own cutlery and our own napkins when our food arrived.

Due to the time everything took, I basically left most of my meal as my kids were verging on meltdown, probably due to the fact that their parents were having such a bad time, so we had to leave.

We didn’t pay service and were given money off our wine by the one waiter who understood our frustration but I had to review our experience (may as well live up...

We had an amazing experience at the Humble Grape, thanks to Rashaun, who was our server!

My partner and I stumbled upon the Humble Grape while exploring Islington. I had actually read about this place in a guidebook and we decided to pop in. Though we did not have a reservation, we were seated. We are COVID conscious, so were given a table in an area where we could be distanced from other customers.

We were immediately surprised with a couple of drinks on the house, which was a really nice gesture. Rashaun then guided us through the extensive wine menu. We ordered a wine flight as well as a few glasses of wine to share on his recommendations. Rashaun listened to our preferences for wine profiles and encouraged us to try wines we normally would not lean towards - we usually only drink red wine, but thanks to his recommendations we discovered several options that we never would have chosen but absolutely loved. Special highlights included a decadently delicious dessert wine, a smoky rose, and a couple of velvety rich reds.

Every single wine we tried was phenomenal, with a unique and rich profile. My partner and I are from California, and have been lucky to live and travel all over the world, so we are a little spoiled when it comes to wine - and I can honestly say I had some of the best wines I've ever tasted last night. In my opinion, this is the BEST place to visit in London if you want great wine and amazing service at a great price. We will...

Unfortunately not a great first (and last experience). I love a good wine bar paired with good food but unfortunately Humble Grape Islington is not one. Had a friend in from abroad and was hoping to give her a nice Friday night dining experience. We (table of 3) were seated at the spill over table even though we had made a reservation - in the corner, by the drafty window underneath the speakers and positioned in a way that the waiters could not get to us /or just did not care. We got zero service - the table next to us eventually gave us their menus when the realised we had been sitting there for 20 mins without anyone even asking us if we wanted some water. We had to take cutlery and glass ware from other tables as that was not supplied, we waited 45 mins for our main course and when it arrived it was underwhelming and greasy. The wines we picked (South African and POO France where surprisingly underwhelming fruit bombs. In the end I just wanted to leave, as my best friend was in town I did not want to spoil her night by causing a fuss and just paid up the bill (including service for what was self service at best) and left to...