By Gastrorob

In the site of the old Bacchus restaurant next to the City Hall, the urban centre of Gibraltar, sits Vinopolis Gastrobar. Having just opened its doors to us it seems to have many people excited as to the prospects of a modern wine bar in the centre of town.

As you walk into the room, you are greeted by an array of tables and chairs, bar tables and high stools arranged over two areas. The kitchen and bar areas dominate the space.

The colour scheme is sophisticated and stylish – white, grey and burgundy. Arabic printed tiles are used cleverly to demarcate dining table areas between bullet grey tiles. They are also used as a decorative feature in the bathrooms and printed as a border on the menus that do double duty as place mats.

The decor is clean and bright: metallic grey furniture with wooden topped tables and chairs, wine boxes have been recycled into panels to decorate the huge bar front; feature walls showing exposed brickwork. Wooden beams serve as functional wine racks – on a couple of occasions the general manager selected bottles of wine from the rack and served them to tables; these being immediately replaced. High ceilings with several hanging light-bulbs dangling from black cords, illuminating the venue.

The waiting and bar staff are dressed in old world waiting uniforms: ties, waistcoats, long aprons; all they needed to complete the look were sprung sleeve holders.

I found this juxtaposition between tradition and the modern very exciting.

Vinopolis, citadel of wine, has a extensive wine list as you would expect but it’s the ability to order these wines by the glass that makes Vinopolis an appealing place to come to. There are two vending machines found on either side of the door, selling sample sizes of wine which you pay for by the use of a top up card (that you can sign up for) should you wish to try before you buy.

The food served shouldn’t really be considered as starters and main dishes but collectively: Gastro Tapas. The cheese platter (£7.50) and Iberian Joselito mixed platter (£15), served on greaseproof paper resting on of tree trunk slices, tasted better than those found in other establishments. Bread and various olive oils (£2)– basil infused oil was delicious but my favourite was the olive oil infused with garlic and rosemary. However, there needs to be more consistency in approach as on Wednesday evening I was offered four oils to try whereas on Friday I was only offered two.

The food menu appears extensive with various sections highlighting the full range of Mediterranean gastro tapas served at Vinopolis. Other than the more traditional tapas, cured meats and cheese, there is homage to Gibraltarian dishes in tapas format; on the menu can be found items such as Rollitos (£6.50), Rosmaire’s Rosto (£4.50) and Calentita with a twist (£4.50). These have been met with varying opinions by fellow diners: I enjoyed the rollitos even though some bread or chips to mop up the tasty broth that the slices of rollitos were sat in wouldn’t have gone amiss. The calentita, more like panissa, was unimpressive to be served here. Others have taken to social media to voice their opinions describing the rosto as an “abomination”.

There are gastro tapas that are Portuguese in origin such as the pasteis de bacalhau (£4.00), Moroccan such as the meat or vegetable tagine (£6) or Spanish such as pulpo a la gallega (£3.50). The latter is advertised as a grilled octopus platter which I thought was a clever take on a classic. Here it was served in a long dish with dollops of warm mashed potato in between thin slices of octopus, with a healthy dusting of pimentón. The octopus was sweet and the dish tasty but there was too much potato as this became the focus of the platter instead of the octopus.

I am not sure if the selection of mini hamburgers (£6.50) is meant to be served identical to each diner. We were given three pistachio-green coloured buns and the table next to us were given two dark grey buns and one green – I imagine with food colouring and nothing to affect the overall flavour – but again consistency in approach is needed. The fillings desperately need some work. Out of the three mini burgers, only one was flavoursome (apparently). The other two were dry and uneventful. With one I actually felt that the flavour of the sesame seeds on the bun overpowered the filling. Having asked the staff what the flavours were, I can see how they would have thought this was a good gastro dish (oxtail, Angus beef, Kofta). Mini gastro burgers are generally a good concept as a gastro nibble but in this case the execution of the dish needs refining – the meat needs to be juicer, there needs to be some relish or mini jars of recommended sauces to go with.

On both occasions the staff worked diligently and were continually serving customers, even the duty manager attended to clients throughout the evening. Our weekday waitress even asked us for suggestions that she would then pass onto management in the hope that they would be able to improve their product.

All in all, Vinopolis will provide a good evening in the heart of town. If it is trying to be a restaurant it doesn’t quite make the mark at present – if, however, it is aiming to be a tapas bar, serving good wines and some decent gastro tapas then I think it is place that will grow with time.

If you came for the food you might leave disappointed; your wallet definitely lighter and maybe even hungry. If however, you came for a few drinks and ended up ordering a few gastro tapas along the way, then you probably enjoyed your Vinopolis experience. The bottom line is: professionals like to go out to nice places for drinks after work and are willing to spend decent money, especially on a Friday. Vinopolis is one of these nice, new places that people will continue to enjoy going to. Many will sign up for the top up wine card (I’m currently waiting for mine!) as the allure of such a gimmick is enticing.

I can see Vinopolis growing in reputation over the coming months, especially if they work on their food dishes which have split the public. If you haven’t been, certainly give it a go and check it out for yourself. If anything, pop in for a glass of wine and see where you go from there.

It’s definitely going to be a popular “go to” place for the upcoming Christmas parties!

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