Vinos Restaurant & Cafe is busy celebrating its 5th year under the guidance and direction of David & Jeff Behan. The Behan Brothers took over this well established restaurant (Vino Pasta) just over 5 years ago and have been offering the finest in Mediterranean Cuisine to Greystones local residents, visitors and tourists alike, since then.

Situated on Church Road, right in the heart of this bustling seaside town of Greystones Vinos Restaurant & Cafe has the added advantage of being a few steps away from the DART station and finds many day (and evening) trippers visiting the restaurant and then returning home on the DART!

Last December David and Jeff embarked on a refurbishment project which saw the new look of Vinos emerge through the new brand of Vinos Restaurant & Cafe Greystones, an addition of Vinos Cafe & Retail and, coming soon, Vinos Homemade (a catering and take home option) to complete their offering.

Vinos Restaurant & Cafe can accommodate parties of up to 60 people for family occasions, Birthdays, Communions, Confirmations, Bereavements, Christenings or Corporate Entertaining.

Themed evenings, including recent Wine Dinners, have proved very popular with their customers. The retail area in Vinos Cafe offers some wonderful high-end Mediterranean products like illy Coffee (also served in the Café and Restaurant), Di Vito Olive Oil and Suki Tea.

While the menu continues to be focused on Mediterranean flavours like their traditional Italian Brushcetta and their signature dish of Penne pasta with Duck Ragu, Vinos Restaurant has become renowned for their fresh fish specials.

Depending on the season there are generally three to four different types of fish selections on the menu from Turbot and Salmon to Lobster, Brill and the ever popular pan-fried Monkfish. Here is a part of our most recent review, but we'll be doing it again soon. 

I went along of an evening with a friend who is presently studying food, and we got a table bu the window, she with the view out, and I looking into the room. It was fairly busy, with a mixture of couples and groups taking up most of the tables, and one or two families who were finishing off, having treated themselves to an early bird.

Our waitress brought sparkling water, bread and our menus straightaway, and we nibbled while we chose. The starters are mostly priced between €7 and €9 and you can choose from calamari, pear and gorgonzola salad and tiger prawns cooked in olive oil, garlic and chilli. Next are the pasta dishes, all of which you can have as a starter portion if you want to eat like an Italian, and these are priced around €15, or half that for the starter size. There is a ravioli of the day, as well as staples like aArribiatta and Amatriciana The main courses range from €17 for the chicken dish to €28 for the fillet steak. So while you now have a bit of an impression about the menu, it was the specials board to which I was drawn.

The blackboard lists the fish dishes on that day, and it changes depending on what comes in from their suppliers in Dunmore East. The blonde decides to stay on the menu, with a starter of calamari and the ravioli for her main course, while I stay on the specials board with a starter of scallops with chorizo and monkfish for the main course.

The Calamari is tender, not rubbery and dusted with flour and spice rather than drowned in batter, while the scallops are perfect with roe on, and the chorizo packs a punch. The ravioli in pesto is delicious, with lots of rocket and basil, and the monkfish with mussels is a treat. We force ourselves to share a very good chocolate fondant, and finish with a couple of coffees.

We like Vinos, and often stop for a bite here in the summer, especially after the Bray to Greystones cliff walk. The food is always good, the wine list interesting and moderately priced and service is friendly and efficient. There is a set menu each day offering two courses for only €17.95 and their Sunday lunch is great value at €01.95 for two courses, served all day.