El Sabio Tapas Bar & Restaurant

We came from London for a weekend in Winchester 7 of us and this restaurant was brilliant, one of the best tapas restaurant I’ve been to in a longtime. The food great and staff were brilliant we had a lovely time.

El Sabio is a lovely restaurant in the centre of Winchester. The tapas and paellas are great. We chose 3 tapas and a paella for 2 between the 3 of us and just about managed to eat it all. The paellas are always massive so we always go for a smaller size but they are too good to miss. The restaurant was busy and had several large groups but this didn't impact our enjoyment of the evening. We hadn't been to the restaurant for a few months and had forgotten how good it was we won't be leaving it so long to return.

We have eaten at this restaurant several times before, but this time we were disappointed. We had to wait almost an hour for our food, and when it finally arrived, it was cold with the exception of one dish. We do not plan on returning.

I decided to try this restaurant after dining at the now-closed Newbury, and I was not disappointed. The food was fantastic, with larger portions compared to most tapas restaurants and a wide selection of tasty dishes. The staff were very helpful and polite. However, I was a bit put off by the automatic service fee added to the bill for a table of two. I prefer to tip based on my experience, and I would have been happy to do so as I enjoyed the evening.

The service at this restaurant is excellent - very friendly and attentive without being overly intrusive.