Ecco Vino

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses:
   £13 (lunch)
   £13 (evening meal)
• House wine: £12.95 per bottle

• Hitlisted
• High point: The art of conversation is not dead
• Low point: Hot seat by the blazing stove
• Food served: Mon-Thu noon-9.45pm; Fri/Sat noon-10.45pm; Sun 12.30-9.45pm
• Bar open: Mon-Thu noon-midnight; Fri/Sat noon-1am; Sun 12.30-midnight
• Open since: 2001
• Also offers: Vegetarian options (at least 25% of menu)

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

If you appreciate the honest virtue of pub grub but hanker after something a little more cosmopolitan, you'll love Ecco Vino. Billed as a wine bar, this intimate Cockburn Street hang-out is distinctly continental. In fact, with its earthy menu of warming seasonal stews and vibrant pasta dishes, and much wine glugging and free-flowing conversation, Ecco Vino feels pretty much like a smart little Italian. Inside, the atmosphere bubbles merrily away in a space you could only describe as economical, though shelves replete with wine bottles lead your eye upwards to reveal high ceilings. Return your gaze to table level and you're in for a treat. A starter such as cream of courgette soup partnered by a hunk of Italian bread proves substance and style can co-exist. Mains from a board of daily specials and an array of pastas such as spaghetti with tomato, roasted red pepper and chorizo are expertly handled with no pretension. Add desserts from simple ice-cream to something more sinful like white chocolate and Baileys cheesecake and it's clear why Ecco Vino is a firm favourite any night of the week. That means getting a table straight away can prove tricky - worth the wait, though.