BACK when we had the false dawn that summer had arrived and there were signs that last year’s flaming June might be repeated I sat outside in the sun in a pleasant corner of Bath away from too much hustle and bustle.

Of course being a Saturday it was impossible to be within a couple of minutes stroll of Milsom Street and be in a complete oasis of calm but Vino Vino was doing its best to offer alfresco dining in a civilised setting.

I had been here before on a couple of occasions and always enjoyed the experience as the food is made to share and if you don’t have to drive there is chilled wine and beer to be enjoyed.

But on this occasion when I visited with my daughter the day was really meant to be about the shopping so we settled for a couple of Diet Cokes.

The outside terrace was busy but the service was friendly and our drinks arrived swiftly. There were plenty of tempting dishes on the menu which encourages you to go for sharing platters or tapas style small bites.

We decided to go for the small dish options but is often the way so many sounded delicious we got slightly carried away.

We went for meatball sliders (£9.50), nachos (£8.50), mozarella sticks (£5.50) chilli and garlic prawns (£8) and pitta bread with humus (£6).

After all this deliberation I managed to catch the eye of a passing waitress and we sat back to wait, and wait and wait.

We understood it was Saturday and they were busy but several tables around us who had arrived after us were served and we still had nothing to eat.

I eventually asked if ours was expected soon and it quickly became apparent that our order had been forgotten.

But the kitchen obviously pulled out the stops and most of the dishes were with us quite soon after.

The pitta bread though was still nowhere in sight and once again I had to ask. It eventually arrived just as we were finishing the rest of the food and to be honest we were already pretty full.

The food itself was very tasty. The meatball sliders, a new thing for me, were particularly good as were the prawns. The nachos were nice and crispy around the sides with plenty of cheese and minced beef.

We enjoyed the meal but the unexpected delay meant that our shopping was somewhat delayed and when we finished I hoped to get the bill quite quickly.

But this too proved trickier than I had imagined as my request for a VAT receipt seemed to be something out of the ordinary to the waitress who said I would have to wait ten minutes.

Maybe that was just a turn of phrase as it did in reality arrive reasonably quickly and the charge for the pita bread was deducted from our bill without us asking. The few hiccups would not be enough to stop me returning as I like the atmosphere and the food is good.

So if we are ever again graced with warm weather I am sure you will find me seated there under an umbrella. I would go so far as to say that this is just the sort of experience that Devizes might embrace in its soon to be traffic free area of the Market Place.

Joanne Moore