50 best places to drink wine in London
Time Out's essential guide to the capital's best restaurants and bars with outstanding wine lists
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1707
Fortnum & Mason’s 2007 revamp included the installation of this wine bar in the basement. Wines can be sampled in flights (tasting measures of a variety), or by the glass. If nothing on the list appeals, grab a bottle from the shop; corkage is a further £10.
1707, lower ground floor, Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, W1A 1ER (020 7734 8040) Piccadilly Circus tube.
Ambassador
Clive Greenhalgh, who runs this nice little brasserie, is also a wine enthusiast, and it shows. The list is packed with interesting bottles from good producers, at fair prices.
Ambassador, 55 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QL (020 7837 0009) Farringdon tube/rail or bus 19, 38, 341.
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The Assembly
Balls Brothers. Not the name of a raunchy TV drama set in the City, but one of the leading wine bar chains. This particular branch doesn’t use the name, but is still Ballsy, and has outdoor seating.
The Assembly, 14-15 Seething Lane, EC3N 4AX (020 7626 3360) Tower Hill tube or Tower Gateway DLR.
Bedford & Strand
This basement wine bar in Covent Garden has a prime location and wine by the glass that varies from the quite good to some oh-so-predictable brands. Handy as a pitstop.
Bedford & Strand, 1A Bedford St, WC2E 9HH (020 7836 3033) Covent Garden tube or Charing Cross tube/rail.
ATMOSPHERIC LOCATION
Bleeding Heart Tavern
The Bleeding Heart is a wine bar and restaurant with scrubbed-up history. The all-French staff are knowledgeable about the French wines that fill much of the list. Owner Robert Wilson also part-runs a winery in New Zealand, so there’s plenty from there.
Bleeding Heart Tavern, Bleeding Heart Yard, 19 Greville St, EC1N 8SJ (020 7404 0333) Farringdon tube/rail.
Café des Amis
A watering station for Opera House audiences. The wine list is traditional and French dominated. To eat, you can sample a plate of French cheeses or, for more serious dining, head upstairs to the ground-floor brasserie. Many choose this place in preference to the ROH’s own bars.
Café des Amis, 11-14 Hanover Place, WC2E 9JP (020 7379 3444) Covent Garden tube.
Cork and Bottle
This basement bar on Leicester Square is small and perennially packed. Bottles from top producers in Australia, New Zealand and the Rhône are clearly on view. Stick to owner Don Hewitson’s specialisms (ask the staff) and you’ll do fine.
Cork and Bottle, 44-46 Cranbourn St, WC2H 7AN (020 7734 7807) Leicester Square tube.
Corney & Barrow
The branch of this wine bar chain at Paternoster Square has great views of St Paul’s Cathedral. Too much dreary Sancerre, Chablis and Pouilly-Fumé do let the side down a little, but many other wines are excellent – and a truly commendable 70 of them are available by the glass.
Corney & Barrow, 10 Paternoster Square, EC4M 7DX (020 7618 9520) St Paul’s tube.
The Don
This City restaurant offers 32 wines by the glass, and is a great friend to sherry and port lovers in particular. It is owned by Sandeman and occupies the firm’s 200-year-old former cellars. It does an incredible deal – on Friday evenings only – where bottles over £50 have a 50 per cent discount.
The Don, The Courtyard, 20 St Swithin’s Lane, EC4N 8AD (020 7626 2606) Bank tube/DLR.
Ebury Wine Bar & Restaurant
At first glance, the Ebury seems like yet another stuffy old wine bar, the dark wood panels and staff who talk like Prince Charles leading you away from a drink. Don’t be deterred. There are also bright waiters on hand, and a choice of 38 wines by the glass.
Ebury Wine Bar & Restaurant, 139 Ebury St, SW1W 9QU (020 7730 5447) Sloane Square tube or Victoria tube/rail.
OLD-SCHOOL QUAFFING
Gordon’s
Dripping with sweat, full of people and oozing charm, Gordon’s is the classic wine bar with knobs on. Most of it is tucked under the low vaults by the Embankment. There’s lots of fortified stuff: fino or amontillado sherry straight from barrels behind the bar, or a range of ports. These come in what they call ‘beakers’, a 150ml serving, or, if you want to stay steady on your feet, ‘schooners’ (120ml).
Gordon’s, 7 Villiers St, WC2N 6NE (020 7930 1408) Embankment tube or Charing Cross tube/rail.
La Grande Marque
The dark wood-panelled walls, intricately traced ceiling and large windows of this former bank make La Grande Marque an elegant place for an after-work drink (there’s a branch in Middle Temple Lane). The Champagne list is the forte, but the lengthy wine list makes an impressive attempt to tour the world.
La Grande Marque, 47 Ludgate Hill, EC4M 7JU (020 7329 6709) St Paul’s tube or Blackfriars tube/rail.
Kettners
This is a Pizza Express with attitude – and with a couple of adjoining Champagne bars, which are ideal for swish celebrations or after-work drinks at respectable prices – the Champagne mark-ups are low.
Kettners, 29 Romilly St, W1D 5HP (020 7734 6112) Leicester Square or Piccadilly Circus tube.
STUNNING WINE FLIGHTS
Pearl
Pearl is an expansively glamorous bar and restaurant. Much thought has gone into the drinks menu, which offers almost 500 wines by the bottle, glass or as part of a £25 ‘wine flight’ tasting tour.
Pearl, Chancery Court Hotel, 252 High Holborn, WC1V 7EN (020 7829 7000) Holborn tube.
Salt Yard
This wine bar and restaurant serves Spanish tapas with some Italian flourishes, with several sherries by the glass plus a good mix of Italian and Spanish unfortified wines by the glass.
Salt Yard, 54 Goodge St, W1T 4NA (020 7637 0657) Goodge St tube.
St John
The wine list is all French at this staunchly British restaurant that also imports and sells wines by the case. The restaurant is excellent, but we prefer the more casual, no-booking bar with great, unusual bar food and good wines by the glass.
St John, 26 St John St, EC1M 4AY (020 7251 0848) Farringdon tube/rail.
Texture
This smart new restaurant and Champagne bar is very nice indeed, but pricey. We had trouble finding a bottle that cost less than £30 but there are, in fact, quite a few – though these are easily outnumbered by bottles costing three figures. It’s a list for serious cork dorks, with good-to-great bottles from every important wine-producing region.
Texture, 34 Portman Square, W1H 7BY (020 7224 0028) Marble Arch tube.
AWARD-WINNING WINE BAR
Vinoteca
The owners of this wine bar were inspired by the overseas trend of attaching a wine shop to a bar, where the same bottles can be enjoyed with food. The compact main room gets packed like a tapas bar in Spain or an enoteca in Italy. And the wines are outstanding.
Vinoteca, 7 St John St, EC1M 4AA (020 7253 8786) Farringdon tube/rail.
Vivat Bacchus
Vivat Bacchus boasts a high-quality Modern European restaurant in the basement, but we like the wine bar best. South African wine is a highlight, and there are regular wine events.
Vivat Bacchus, 47 Farringdon St, EC4A 4LL (020 7353 2648) Chancery Lane tube or Farringdon tube/rail.
Wild Honey
The combination of exceptionally good food and a user-friendly wine list is an alluring one. We wish more restaurants would start to copy their genius policy of making wines available in 250ml carafes as well as by the bottle, and keeping mark-ups low. Wild Honey’s older branch, Arbutus, has the same wine policy.
Wild Honey, 12 St George St, W1S 2FB (020 7758 9160) Oxford Circus or Bond St tube.
Wonder Bar
Squeezed around Selfridges’ wine department, the Wonder Bar makes a dependable choice for an excellent selection of wines by the glass, ranging from the likes of Bonny Doon riesling to 2003 Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Wonder Bar, Selfridges, 400 Oxford St, W1A 2LR (0800 123400) Bond St or Marble Arch tube.
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