Bars & Pubs

Anyone who professes to not liking wine is liable to be converted here. Selfridges Wonder Bar, overseen by their sommelier and wine buyer Dawn Davies, is one of London’s best venues for sampling what the grape has to offer. Wrapped on a mezzanine around the store’s wine shop, the red and blond wood space fills up rapidly with couples sharing a bottle at the bar, and groups of friends at the tail end of a shopping spree settling at the tables by the window. Sit back and enjoy the table service, or buy a card and pour your own wine in 125ml or 175ml measures from the ‘jukebox’-style dispenser along one wall. This holds 52 regularly updated wines at £3 to £100 a glass. Among our recent favourites were Alvaro Palacios’s 2004 Petalos del Bierzo, SC Pannell 2006 shiraz, and the rich, dense, spicy Vieux Télégraphe’s 2003. As befits its position adjacent to the famous food hall, Wonder Bar has a menu sourced from artisan producers, including platters such as pata negra ham with celeriac rémoulade; a British cheese board with bread, biscuits, pears and quince paste; and organic beech-smoked salmon with salad and soda bread.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009