Gordon's Wine Bar London

I’d heard lot’s about the legendary Gordon’s Wine Bar near the Embankment but had never actually been. I guess partly because I had heard that the clientele during the week was the city suited and booted types and at the weekends it was tourists- not really my cup of tea.

Anyway, one Saturday night after a day drinking around the National Theatre, some friends and I found our way in to the dark bowels of Gordon’s. The impact was immediate. As we descended in to the cosily confined and intimate space below street level, it was as if we had entered some secret magical kingdom. Away from the prying eyes of normal drinkers sitting in their large windowed ‘All Bar One’s and the like, we found an area to stand and stare longingly at those fortunate enough to have found some alcove seating to retire in to.

A strange, small, candle-lit, romance of small tables, caverns, port and sherry barrels, dust coated wine bottles and a fine display of London drinkers, we were enchanted and enthralled all at once.

We asked the barmaid for some wine recommendations and she duly obliged- don’t quite recall what we ordered due to the level of inebriation by that stage of the evening! We ordered some fine red wines and a cheese platter and the scene was set for a memorable and chilled out evening- unlike almost any other night out in London I had ever had, in a drinking establishment.

In this subterranean underground tavern, the staff are welcoming and knowledgeable and that’s just another reason for Gordon’s Wine Bar being one of central London’s finest hidden gems.

Home to Samuel Pepys in the 1680s, the wine bar dates back to 1890 and is the oldest in London. Hanging out in the archaic and charming venue, you can’t help feel the history of the place and indeed the history of London flow through your veins as you gently ingest more and more of the good red stuff this place has to offer. Verdict: one of the best that all of London has to offer.