Where can I drink my own wine in London?

Whether you collect wine or simply don’t want to pay restaurant prices for it, there are plenty of restaurants in London where you can take your own wine for a small charge.

Buying wine in restaurants can be a good way of accessing wines you could only otherwise buy in cases, which can be prohibitively expensive otherwise. And even if there’s a huge mark up, it can still be much more cost effective than buying a whole case just to have a taste. However, it can also be pretty expensive to buy wine in a restaurant, especially if you’re celebrating somewhere that’s already pricey.

Loads of London restaurants offer BYOB and corkage for variable fees, these are some of my favourite restaurants that let you take your own wine. However, it’s always wise to ring ahead as policies can change and some restaurants will want to know what you’re bringing as this may impact whether you can take it and how much it will cost you.

A shortlist of great restaurants in London offering corkage

Beast Restaurant

From £30 depending on format, producer and vintage but you may pay up to £60. Also has an extensive and impressive wine list but you may need to remortgage your house. Best steak in London for my money.

Locanda Locatelli

From £25 depending on format, producer and vintage but you may pay up to £60. Not a cheap meal out.

A good evening’s drinking at Locanda Locatelli- Sassicaia 2001, Cote-Rotie 2011, Gaja 2000

Pizza Pilgrims, Shoreditch

£2.50 per person, so good value for bottles of wine, poor value for bottles of beer. Worth checking they still offer this as they now appear to sell alcoholic drinks. Excellent pizza.

Hawksmoor, various locations

£5 flat charge on Mondays, so take a Jeroboam! £25 a bottle the rest of the week. Second best steak in London (see above).

Salon 2004 at Hawksmoor, South Kensington

Viet Grill, Hoxton

No charge, take a red to go with their Campfire Beef.

Wright Bros., Spitalfields

I suspect this applies to all locations, but you should ring to check. £27 a bottle flat charge.

Boca di Lupo, Soho

£15 per bottle with a delicious array of Italian food.

Noizé, Goodge Street

£30 per bottle but excellent value wines with limited mark up are also on offer.

Gaja wine at Noize restaurant, Fitzrovia

Pittcue, City of London

£30 per bottle to accompany good value wood-smoked meats.

If you want to know more, there’s also a great blog post I found when searching for corkage in London which is far more comprehensive than my list. https://londonbyolist.wordpress.com/