London Corkage

I am very happy to pay for quality and value but it has somewhat annoyed me for years at how most of London Restaurants work on “formula mark-ups”. One understands that a £5 bottle needs to be £20 but when you can buy a decent bottle for £30 do you really want to pay £120? An emphatic no. That, along with the virtual flat tax on wine, simply makes the majority of us trade-down when it comes to choosing wines. There are rare examples (such as Andrew Edmunds in Soho; Sager & Wilde in Hoxton) where the wines are mostly fairly priced to begin with. However, for those discerning few of you (1 in 14!) I have duly drawn-up a recommended Restaurant list, obviously focused from W8 outwards, where they offer corkage from £5 a bottle upwards, most circa £20, and examples that it might be prudent to cherry-pick a good bottle beforehand and duly take it with you.
 

Not exhaustive and I can’t guarantee 100% accuracy but a hint of some local or near local Restaurants that offer “corkage”.

 

W8 Kitchen W8 – £25, Free corkage on Sunday evenings

W8 The Mall Tavern – £12.50

W8 Min Jiang - £45

W11 Essenza – £20 (wine), £35 (champagne)

W11 Osteria Basilico – £20

W1D Bocca di Lupo – £15 per bottle (375ml for dessert wines)

W1K Burger & Lobster (Mayfair & Soho) – £20

W1K Corrigan’s Mayfair – Free corkage on Mondays (at bar counter)

W1F Ember Yard – £19

W1T Salt Yard – £16* (please ask at time of booking) *maximum of 3 bottles per table

W1S, EC2R & E14 Goodman – £25

W1S Gymkhana – £25

W1T & W1J Hakkasan (Hanway Place & Mayfair) – £30 (wine), £35 (champagne)

W1J Hawksmoor – £25 (£5 on Mondays, lunch and dinner)

W1T Kitchen Table – £35 (maximum of 1 bottle per person)

W1H Locanda Locatelli – from £25 

W1J Nobu (London & Berkeley St) – £35* (wine), £45* (champagne) * 

W1T Pied à Terre – £50 (£25 if also purchasing from wine list)

W1T The Ninth Free corkage fee on Mondays for up to 6 people (lunch and dinner)

W1B Roux at The Landau – starting from £30

W1J The Square – £50* (£25 if also purchasing from wine list) *maximum of 1 bottle per person

W1T Suka – £25.50 (please mention at time of booking)

W1H & W1F Vinoteca (Marylebone & Soho) – £15 (wine), £25 (sparkling)*
*Free corkage on Mondays if buying from wine shop

W1S Wild Honey – £28 (wine), £48 (champagne)

W1F & EC2M Yauatcha – £25 (wine), £50 (champagne)

 W2 Hereford Road – £15 (wine), £25 (sparkling)

W2 Marianne – £25

 SW1 Burger & Lobster – £25

SW1Y Chop Shop – £19* (wine) £28* (sparkling) *price of house equivalent

SW1X Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley – £50

SW1P Roux at Parliament Square – £24 (white), £29 (red), £39 (dessert), £79 (champagne)

SW1A Sake No Hana – £30 (wine), £45 (champagne)

SW1X Zafferano – starting from £50

SW3, SW7 & E20 Bumpkin – £17.50

 SW3 Daphne’s – £15 (wine), £30 (premium wine – riserva, grand cru, premier cru etc.)

 SW4 The Dairy – £20

SW4 Trinity – £20 (wine), £30 (champagne)

 SW6 Harwood Arms – £25

 SW1W Enoteca Turi – £20 (wine), £25 (champagne)

 SW17 Chez Bruce – Free Corkage on Sunday evenings and £15 afternoons - £30 evenings.

EC1A Club Gascon – £25

EC1M St. John Bar & Restaurant – £25 (wine), £35 (sparkling or dessert wine), £45 (wine magnums), £70 (champagne magnums)