London has always been one of my favourite places to visit as it just has so much to do and see from all around the world. Frankly it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve visited this lovely city as every time I go I end up finding something new and wonderful. This last trip there was certainly no exception as, while doing a wine tasting at Browns in Covent Garden, I got to talking with some locals who ended up telling me about what has now become my absolute favourite thing in the entire city, Gordon’s Wine Bar.
South East of Trafalgar Square and just behind Charing Cross Station you’ll find an unassuming entrance to an alley nestled between some old building lined with shops and one of London's many parks. Here you find the alley lined with tables, chairs, umbrellas and a small set of stairs going down into what looks like a basement, but which opens up into an amazing brick cellar lined with photos, old posters and of course one of the most amazing bars in the city. This is Gordon’s, an old style London bar with an alley terrace against the beautiful Victoria Embankment Garden.
And when I say old style in regards to this place, I truly mean it. Gordon’s was established all the way back in 1890, and apparently holds the distinction as London's oldest wine bar. When you walk into this place it shows in the most magnificent ways possible. The decor is solidly out of the 19th century, and frankly you wouldn’t be wrong here if you thought you were walking into a Dickens novel when entering the old vaulted rooms. Though it certainly does show its march through time with the wonderful photos and posters lining the walls. You see everything from hundred year old ads, pictures of old prime ministers (Churchill of course showing a fair few times) to even newspaper clipping spanning the years this amazing place has been open.
Thankfully though with all this history and pedigree, this place is the farthest one can be from stuffy and old. The bar is welcoming with an exuberant energy you just can’t help but love. No matter if you choose to sit in the candle lit vaulted cellar or the alley outside by the park you end up seeing nothing but people, of every walk of life, just enjoying themselves. The staff here certainly helps that being friendly and helpful. Since this was my first visit I felt slightly overwhelmed by the selection on offer not knowing what to get, but one of the staff took the time to run me through there wine list and even made suggestions of his favourites on both the wine and the food. Which I was not disappointed with either.
So let's start with the food, its awesome. But to expand a bit more Gordon’s has a great selection running the whole gamut. They have what you would call a more traditional menu of foods from tapas to a sunday roast dinner. But, again to make sure you don’t think the place is stuffy, they also serve things like burgers and hotdogs. In my mind though they really excel at there cold plates and cheese platters, I mean come on who doesn’t love wine with cheese. Which getting into specifics, during my time there we ordered the pate with baguette during one visit and the cheese platter during our second. The pate was delicious, smooth and went so very well with the wine recommended to me for it. As for the cheese, well it was divine. The cheese platters are quite impressive here with you being able to select the cheese, pickles, jams etc which you want on the board and you just go to town, my recommendation though is to buy an extra baguette or two as you’ll need it.
Now onto the wine, which arguably is probably the most important part seeing as how it is a wine bar. And what else can I say but that it’s glorious. They have a great selection of wine to choose from which even includes some of their own creation. My personal favourite in my time there was their own branded Tawny Port served from the barrel. I love port, and this one was pretty great with it’s dark ruby colour, fruity flavour with a hint of oak. All in all a nice port at a decent price point, £5.40 per Schooner. Besides that we also had the Prosecco Treviso Pasqua at £7.50 a glass. A decent prosecco wine with a nice lemon zest aroma and a taste of pears, for the price not a bad drink by any stretch. These 2 only scratched the surface of the wines there that you can get by the glass, carafe or just straight up by the bottle.
This bar is frankly one of the best finds I’ve seen in London for some time. It has everything someone like me could want, historic but vibrant atmosphere with great food and even better wine. You just can’t go wrong this place as it’s a great place for either a quick drink or an extended lounge staring out at the park, and with Embankment Station just few metres away it’s easy to get too. So next time you’re in London don’t forget to try this place out, I know I will.
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