12 of the best wine bars to book for Restaurant Month 2026
Published 27 January 2026

A useful address on Kingly Street, this tiny corridor of a wine bar – high stools, tapas-style tables, a scattering of outside seating – is the place to come for a glass of wine and tasty, snacky food ranging from plates of Neal's Yard cheese and Cobble Lane coppa to an excellent beef sando (with a vibrant purée of dill and pickled cucumber). An interesting and unusual list of low-intervention wines from European producers, plus a couple of cocktails, keep this relaxed spot nicely buzzing.

From the team behind Higher Ground and Flawd, Bar Shrimp is an appealing idea: a bar that does seafood. Low lights, red neon and draped velvet are the backdrop for robust cocktails such as a marigold gimlet or a 'disco ball' shot of mezcal with yellow and green chartreuse, plus beers on tap and decent house wine – a perfect match for a menu that works best when viewed as a repository of fine nibbles. 

Build your own well-sourced seafood platter with St Austell mussels, Cornish native oysters and super-fresh scallop tartare, or run with the small plates. Devilled eggs with brown crab and trout roe pack umami, heat and textural pop, while 'croqueta-style' Arbroath smokie fritters are the pick of the hot stuff. There’s one single, magnificent pudding – iced metal goblets of soft-serve malted-milk ice cream with malt caramel and bread 'frosties' – which be augmented with a shot of coffee or rum.

For something quick and drinks-friendly, also check out the 'lounge snack menu' for the likes of cured pork croquettes or Exmoor caviar with house-cut crisps and sour cream. The hand-cut fries are great too.

Corkage has always felt like the kind of neighbourhood restaurant that can give a neighbourhood a good name. The original manifestation was in an engaging tiny space quite a way up Walcot Street and was so successful a larger branch opened in Chapel Row, just off Queen Square. Post-pandemic, only the Chapel Row branch has survived. A long and narrow dining room with chunky wood furniture, bookended by a snug front bar and a timbered and tented rear terrace, it’s instantly appealing, a very attractive operation with rough edges but with its heart in the right place. It works as a wine and small-plates bar, offering great value, breezy, friendly service, and bags of atmosphere. The short, regularly changing menu is reflective of the Mediterranean basin, the seasons, and the chef’s enthusiasms. Thus you’ll find cured-and-torched mackerel fillet with soured cream, vermouth jelly and breadcrumbs alongside lamb sweetbreads with a mix of peas, broad beans and shallots, a dab of labneh and a smear of herb oil. Or there could be slow-braised shoulder of lamb with butter beans, lemon and greens, and nicely charred octopus atop chickpea purée with a red pepper and onion salad. Pudding might be a tart (perhaps lemon with crème fraîche) or a special of burnt Catalan cheesecake. Not the least attraction of the place is the long list of kindly priced wines, a mainly classy Eurocentric coterie with skin contact and 'funky' offerings, plus a good by-the-glass selection.

A self-confessed ‘wine bar which became a restaurant by mistake’, chef-proprietor Craig Thom’s multi-purpose venue in a Georgian townhouse also accommodates an art gallery, a private events space, a coffee shop, open-mic nights, weekend brunch, tastings, cocktails and more besides. The restaurant itself is a high-ceilinged room with screen prints and Scottish oil paintings for sale at the back, and big windows looking out onto Aberdeen’s Golden Square.

The food is eclectic and flexible, with the option of a set menu with wine pairings, a small-plate selection, and a pared-back lunchtime offer. We plumped for a pick-and-mix selection of small plates, which unexpectedly arrived in one fell swoop: truffled smoked salmon on sourdough toast; fresh, expertly cooked sardines with lightly dressed, peppery rocket; a pear and serrano ham salad; a superb butternut squash and pearl-onion tart tatin laced with whisky (one of Thom’s favourite tipples), plus a side of fries and peppercorn sauce. From the set menu, expect more ambitious offerings ranging from smoked beetroot with tarragon and mascarpone to cod with ratatouille and mussels or côte de boeuf to share, with burnt Basque cheesecake to finish.

As well as being a whisky buff, Thom also knows his wines and has assembled an offbeat list of exclusively organic, Old World tipples full of surprises: following his advice, we sampled an excellent Chardonnay from Welsh producers, Mountain People.  Overall, Faffless is a lively, creative and welcome addition to Aberdeen’s social scene.

There's no lack of smart dining pubs in North Norfolk, but a brilliant neighbourhood bistro? Head to Cromer for a refreshing change of format and a dose of cosmopolitan cool. Opened in 2024 by Daniel Goff (fresh from 15 years running the Dun Cow in Salthouse) and local artist Ruth Butler, their transformation of a former butcher's shop has lifted the spirit of the seaside town and amassed legions of firm fans.

A bar at the front serves as an informal drop-in, perhaps for a frosty Fino Martini and snacks of warm brioche buns, oysters and gildas – a line-up to rival any in the capital. But Ruth’s colourful paintings and a welcome full of warmth and personality will lure you into the smart, blue-hued dining room at the back.

There’s simple elegance to a menu in tempo with the seasons and littered with the best of Norfolk’s produce and beyond. Cromer crab might appear in a dainty tart with samphire, in a soufflé with shellfish bisque, or in crispy fritters with crab chutney, while larger plates take in local line-caught sea bass or a guinea fowl suprême with a knockout tarragon brioche pudding and sauce vin jaune. A mention must go to the superb-value £15 lunch specials, perhaps steak haché with peppercorn sauce and a generous side of excellent parmentier potatoes, plus a glass of wine. 

The enthusiasm inspired by Fino’s perfect pitch gets neighbouring tables talking, not least when it comes to dessert. Our lemon posset was extraordinarily good; artfully tangy with Norfolk strawberries in their sweet, fragrant prime. But so was the gently warm, gooey treacle tart with a short buttery crust. Drinks uphold the theme of approachability, with a 460ml Lyonnaise pot heading up the bottle list for exploration, while a line-up of unfiltered sherries is a nod to the restaurant’s namesake. ‘I feel incredibly lucky to have Fino open on my doorstep,’ said one of many readers who wrote in to sing its praises. We couldn’t agree more.

Located in multicultural Levenshulme, this small-plates restaurant, wine bar and wine shop has moved to larger premises on the opposite side of the A6. The new place is almost twice the size of the original, and they now have a kitchen bigger than a broom cupboard. That said, owners Caroline Dubois and Isobel Jenkins have replicated the relaxed look and feel of their old venue: furnishings are simple and the colour palate low-key.

The menu is mostly vegetarian/vegan but neither didactic nor absolutist – an occasional chicken sandwich may cause a bit of fuss but the kitchen sticks to its principles, serving up innovative dishes based on organic, seasonal and locally produced food. Sustainability is also more than a token buzzword, while staff have a friendly, personable approach and detailed knowledge of the regularly changing repertoire.

A ‘larger’ plate of fermented potato, celeriac and cavolo nero gratin – a clever variation on a dauphinoise theme – comes with a chicory and orange salad, while smaller plates might range from butternut squash with hazelnut, sage, pickled mushrooms and fried egg to a brightly composed, pastel-hued crunchy salad of cauliflower, sprouts, pomegranate, sesame and mint. To finish, you can’t go wrong with Pump Street chocolate ganache with cocoa nibs and olive oil. Excellent cakes and bakes are also available from the takeaway counter, along with Isca’s own maple-and-rosemary nuts and various gourmet goodies.

On the drinks front, Isca specialises in natural wines, with the emphasis firmly on low-intervention and biodynamic producers. The list also provides a bonanza for those simple souls who delight in collecting wacky labels such as Lunatic (from Frederic Mabileau and Garo'vin in the Loire) and Stop Making Sense (from Fruita Analògica in Girona). 

Labombe is the casual restaurant from chef Jonny Lake and sommelier Isa Bal, the dynamic culinwary duo behind Trivet in Bermondsey. What was once the storied Met Bar on Park Lane has been converted into a plush dining room within the five-star Como Metropolitan hotel. The stylish, neutral-toned room features luxurious suede banquettes and textured, plastered walls hung with a rotating selection of works by young British artists. On the day we ate, Lake was conducting service from the dining room across the marble-topped counter overlooking the open kitchen. 

Centred around a grill and wood-fired oven, the carte offers simple but flavourful dishes, including tender medium-rare duck hearts grilled on a skewer with cherries and lardo and that must-order umami bomb of a snack – a hot tongue bun, slow-cooked, thinly sliced meat in a toasted milk brioche bun with anchovy mayonnaise, blackcurrant mostarda, cucumber, radish and Padrón pepper pickles. 

The two-course set lunch menu offers exceptional value, especially given the rarified neighbourhood. A whole spatchcocked French poussin, imported from Rungis market (according to our affable and efficient waiter), was roasted in the oven, glazed with a delicious, piquant charred tomato glaze (a condiment that appears a few times across the menu) and served with a beautiful, sprightly dressed organic green salad from Flourish farm in Cambridgeshire. An elegant, rounded rectangular fondant made with high-quality Manjari chocolate, filled with hazelnut ganache and served with white-coffee ice cream was a decidedly superior iteration of that now-ubiquitous dessert. 

Labombe is also a restaurant for serious wine lovers – you walk through a glass-encased cellar holding a thousand bottles on your way into the dining room – but drinking here needn’t break the bank. There are two lists, titled ‘A’ and ‘B’. The latter is where you’ll find big hitters from Burgundy, Bordeaux and Barolo, but stick with the former for bargains such as a £29 bottle of Les Vignerons de la Vicomte, Maison Vermentino from the Languedoc.

The Radford family’s follow-up to their Edinburgh flagship Timberyard shares its traits as a singularly stylish and occasionally esoteric place to eat. Perched at the top of Montrose Terrace, an all-white paint job had erased signs of its past life as a pansies-in-the-window pub and sets the tone for minimalist interiors, neutral tones and natural textures.

There are two ways to enjoy Montrose. On the ground floor, a warmly lit wine bar attracts an all-day crowd who come for the roster of light plates (sardines on toast, say) and the magnificent drinks list – a well of creativity, curated by Anna Sebelova and shared with Timberyard. Vermouths, liqueurs and bitters are all made in-house, while softs such as hibiscus and wormwood kombucha or the unusual savoury notes of Koseret tea keep things interesting for the abstainers.

Upstairs, chef Moray Lamb’s cooking gets a little more serious with a set menu of four courses (plus canapés and petits fours) for around £80. The atmosphere is more serious too, with space for just 15 diners, tables dressed in unbleached linens and light coming mostly from the dim glow of pillar candles – although a two-hour time allocation on tables puts Montrose at odds with its tasting menu compatriots elsewhere in the city.

Our winter visit began with a duo of superlative snacks (a delicate smoked eel doughnut, and a bite of choux au craquelin filled with Gubbeen cheese), while an opener of Shetland squid in a tangle of noodle-like strips felt more technically interesting than lovably delicious. A beautifully wobbly veal sweetbread blanketed in a silky Jerusalem artichoke sauce suffered from a hint of over-seasoning, but nothing could trump the triumphant savoury finale – pink-fleshed sika deer with sophisticated accompaniments including celeriac, pine and juniper.

The wine list is also a triumph – an oenophile’s tour of English and European viticulture, with the emphasis on organic and natural production. Choices by the glass are many and varied, but also look for bottles highlighted in ‘orange’. Overall, we found the service to be informed and amiable, if a little softly spoken at times. Our advice: save the moody refinement of the restaurant for an intimate occasion and revel in the buzzy fun of the wine bar as frequently as possible.

Set up and run by three wine-loving friends, this sociable fun-loving addition to the Peckham scene is equally good for date nights, serious imbibing or a neighbourly midweek catch-up over a glass or two. Inside, all is warm, casual and full of light, with an open kitchen, bar seating and a bevy of casual staff; ‘everyone has a good knowledge of the wine menu,’ observed one visitor. Food is tailored to drinking, so expect a short ‘veg-heavy’ roster of snacks and sharing plates, with vegetable dishes as the ‘outstanding winners’: big, moreish porcini croquetas; fried artichoke with Parmesan cream and serrano ham; roasted cauliflower with red curry and cashews. The chef is Spanish (as you might have guessed), and his repertoire also includes dishes such as ‘really flavoursome’ Basque-style hake with mussels. The 150-bin wine list is a well-informed compendium of bottles from small-scale, eco-friendly producers, with plenty of options by the glass. The owners also run a wine club and an online shop.

One of the ‘coolest’ places to move to in 2025 (according to The Times), Newnham’s recently elevated reputation rests more than a little on the opening of this fantastic boutique bistro and bottle shop. Beautifully restored from its previous incarnation as a Post Office, the formerly derelict building remains artfully distressed – think bare plaster ceilings and rough wooden floors – yet very stylish. Owners Ben Thompson and Florence de Maré are both successful designers, and it shows. Head chef Fred Page, most recently of Marle at Heckfield Place, commands the room from behind a high-top counter surrounding his open kitchen. You can sit at that counter, or at a scattering of tables around the room – there are no bad spots here. 

Likewise, there are no bad choices on Page’s weekly changing menus, which show a deep love and respect for the abundant local produce in this overlooked corner of Gloucestershire – some of which comes from the owners’ nearby smallholding. Everything is made in-house, from the cordial in your rhubarb Bellini to the unbelievably crispy olive oil-soaked spelt rolls, and Page’s small plates tease out the very best from his chosen ingredients. Feast on a snack-sized, oozingly rich pig’s head croquette with a tart, tarragon-infused sauce ravigote, a plate of perfectly executed, lemon-scented chard and ricotta ravioli, or a hearty bowl of zarzuela with monkfish, octopus and cockles. If you can resist a hunk of local cheese with homemade chutney and bara brith, pudding could be strawberry and elderflower meringue. Excellent-value lunchtime deals are also available. 

Wines by the 175ml glass or 375ml carafe are chalked on a blackboard, or you can choose something special from the additional 'premium' list. This is, of course, a bottle shop, so there’s plenty more choice on the shelves behind you. Delightfully warm, personal service makes you feel like an old friend – or, at least, a very welcome new one. 

Charlie Sims and Honey Spencer opened Sune amid the video-production facilities and fight-clubs of rejuvenated Hackney in early 2024, at one edge of Broadway Market, behind a turquoise frontage on the main road but with a window at one end of the irregularly shaped room offering peeps on to the Regent's Canal. It's clearly been taken to heart by a gang of loyal regulars, and offers a warmly embracing style of service, with simple modern bistro dishes that emerge from a partially viewable kitchen.

Among the snacks, things in shells are not to be missed: a lovely Carlingford oyster acidulated with grapefruit juice and aromatised with fennel; a red-hot grilled scallop in blood-oranged Champagne butter. The three starters when we visited were a serving of wafer-thin ox tongue dressed in salsa verde and piled with watercress, a stracciatella salad, and – bemusingly – a hefty serving of roast lamb shoulder with leeks, wild garlic and labneh, a supporting act with ambitions to become the main draw, if ever there was. The actual main draws are less inspired then what goes before.

Fish and meat come in two sizes, the first perhaps a barbecued fillet of bream with untreated shredded kohlrabi, the latter a pork chop of such enormous heft that its larger sibling must be positively intimidating. It was decent meat, with plenty of fat, in a thin Madeira wash speckled with green peppercorns. To finish, lemon tart might come with obtrusively salted house-made mascarpone, but do make room for a couple of the salt caramel chocolate truffles. Wines are a bit of a jumble, with some slippage between the ‘natural’ and ‘white’ categories, but there is a clear effort to source interesting flavours to accompany the food.

A modern French, all-day dining spot with 'Swiss Army Knife' versatility, easing a lunchtime drop-in, wine bar, casual restaurant, café-deli and private-dining balcony into a repurposed railway arch where a buzzy atmosphere reverberates all around. The small-plates menu is equally suited to light repasts and grande bouffes, ranging from frog's legs, escargots and moules marinière to confit duck, boeuf bourguignon and grilled lamb rump with rosemary jus. Alternatively, spend an afternoon at the bar in the company of the brilliant staff, eating plates of artisan charcuterie and fromage with homemade chutneys while working your way through tasting flights of their wine list (reckoned to be ‘the best in the city’). Glasses of vin de la maison start at £6.