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Top 10 London BYOB restaurants
With London not getting any cheaper any excuse to save should be welcomed, especially if it means sipping your own hand-picked wine while dining gourmet.
Bring-your-own-bottle (BYOB) is a concept which has been around for a while now. Simply put, it allows diners to bring their own booze to drink alongside a restaurant’s menu, normally for a nominal corkage fee.
While some might balk at the idea believing it tarnishes the sense of occasion in perusing a wine list, the concept has been welcomed by many a thrifty diner with some of London’s top chains opting to put on BYOB nights.
Not only can you pick a wine at your leisure from any number of off-trade outlets, but you can enjoy it at the fraction of the cost it would have cost off a wine list.
While there will always be a place for a carefully curated wine list, there is a undoubtedly a market out there thirsty for BYOB offers, as these London restaurants prove.
Scroll through for our top 10 pick of BYOB restaurants in London…
Harrison’s Brasserie and Bar, Balham
This all-day 90-seat brasserie with downstairs cocktail bar was opened in 2007 by Sam Harrison. Having worked with Rick Stein for two years, it seems Harrison impressed enticing the celebrity chef to invest in this venture. Its sleek basement bar alone is worth popping your head in for. On Monday night diners are invited to bring their own bottles, free of charge, when ordering from the a la carte menu.
15-19 Bedford Hill, Balham, London SW12 9RG
Grumbles, Victoria
Grumbles was first founded in 1964 when the most expensive dish on the menu was a fillet steak which would have set you back 9 shillings and sixpence (45p). House wine cost the same with the average bill for two totalling well under £3. Fifty years on the times have most certainly changed, however Grumbles is still going strong. Give it a try on a Monday night and enjoy your own bottle of plonk with no corkage, albeit limited to one bottle per two diners.
35 Churton St, Victoria, London, SW1V 2LT
Golden Hind, Marylebone
Located on a cobbled backstreet in Marylebone the unassuming Golden Hind has been serving up plates of battered fish and chips to its in-the-know locals since 1914 and will celebrate its 100th year in business this year. Posh-up your fish and chips with a bottle of bubbly by taking advantage of its £1 per bottle BYOB policy.
73 Marylebone Ln, Marylebone, London, W1U 2PN
Hix Oyster and Chop House, Farringdon
The original Mark Hix hangout, the Hix Oyster and Chop House operates a BYO policy on Monday nights with no fee for corkage. Located close to Smithfield Market, the restaurant offers up Mark Hix’s signature British menu with seasonal and daily changing dishes and British-sourced oysters, which can be served from its marble oyster bar.
36-37 Greenhill’s Rents, London, EC1M 6BN
Bonnie Gull Seafood Shack, Fitzrovia
This seaside restaurant, billed as “a nostalgic journey to the seaside holidays of our youth”, is a fish lovers paradise. Serving an array of fishy produce sourced from British shores, its specialities include the tempting whole Brixham Dover sole à la Meunière with Dorset clams and samphire, as well as an array of oysters. Corkage is charged at £3 a bottle.
21A Foley St, London W1W 6DS
B.Y.O.C, Covent Garden
While not strictly a restaurant, B.Y.O.C was one of the first to invite guests to dig out their unloved bottles of booze and bring them along to its in-house mixologists who will then whip them into an undoubtedly eclectic array serves. The bar charges a flat £20 charge per person which will buy you a two hour session with its mixologists.
28 Bedfordbury Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2
Tagine, Balham
A popular south-west London haunt, Tagine allows its diners to enjoy unlimited consumption of their own alcohol at no extra charge as it does not serve alcohol from its premises. With a very reasonably-priced menu of Moroccan dishes arrive with a healthy appetite, particularly if you choose to chow down on the cous cous mechoui for two – a whole shoulder of spiced lamb. Staff will gladly pack your leftovers to take home, unless you manage to eat it all. In addition to its ground level restaurant, it also boasts a Basement Lounge area.
3 Fernlea Rd, London SW12 9RT, United Kingdom
Hawksmoor, various locations
Given the quality and therefore cost of this popular London steakhouse its £5 corkage charge for bringing your own bottle on a Monday night is worthwhile. Available at all four of its branches in Spitalfields, Seven Dials, Guildhall and Air Street, there is no limit of the amount of bottles you can bring, but you will be charged £5 per bottle, so its probably best to bring a Nebuchadnezzar if you have one handy.
Various locations
Breakfast Club, Soho
The Soho branch of this trendy chain has a distinct advantage over others in the group in that it allows its diners to bring their own wine, or other tipple, at any time and for no extra charge. Why not stop in on a Sunday and enjoy a delectable breakfast of eggs benedict with a bottle of bubbly?
33 D’Arblay Street, Soho, London, W1F 8EU
Tayyabs, Whitechapel
The humble curry house could well be credited with kicking off the BYOB trend, and there is certainly no shortage of them in London. But if you are looking for a curry house not only with an open door policy on booze but top notch food to match, Tayabs could be the place. Founded in 1972, Tayyab’s is a family owned business serving up Punjabi cuisine with specialities including Batera – a rich curry made with quail meat.
83-89 Fieldgate St, London E1 1JU