In our return trip to London as a part of our Northern Europe Tour 2024-2025, we really wanted to get in to Gordon’s Wine Bar, on the Embankment near Charing Cross. It is located on Villiers Street – ore more precisely, under Villiers Street. The best way to get to it is from either Charing Cross or Embankment tube station, and it is on Watergate Walk.

London’s Oldest Wine Bar

Apparently, Gordon’s Wine Bar is the oldest wine bar in London, dating from 1890. Whilst there are older pubs and bars in London (such as the Lamb and Flag that we visited in Covent Garden, dating from 1623), this is the oldest wine bar. We found the entrance on Watergate Walk, and tried entering at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon. It is not possible to make reservations, and last time we visited, the queue was out on to the street with people trying to get a seat.

We descended the steep wooden stairs after clearing with security that we were customers. We checked in with the bar staff, to be given a number placard and told that the wait was between 30 and 45 minutes to get a table. During that time, we got a glass of wine from the bar, and reviewed the menu.

Menu

The menu of meats and cheeses is the ideal thing for us, and we reviewed the various options of smoked fish, meat pies and scotch eggs, pate and sliced meat. We decided to go with the British Sharing Board, and to my surprise, Bianca had never had scotch eggs or pork pies before. Also on the menu was an extensive list of various cheeses, even a range of vegan cheeses. We were tempted to try everything, but that was not an option.

The cheese fridge was on display, but it was not a self-service feature unfortunately. Through the bar room, there were pictures and newspaper cuttings on the walls from significant events in British history. For Bianca, it was a revelation to see historical information directly from where it originated.

The Cellar Vaults

After our waiting time, we were taken in to the cellar vaults. This is a candlelit area with low ceilings that is the main seating area of Gordon’s Wine Bar. The roof is blackened with candle smoke, and the walls are rough, as they were intended to be a cellar. Each table has a single candle, and there is a wonderful atmosphere – not only of the lighting and architecture, but also of everyone else having fun.

This area holds around ten tables that can seat two or four, but there is a “cage” at one end that is a single larger table that can hold 12 people. The Cage has to be booked and has a minimum spend for the additional experience of being deep in the vault.

The staff looked after us well, ensuring that we had plenty of wine and food was brought out quickly. We assisted others to take photos and selfies (it is a very photogenic location) and the reciprocated by taking photos of us.

We are very happy that we took the opportunity to return at the right time to get a table in the vault at Gordons Wine Bar, and even though we ate and drank quicker than our waiting time, we believe it was well worth it.