Joe Wadsack is tasked with finding the best champagne-imbibing spots for the festive period.
Champagne has many homes around the world, but London has long been one of its favourite residences. Here, the most celebratory drink of them all is so ubiquitous it needs little cause nor occasion for pouring. But if I needed a reason to pop that most famous of corks, mapping out London’s best champagne spots for Class magazine, is surely a worthy one.
A champagne crawl, to state the obvious, is not an inexpensive adventure – and never more so than now. Since Covid, prices have been reset across the city and it is rare to find any champagne by the glass in bars for less than £14, whether the venue be a bar chain or a five-star hotel. So, I have tried to accommodate three types of customer here: the wine enthusiast/nerd, where an interesting by-the-glass offer is available; the drinker who is looking for value above all; and, finally, the special-occasion seeker, looking for a venue not just good enough for a date, but perhaps even a proposal.
Let’s start with the least expensive I’ve found – south of the river and at Three Cheers Pub Co in south west London offering a 125ml a glass of the very drinkable Gremillet champagne for £8.50 (or decent English fizz for the same money). If you’re looking for more than a couple of glasses, the sub-£50 bottle of decent champagne is a bit of a Holy Grail. Here you have it and lovely boozers they are too.
For the bargain hunter who wants the experience without the pocket pain, Andrew Gray’s group of bars and speakeasys, notably including Plume, almost opposite the Royal Opera House, they can drink strange fizzes from all over the globe or have a glass from a choice of first-class English offerings and less-prestigious French ones, such as a rather delicious Blanquette de Limoux from J Laurens at under a tenner a glass. Great décor, and they served the best grilled cheese sandwich in London, hands down.
Also in the neighbourhood is the flagship branch of Champagne & Fromage, a small, growing franchise of wonderfully French neighbourhood wine, cheese and charcuterie bars. For those more ‘south of the river’-minded there’s one in Brixton Market too, simply-called Cheese & Fizz. Like most places, its champagne offer starts around £13 per glass, but by the time you have been talked up to a characterful Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs champagne from Pertois Moriset, by the irresistibly charming and fabulously French dame de la maison, Maud, you remember why you came. Great fondue and other associated cheesy offerings.
Interesting and obscure
Now, context, levels of luxury and geography will all have their bearing on price, and for those looking for the interesting and the obscure, the next recommendation isn’t for you. But, if you want to impress a date and enjoy one of London’s most beautiful night vistas, I would strongly recommend Aqua Shard. It has a minimum spend per person which, funnily enough, is exactly the same price as two glasses of Veuve Clicquot NV. Isn’t that the point though? £50-£60 buys two of you a glass of one of the best-known champagnes (I still have a Pavlovian buzz when I see that yellow label), no doubt with a nibble or two thrown in, a luxurious table on the 31st floor in a beautiful bar, with a very comfortable leather seat, floor to ceiling triple-glazed windows showing one of the finest city views in the world and service by well-trained staff.
There is always something rather special about having a pre-dinner glass at one of London’s iconic five-stars. The Rivoli Bar at the Ritz is gorgeous, and we all know how dazzling The Connaught is, but my choice, because it has that gorgeous, oh-so-French Pepé le Pew décor, is the Painter’s Room in Claridges, currently offering Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2012 at £150 for a couple of glasses. Considering where you are and who you’re no doubt drinking amongst, this would warrant being considered a fair price. It’s a champagne that I often serve blind against Dom Perignon, with one inevitable outcome. Yep, that’s how I’d propose, if I had to do it again.
On another level, nothing says to me “We’re going somewhere!” or “Let’s celebrate having done that thing” quite like champagne. Searcys’ fantastic Champagne Bar at St Pancras (and, more recently, Battersea Power-station) is just brilliant at feeding on that sense of portent. You never feel crowded on account of the open-air vibe and carriage-like privacy from one table to the next. Also, it’s a great list, with all the big hits, and a few more cerebral choices too. Me? I would drink Drappier Zero Brut and Palmer Blanc de Blancs all night at very fair prices…
For the glamorously minded, there are so many new places – Corinthia, of course, The Peninsula, Nomad, the roof top at Sea Containers (along with the legendary OXO fifth floor, it has perhaps the finest Thames’ vista of all). However, I keep going back to the caviar-fuelled, Austro-Hungarian chic of Bob Bob Ricard on the corner of Golden Square, Soho. Never had a bad meal or an off experience, and it always feels slightly better value than anywhere else… and it’s soo romantic. Oh, and then there’s that button at every table that simply says “Press for champagne”.