The 7 best places to drink champagne in London
1. Osteria
Barbican Centre, City of London
A neon sign illuminating the herringbone parquet flooring of the Osteria bar boldly reads “Amore Bibo” or Latin for “Drink with love”, a knowing nod to the adjoining restaurant’s bold Italian cuisine. This week, it’s inviting guests for a themed tasting menu inspired the champagne house behind the most expensive bottle on its menu, Louis Roederer, and a tasting in London’s largest conservatory, which is home to exotic fish varieties and over 2,000 species of tropical plants and trees.
Most expensive bottle: Louis Roederer Vintage 2009 Rose, £110
2. Voltaire
19 Bridge Street, Temple
Named in honour of the French philosopher who famously spent six years exiled in London, this champagne bar has a number of gaudy, be-cushioned vaults in its bowels where you can wrap yourself up in faux-fur blankets and get in a total champagne tizz in privacy. There’s also a heated alfresco cigar terrace and VIP zones, where you can choose you own tunes on the music system and be served by a personal waiter.
Most expensive bottle: Cuvée Louise Rosé 2000, £590
3. Searcy’s
St Pancras Station, King’s Cross
Harking back to a bygone era of glamorous travel, this 90-metre bar is the longest champagne bar in Europe. Situated next to the Eurostar platforms, its brick-red leather banquettes are the perfect place to toast the French for their fabulous fizz. Eleven champagne houses converged on the bar for the National Champagne Week opening party on Saturday, but the venue is also hosting a tasting and dinner in partnership with Tattinger this week and a “Quizz & Fizz” night.
Most expensive bottle: Krug Clos du Mesnil, Blanc de Blancs, 1996, £1,400
Osteria is a place you can drink champagne. Go there. Drink. Feel better.
4. Vertigo42
Vertigo42, Tower 42, City of London
Live the high life both metaphorically and literally at the champagne bar at the top of Tower 42, one of the tallest buildings in the City. Serving a wide array of champagnes by the glass, by the bottle and by magnums, it also has a Laurent-Perrier flight sampling a Brut, a Vintage Brut, a Demi-Sec and an orange and raspberry champagne cocktail.
Most expensive bottle: Krug, Clos du Mesnil 1990, £920
5. Bar Americain
Brasserie Zedel, 20 Sherwood Street, Soho
If you don’t love Brasserie Zedel, then you need to reassess your life choices. The restaurant is a Titanic-esque art deco palace serving brilliant, reasonably-priced food. It has live jazz. And it has Bar Americain, a wood-panelled, dimly-lit temple to restrained indulgence. What better place to celebrate the spurious National Champagne Week than right here?
Most expensive bottle: Dom Pérignon 2006, £164
6. Bubbledogs
70 Charlotte St, Soho
This is one of the more unusual places to quaff champagne, combining everybody’s favourite fizzy wine with hot dogs. They are, at least, very well made hotdogs, with a variety of toppings, good meat and decent, freshly-baked buns. So you can simultaneously slum it and live the high life. Isn’t the London restaurant scene a wonderful thing?
Most expensive bottle: Cédric Bouchard, Roses de Jeanne, 'Le Creux d'Enfer', Brut, £160
7. Amuse Bouche
51 Parsons Green Ln, Parson’s Green
Amuse Bouche has loads of champagne and fizzy wine on offer to make sure your bouche is thoroughly amused. This south west London nightspot has a young vibe, dozens of wines and champagnes, and great food served by the excellent Claude Compton, who crafts a host of modern European dishes. It’s ideal for a date, so take the beautiful things in your life and treat them to expensive carbonated grape juice.
Most expensive bottle: Louis Roederer ‘06, £240