25 Sep The Streatham Wine Guide
The pub: The Bull
While Streatham boasts a wealth of proper local boozers, gastro pubs and cosy drinking dens carrying a decent range of wines, The Bull deserves a special mention. Known for bright and airy interiors, a spacious outside space and a crowd-pleasing menu of pub grub favourites, they also stock a wide selection of wines by the glass starting from a reasonable price point of just under £5.
Many of the UK’s chain pubs have upped their game in recent years to combat the trend of people drinking more wine at home and are luring back wine drinkers by paying closer attention to their wine selection.
What I love about Youngs pubs is that they make it easy to sample new varieties by showcasing their wine list in easy to navigate categories such as “Crisp & Fruity”, “Mineral & Complex” and “Ripe & Juicy” so you can browse by your palate preferences rather than just by price. There’s more than one option under each category so adventurous wine drinkers can sip their way around the globe working through the menu.
The bar: Streatham Wine House
No round up of Streatham’s best establishments for wine lovers would be complete without mentioning Streatham Wine House. Since opening two years ago, it’s been an asset to the Streatham Hill community and one of those local gems that non-Streathamite friends are willing to travel to.
While I’ve long been a wine drinker, Streatham Wine House turned me into a wine lover thanks to their friendly knowledgeable staff, ever rotating wine list, flights of wine with tasting notes and great roster of events and tastings.
The long wine list is a true oenophile’s dream, but there are plenty of accessible options for anyone who feels the right answer to “what wine would you like?” is “large glass of red please”.
If you really want to learn a little more about wine, pop in on a weekend afternoon or early midweek evening when the staff are more than happy to chat about the latest menu, guide you towards trying a lesser known variety or give you some context about the independent wine producers they work with.
Wine tasting can be hungry work so make sure to check out their selection of small plates, charcuterie and cheeses to accompany your wine of choice, or visit on a Sunday for their “no forkagel” deal, a twist on the traditional restaurant corkage fee where you can enjoy a pizza from one of Streatham’s many takeaway options and eat in with a lovely glass (or flight!) of well paired wine.
The restaurant: Hood
Streatham is famed for the longest high street in Europe and you can sample culinary delights as varied as Mexican, Italian, Vietnamese, East African, West African, Portuguese, Middle Eastern, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese and South Africa’s beloved export, Nandos!
That may appeal to the culinary explorer in your life, but more of a headache when you are hosting out of town visitors and need to find something light for an elderly relative that will also impress the foodie in-laws, a burger loving teen and a toddler.
Hood to the rescue. A favourite of brunch lovers, craft beer and coffee drinkers, Hood is the quintessential “local gem” that everyone hopes to have in their own hood. See what they did there?
The seasonal menu changes regularly but you can expect to find bistro favourites such as steak frites and pies, Norfolk chicken, expertly cooked fish dishes and great quality vegetarian dishes alongside brunch favourites such as the Dirty Dexter beef hash muffin and eggs benedict. As a bonus, their brunch menu is served midweek alongside more traditional lunch options with a wide selection of side dishes.
The food is elevated by the well curated wine list of firm favourites available by the glass, carafe or bottle moving towards lesser known varieties or special occasion bottles further along the menu. For your non-wine drinking friends, there’s also clever cocktails, craft beers and a range of non-alcoholic options so you can sip your wine at leisure, enjoying hoods clean and cheerful summer house interiors.
Written by contributor: Louise Dunne (Streatham Hill local)
She recently started sharing her London wine bar suggestions, wine reviews and wine pairing recommendations on Twitter, Instagram and her blog.
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