Gordon's Wine Bar has been in the vaulted cellars beneath Villiers Street since 1890 — a fact that explains the ceiling (vaulted brick, perpetually damp), the lighting (candles pressed into wine bottles), and the atmosphere (a particular enclosed warmth that the city above is not offering). The bar is the oldest wine bar in London by most accounts and it has not improved itself in any way that matters: the yellowed newspaper cuttings remain on the walls, the wooden partitions that divide the space into semi-private alcoves remain, the house sherry and port remain as the correct order. The outdoor terrace on the Embankment Gardens is available in summer, but the vaults are the reason to come, and the vaults are best in November when the dark outside begins before five and the candles are the only argument for staying in one place.
Embankment, London, United Kingdom