Why London’s BYOB Scene Spans 36 Countries (and what to drink in their restaurants)
Forty years ago, if you wanted to eat proper shatkora beef curry – made with the sharp citrus fruit from Sylhet – you flew to Bangladesh. Bhuna khichuri wasn’t something curry houses served to British customers. It was comfort food cooked at home. The Vietnamese cafés weren’t offering ca kho to or bun bo […]
Which wines actually work with Indian Cuisine? More than you think…
Indian food destroys most wine for predictable chemical reasons. Capsaicin (the active heat component in chilli) amplifies tannin and alcohol into harsh, bitter compounds. High heat also numbs your palate’s ability to detect subtlety. This is why curry houses serve Cobra, not Châteauneuf-du-Pape. But Indian cuisine isn’t monolithic. Regional variations, spice levels, and cooking methods […]
10 reasons why London can’t get enough of BYOB culture
BYOB has moved beyond cheap student nights in the 1970s; here’s why Londoners are engaging with this rapidly expanding trend in the restaurant scene. 1. There’s a legitimate choice beyond just buying off list. In London, a standard mark-up is 3-4 x the price you would pay in a shop. That means the […]
How Bringing Your Own Bottle became London’s Tactical Gourmet Dining Strategy
Monday night at Hawksmoor Air Street, and someone has brought along a 1996 Pommard. They’re paying £5 corkage on top of the £30 they probably paid en primeur nearly 30 years ago, instead of the equivalent £200+ it would cost if the restaurant had it on its list today (which it doesn’t). The wine […]