Test Driving Stable Wines, an atmospheric place to explore new wine in Islington

The main communal table at Stable Wines

What do we need to know about Stable Wines?

When Hot Dinners were the first in through the door to check out the new wine bar by Alex Young & George de Vos, the pair behind Goodbye Horses and The Dreamery, it's fair to say we almost ran out of superlatives. With no early visuals to speak of, there was no preparing us for what we instantly proclaimed to be London's most beautiful wine bar. But things were crazy busy in the run-up to Christmas, so it's taken us until now to actually get back and try the food and drink.

Where is it?

You'll find it at the top of Essex Road in what most people presume is De Beauvoir but is actually Canonbury, halfway between The Brave gastropub and wine pub, Godet. Getting here by public transport makes Essex Road your nearest station, but it's also an easy bus ride from Angel or Highbury Corner.

What you're looking for is a modern glass wine shop. That's the tip of the Stable Wines iceberg, because at the back of the shop is a narrow staircase which takes you down to the wine bar, which is easily four or five times the size of what's above ground. This includes an area that used to be an old vault (back from the days when the building was a bank). Even as a second encounter we were still blown away by how gorgeous it all looks.

This is what you're looking for, on the corner of Essex Road and Englefield Road. 

I'm coming from across town. Can I book?

If you're a group of six or more booking one of the arches, you can book online, otherwise it's walk-ins only. That said, there is space up in the wine shop with its beautiful tasting table to linger over a glass if you're waiting for a table. Most of the space is walk-ins, so if you pick your time well, you should be fine.

Where should we sit?

There are three distinct areas down here. The main room is filled with a communal table. Off to the left, there's a round wine room with a circular table, then there's a longish corridor with three bookable private areas, and a space that's perfect for just perching and drinking.

We took a corner of the communal table with two ice buckets of wines available by the glass at one end and a lot of candles making everyone look lovely.

One of the alcoves is perfect just for enjoying a glass or two.

And there's food?

There is. Goodbye Horses' head chef Jack Coggins is also behind the food offering here. It's a tight menu - but if there's a group of you, you could easily order the whole thing. We had a fair stab at it. So here's what we tried.

Carlingford oysters - either with torched garlic butter (£7 each) or chilli mignonette (£5) each. There was also a third option of wasabi vinaigrette. Carlingfords are among our favourites, and if you are just going for one type, get those garlic butter ones.

Cheese toastie (£12) - instantly one of the best we've had in an age. There's one on the menu at Goodbye Horses too, but this one comes with a layer of onion chutney that elevates it to god-tier status.

Raw beef and fried potato soldiers (£20) - think hash browns/confit potatoes with a layer of beef tartare.

Tomato tartine with fromage blanc and bottarga (£14) - we're still not sure how/why this open tomato sandwich tasted so good, but we're here to tell you it's a must-order.

Prawns with egg mayonnaise and sorrel (£18) - another take on a Goodbye Horses signature dish, this time the egg mayonnaise come with pressed raw prawns and fresh sorrel.

Room for dessert?

There's only one, and you're going to want it.

Chocolate mousse (£10) - a bald description for what turns out to be a heavenly mousse, managing to be both light in texture and rich in taste, with flecks of salt to finish.

That's quite enough about the food. Tell us about the wine...

As you might expect from a wine bar in this part of town, the wine list is fully natural or 'zero-zero' according to their own description, so nothing has been added or removed. Running the wine offering here is Wine Director, Nathalie Nelles (Goodbye Horses/Ex-Noble Fine Liquor), and General Manager, Fred Clelland (Ex-P Franco/Tutto Wines), and they're both on hand to talk you through what's on offer. You can either pick a bottle from the shelves (drink-in and take-out prices are clearly listed), or get them to talk you through what's been opened that day for drinking by the glass.

Over the course of a great evening, we somehow remembered to take the details of three of the wines we enjoyed. A Picrochole by Loire winemaker Ariane Lesne (£11 a glass), which was a perfect match for that beef tartare; a P’tit Blanc by Domaine Goepp (£9) made even more drinkable by the 15 months it spends in old oak casks, and the very moreish Spanish white MAM by Joan Rubio (£10) - a mix of Xarel-Lo and Macabeu.

Wines by the glass at Stable Wines

Overall thoughts:

We'll be honest, we came predisposed to like Stable Wines; it's in our part of town, and we'd loved both Goodbye Horses and The Dreamery. All we can say is that we weren't disappointed. Whether you're catching up with a friend, here with a group, fancy a glass on your own or are here on a date, this would suit all. We're already making plans to go back and hit up the rest of the menu - there's a fried Mont d'Or with our name very much on it. And there are a lot of interesting bottles to work our way through...