Bedales, London Bridge, London

Cuisine here is with a magical taste – if I could afford it would have dinner here every day!

Absolute must visit! Great variety of quality wines! helpful staff!

After reading the reviews I thought I must pop in. I was a little surprised to find the place empty, it was a lunch time but other venues appeared to be busy. £10 for a glass of chilled Beaujolais and a few olives was possibly the reason. No serviettes with the oily olives didn’t help my cause. I will try one of their wine tastings as admittedly the wine selection did look quite impressive.

Brilliant, would recommend to all

cozy venue..comfy and clean

I was looking for a place to go today after work and I have just seen Bedales as wine lover. After reading all these comments, I decided where to go.. Thanks.

the best Frecnh food in London

ok so this has to be me all time best wine bar in london the place is that good i will not spoil it with a review you just have to visit the place.

One of the most coziest places in London. Go there for a beer and meal , wont regret it ,I assure you

Great wine, cool vibe, pretty decent food (at least if you avoid the potato wedges) and very convenient for pre/post shopping breaks while at Borough Market.

I've come to regard Bedales as an excellent option for meeting up with folks - no matter what their taste or budget. It's a laid back place with economical food and drink options. But if you're keen to splurge, there are plenty of fine wines to choose from.

Odds are whenever you want to be there (early Saturday afternoon for example), lots and lots of other people will have a similar "good idea". But, my experience has been that with a bit of patience a place to sit usually opens up soon enough.

Also, the wine cellar is brilliant for popping in to grab a bottle to go.

What a fabulous little wine bar! I was worried that on a Saturday evening it would be crowded and thus unpleasant (I don't like elbowing in to bars to order...), yet it wasn't when I visited, so I had the pleasure of being able to look around myself and chat comfortably.

The wine list was interesting and the bar staff extremely knowledgeable and helpful. The gewurztraminer I sampled off the by the glass wine list was as crisp and refreshing as a Granny Smith apple. I can't wait to get back there and sample more... or do a wine tasting. Then I'll eat something, too. And once I've done that, I will probably be able to add another star to my rating.

Is there such a thing as an intelligent and unpretentious wine expert? Enter Arnaud. This French man knows his wines, in a way that doesn't intimate or smack of pompous righteousness, which is so very important when it comes to a night of wine tasting and education.

What I loved about our evening here was that there wasn't a question scoffed at or brushed aside, and we all felt comfortable enough to expose our lack of wine knowledge.

The tasting was very well designed- we were given 'unusual' wines, purposely designed to surprise us, get us talking about the differences and generally exploring the tastes. The tasting was essentially in the cellar- converted, allowing for minimal disruptions.
If you want to drop in for a more casual visit you can ring in advance (for if the wine you select needed time to breathe) but are just as welcome to show up- park yourself on one of the rustic wooden table and select a wine.

If you need help with your selection any of the staff are able to guide you comfortable according to your tastes.
Add a side of well chosen provincial cheese, olives or cornichons and your set for the next couple of hours!

Once again thanks to Qype for giving us an insight into the world of wine!

It may become apparent, dear reader, once you read further down the page, that we bloody love Bedales. It is for good reason.

I was part of a group led down to the converted cellar one night for an evening of wine tasting and appreciation by Wine Master Of The World (this may or may not be his correct title) Arnaud. We were taken carefully and amusingly by the hand through some pretty exciting and unusual wine, entertained by Arnaud's anecdotes of stories both with ("What's the most expensive bottle of wine you've sent back?" "£600") and without wine ("What do you order in a restaurant?" "Beer").

Holed up in the cellar I was amazed at how quickly the time passed - I learned a lot (a lot more than I still remember now - should have taken more notes) and massively enjoyed myself. I'll be bringing people back here time and time again.

UPDATE 02/11/09

Listen to me very carefully. Drop everything you're doing right now and go wine tasting at Bedale's in Borough Market. I've sipped cabarnets in St. Emillion, I've guzzled grigios in the Napa Valley and i've kwaffed Syrah's in Stellenbosch, but none of these experiences compared to the awesomeness of the private wine tasting at Bedale's on Wednesday night!

The other reviewers below describe the evening with great panache, so i won't go into too much detail. What i will say is that the tasting evenings at Bedales are exceptionally good value for money, incredibly interesting and really good fun. This is a great place to come with friends, with your folks, with colleagues or on a date.

Highly recommended!

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Popped in here last night for a few glasses of wine. Excellent selection and the staff are happy to give you a taste before selling you a paritcular glass or bottle. Lots of room to sit down and, although we didn't eat, the food looks great. A very decent bottle of wine won't cost you more than £20.

Killer location and certainly a hidden gem of Borough Market!

Super night doing wine tasting at Bedales last night with the perfect balance of entertainment/learning something new/having a smashing time.

Arnaud opened a window to his life and passion as he shared trying new bottles of wine - new to him too - including tips of what it should look, smell and taste like, but ultimately enforcing that 'right' is actually a very subjective term and in fact 'right' for you is most important. I quite like that. Gone are the days of pompous wine experts and the feeling of panic if you're charged with ordering wine for a table of guests. Tackle it instead as an adventure for everyone to partake in, and accept that even by grape one can differ greatly from the next so just give it a go and learn from there what tickles your palate.

Aprt from the education piece the setting is marvellous nestled in the heart of Bourough market and the decor is unpretentious and basic, with outside-ish tables where you're allowed to smoke. Cost of wine varies by glass from £3.50 upwards and you can get a decent bottle to takeaway for £15, with a corkage fee if you wish to drink it in house. You can get basic platters of authentic French cheese, meats and pickles too. Great date spot and great for groups if you can get in a tasting session.

Well what can you say about a place the serves a great selection of wines from around the world, even Australia, wines that you would never select for yourself because you have never heard of them or because you are a scared little hermit will not try something new. Fresh and flavorsome food that compliment the wine but just compliment the atmosphere of the place. So what do you say about Bedales....F@>king amazing.

I will be coming back

I have been to Bedales several times, and never been disappointed by the quality of the food or the atmosphere that is really pleasant!! I highly recommend it to anyone willing to eat well!

Bedales is a little gem of a place in the bowels of the Borough market (in their cellar you can feel the vibrations as trains rattle overhead). It offers a brilliant selection of wines from small and unusual wineries. If you are bored of drinking the same old wine or in a wine rut this is the place to come. On a Qype tasting we also got to sample Bedale’s charcuterie and cheese boards which were truly brilliant - especially the comte and pickled garlic. Arnaud the Managing Director and “Bedales Wine Drinker” is a wealth of information and enthusiasm so if you can track him down in the store for advice you should do so.

When education, wine, and food come together in a charming setting, it’s a very good night.

I enjoy wine, though I confess that I am not educated. I usually grab a random bottle, or re-visit the same wines over and again, but at Bedales I learned a lot about why I make my choices and why to not base my choices on grape variety alone.

In the future, if I am wanting to try a new wine or too, or take an out-of-town guest out for a nice bottle, this is exactly where I will return. The staff is knowledgeable, friendly, and the pours are what they should be - sized for sipping, not gulping!

What a treat. A proper wine shop that knows it stuff, where you can sit down and try things by the glass and if you’ve tasted something that’s really tickled you pink, buy a bottle to take home with you to enjoy later. It’s a wine bar too see, and food to compliment your glass they also have. Cheeses, meats, olives- everything to work those taste buds into a frenzy and all things that are satisfyingly salty making the wine all the more delicious. The Borough Market branch of this three store strong business is the first. Bedales head drinker and managing director Arnaud Compas started selling organic wines in 2001 in the market. Slowly one thing led to another, bonds were made, money was found and Bedales was born. Their philosophy is pure and simple. Drink the wine you enjoy and enjoy the wine you drink. This is not about knowing the chemistry behind it all, it’s about the result: the drinking. Know the flavours, excite your taste buds and enthusiasm and the knowledge will come later. With things you won’t be able to find elsewhere and things you would never have tasted before (I urge you to try the Fugnano Vernaccia di San Gimignano, but hold onto your seats, you’re in for a surprise) Bedales is surely in a realm all of its own. All hail to the gods of wine.