The Restaurant Guide for Wine Lovers
Melville and Sons
Melville and Sons is a wine-shop bar in Norwich pouring small, salt-forward plates alongside a merchant's list of about sixty wines, most available by the glass. The programme's strength is genuinely curated buying and an excellent, wide-ranging sparkling selection, held back only by the absence of any printed pairing guidance and of a Sherry glass for its cured-fish plates. It will suit a curious drinker happy to explore a well-chosen list by the glass more than one who wants their pairings chosen for them.
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Fancett's
Cambridge, East of England
French-inspired bistro
Fancett's is a French-inspired bistro in Cambridge serving a compact seasonal prix-fixe alongside a France-deep, seriously curated wine list. The programme earns its standing on genuine breadth and depth — mature Burgundy and claret, cru Beaujolais, a broad by-the-glass and carafe offer, and one of the deepest dessert-and-fortified sections a bistro carries — matched intelligently to the cooking. It will most reward the wine lover who wants a considered French list, by the glass or the bottle, to drink through a proper bistro dinner.
Read the assessmentDamson and Wilde
Bury St Edmunds, East of England
Mediterranean small plates and brasserie
Damson and Wilde is an all-day Mediterranean small-plates brasserie in Bury St Edmunds with a drinks list far broader than its brasserie billing suggests. The wine programme earns its place through range and access in equal measure — every colour by the glass and carafe, a premium tier that reaches grande marque Champagne and Barolo, and a plain-spoken tasting note on every bottle to guide the choice. It will most reward the curious drinker who likes to graze across small plates and taste widely by the glass, trusting a well-annotated list to lead the way.
Read the assessmentBishop's Dining Room and Wine Bar
Norwich, East of England
Modern British with Italian wine-bar identity
Bishop's is a two-rosette modern-British dining room and wine bar in central Norwich whose list reaches unusually deep for its size, from local Norfolk sparkling by the glass to a fine-wine tier of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Super-Tuscan bottles. The programme's strengths are genuinely serious buying, an excellent sparkling and Champagne offer and premium reds poured by the glass, held back only by the absence of any printed pairing guidance and of a fortified glass for the cheese and dessert. It will suit a drinker who enjoys a deep, well-chosen list and is happy to steer their own course, or to draw on the floor team, more than one who wants the pairing decided for them.
Read the assessmentThe Bishop's Cave
Bishop's Stortford, East of England
Wine, cheese and charcuterie bar
The Bishop's Cave is a wine, cheese and charcuterie bar in Bishop's Stortford where the food is kept simple and the list does the talking. Its wine programme pairs a collector's range — broad, characterful and generous by the glass — to the boards in front of you, with a Tawny for the blue cheese and a botrytis white for the sweet end both poured by the glass. It will most reward the curious drinker who wants to graze cheese and charcuterie while working through a genuinely personal list a glass at a time.
Read the assessmentThe Lighthouse Restaurant
Aldeburgh, East of England
Modern British, seafood-led
The Lighthouse is a long-standing, seafood-led Modern British restaurant on Aldeburgh's high street. Its wine programme punches well above the setting — a wide, keenly-priced everyday list with generous by-the-glass choice, a deep sparkling and English bench, and an aged Secret Cellar — let down only by the absence of a dry Sherry for its cured-fish plates and of any pairing guidance on the page. It will most reward the curious drinker who wants a coastal white with the seafood but enjoys knowing there is real depth, and a sommelier-worthy cellar, waiting behind it.
Read the assessmentThe One Bull
Bury St Edmunds, East of England
British gastropub
The One Bull is a Bury St Edmunds gastropub whose seasonal British menu is matched by a genuinely thoughtful, by-the-glass-forward wine list. The wine programme earns its place by making the right styles easy to find and easy to pour — crisp unoaked whites for an oily-fish-leaning kitchen, light juicy reds for the grills — even if it stops short of Champagne and dish-by-dish pairing notes. It will most reward the curious drinker who likes to taste widely by the glass and wants a well-chosen list to do the navigating.
Read the assessmentThe Hoste Arms
Burnham Market, East of England
British gastropub, seasonal Norfolk
The Hoste Arms is a long-standing north-Norfolk inn and gastropub on the green at Burnham Market, cooking a seasonal, produce-led British menu over a charcoal grill. Its wine list is broad, generously offered by the glass and unusually well described, doing its best work with high-acid whites and local English sparkling for the seafood and structured reds for the grill, even if it leaves the dessert menu without a sweet wine to match. It will most reward an easygoing wine lover who values by-the-glass choice, a deep Provence rosé selection and a genuinely local fizz over a specialist's cellar.
Read the assessmentThe Suffolk
Aldeburgh, East of England
Modern British brasserie, seafood-led
The Suffolk is a seafood-led modern brasserie on Aldeburgh's high street, cooking to the season and the day's catch. Its wine list is short but assembled with real care — every bottle labelled with region, vintage and strength, the everyday bottles offered by the glass, and a spread that runs from honest everyday whites to a local Suffolk Pinot and a handful of trophy bottles — held back only by the absence of a dry Sherry for the cured fish and of any pairing guidance on the page. It will suit the drinker who values a well-chosen, informative short list and the freedom to explore it a glass at a time.
Read the assessment