Night cap

Arches Wine Bar (South Hampstead)

BARS • First Round

The Arches Wine Bar is a small miracle – I know this because I grew up round the corner, and it’s hosted more of my first dates than anywhere else. It’s a modest enough looking spot with a few outside tables overlooking Swiss Cottage roundabout. There are another few inside, and a garden so cosy you’re practically obliged to speak to the other punters.

But it’s the décor that gets you: wall to wall, floor to ceiling bric-a-brac, a visual feast of jazzy lampshades, ancient school photos, wooden sculptures from far-flung corners of the globe, bottles, beer mats and a million other things accrued by a lifetime of magpie gathering.

The previous owner, Harry Gill, had one of London’s finest wine collections, but under new ownership, a spruced-up Arches retains its charm, and still takes its wine seriously. If you know what you like, there’s plenty to keep you amused. If you’re less sure, the list is helpfully broken down into tasting and stylistic notes – ‘dry, crispy and fruit forward’, ‘elegant, mineral and complex’. The food isn’t half bad either, whether you’re after a proper dinner or just some snacks and small plates to support your drinking.

If you’re feeling flush, book an early table at the nearby Singapore Garden, one of London’s finest Chinese restaurants, then totter over to the Arches for what may turn into a very long nightcap. –David Bard

→ Arches Wine Bar (South Hampstead) • 7 Fairhazel Gardens • Mon 4-10p, Tue-Thu 4-11p, Fri-Sat 12-11p, Sun 12-10p • Book.