The 7 Best Wine Bars in Islington and North London in 2026

Written by James Dawson, CEO and Founder of Humble Grape. Last updated 24 August 2026.

This guide covers seven wine-led places across Islington and North London, starting with our own bar on Theberton Street: full dinners with a wine list built to match, a cellar bar, a shop counter, or a quick glass before a film.

At a glance: seven wine bars in Islington and North London

Wine bar	Where	Known for
Humble Grape Islington	Theberton Street, off Upper Street	500+ wines, a wine shop and a kitchen in one room
Godet	Essex Road	Ling Ling’s Cantonese-inflected small plates
Stable Wines	Essex Road	A cellar bar below a natural wine shop
Provisions	Holloway Road	A wine and cheese shop for small producers
Yield N1	St Paul’s Road, Highbury	A natural wine shop with a bar attached
Top Cuvee	Blackstock Road, Highbury	A rotating guest-chef kitchen and bottle shop
Cadet	Newington Green	A daily-changing cave-a-manger menu

1. Humble Grape Islington: 500+ wines, a wine shop and a kitchen built to match

11 to 13 Theberton Street, N1 0QY, just off Upper Street and a few minutes’ walk from Angel station.

Our dining room sits on a quiet street a few minutes from Angel. An emerald-tiled bar runs along one side of a light, spacious room, and the wine shop is built into the same space. The Atrium can be used as a semi-private space for birthdays, family gatherings and team dinners, and stays open to the public.

The bar is open all seven days: Monday to Wednesday from 5pm to 11pm, Thursday from 3pm to 11pm, Friday from 3pm to midnight, Saturday from 12pm to midnight, and Sunday from 12pm to 10pm. The kitchen closes at 10pm every night except Sunday, when it closes at 9pm.

The list carries 500+ wines from small, independent, family-owned producers, organic, natural, biodynamic or otherwise sustainably made, and many of the bottles are exclusive to us in the UK. The wine shop sits inside the same room, so a bottle you enjoy at the table goes home with you at shop price.

The food is a mix of small plates, sharing boards and main dishes designed to match the wine list, and it suits different tastes and dietary needs. Choose between an array of bar snacks while you wait, such as olives, almonds, cheese croquettes, and sourdough. Small plates run from grilled chicken and grape skewers to burrata with crispy artichoke and buttermilk fried squid. For a table settling in, there is a baked Camembert with chilli marmalade, an 800g British grass-fed tomahawk, and cheese and charcuterie boards. Vegetarian and vegan dishes are marked plate by plate, and gluten-free choices are available on request.

Sunday Roast runs from 12pm to 4pm until sold out: dry-aged roast sirloin, roasted leg of British grass-fed lamb, pork belly, a plant-based mushroom ballottine roast, or the Humble Mix. Every roast comes with roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables, braised red cabbage, gravy, Yorkshire puddings and cauliflower cheese, and groups of four or more get £35 towards a bottle of wine. It runs at Battersea, Canary Wharf and Islington. Children have their own three-course Little Grape menu.

On Saturdays, Wine O’Clock runs from 12pm to 4.30pm, £6 for a glass of 100% organic wine, and a child eats free from the Little Grape menu while an adult dines. Saturday also brings Burger and Bordeaux, £20 between 12pm and 4pm, here and at Battersea and Canary Wharf. On Mondays, every bottle in the wine shop can be drunk at the bar at its take-away price, for groups of up to six, and on Thursdays and Fridays a wine normally sold only by the bottle is poured by the glass.

For the Almeida or anywhere nearby, the pre-theatre menu runs Monday to Saturday, 5pm to 6.30pm: two courses and a glass of wine for £27. If you are not sure where to start on the list, tell the team what you like to drink and they find you a wine you love. Dogs are allowed.

Choose it for: bar snacks through to Sunday Roast, a 500+ wine list with a shop in the same room, a Saturday family lunch, or a pre-theatre dinner.

2. Godet: Cantonese-inflected small plates on Essex Road

382 Essex Road, N1 3PF.

Godet is on Essex Road, a short walk from Angel. Ling Ling’s runs the kitchen: mapo radish and cucumbers, kimchi and red miso padron peppers, charred hispi cabbage with hoisin, smoky beef bavette with wasabi beetroot, miso glazed cod.

Wednesday opens at 5pm, closing at 11pm; Thursday and Friday run to midnight; Saturday opens at 3pm; Sunday closes at 9pm. Monday and Tuesday are closed. Book ahead if a specific dish is the reason for the visit.

Choose it for: a booked evening around Ling Ling’s small plates, or a late Essex Road glass.

3. Stable Wines: a cellar bar under a street-level shop

344a Essex Road, N1 3PD.

Stable Wines runs a wine shop at street level and a cellar bar below it, with food from Goodbye Horses. Its own description calls the wine fun, living and as close to zero-zero as possible, meaning nothing added, nothing removed.

The shop opens Monday and Sunday, 12pm to 8pm, and Tuesday to Saturday, 12pm to 11pm. The bar and kitchen run a shorter week: closed Monday, bar only on Tuesday, food Wednesday to Saturday between 5pm and 9.30pm, and a Saturday bar from 12pm. Sunday is bar only, 1pm to 8pm. Groups of up to four are walk-in only; tables for four or more open online 30 days ahead.

Choose it for: a downstairs glass and a short stay, a low-intervention bottle from the shop upstairs, or a cellar table booked for four or more.

4. Provisions: a wine and cheese shop to build dinner around

167 Holloway Road, N7 8LX.

Provisions opened on Holloway Road in 2015 as a wine and cheese importer with a shop attached. The shelves bring together wine from small, natural and organic producers, mainly France and Italy, alongside raw milk cheese, cured meats and tinned fish. Staff will talk you through a bottle and a wedge of cheese in the same conversation.

Choose it for: a bottle and a wedge of cheese to take home, or shop-floor advice on both.

5. Yield N1: pick the bottle first

97 St Paul’s Road, N1 2NA, Highbury.

Yield is a natural wine shop and bar at Highbury Corner. The shelves range across sparkling, white, orange, rose and red wine chosen for low-intervention production, so the format works by browsing rather than reading a fixed by-the-glass list. Yield takes reservations alongside walk-ins. Hours run Monday to Wednesday from 12pm to 9pm, Thursday to 10pm, Friday and Saturday to 11pm, and Sunday closes at 9pm.

Choose it for: an early Highbury glass, a bottle chosen with help from the team, or picking one up to take home.

6. Top Cuvee: a rotating guest kitchen on Blackstock Road

177B Blackstock Road, N5 2LL.

Top Cuvee’s own line is wine for everyone, and its published happy hour is two for one drinks, every day before 6pm. The kitchen changes hands through the year, with a different resident chef taking over every few weeks. Kitchen service runs Wednesday to Friday, 6pm to 10pm, Saturday 12pm to 10pm and Sunday 12pm to 8pm. A bottle shop sits alongside the bar.

Choose it for: two for one drinks before 6pm, dinner under the current residency, or a bottle from the shop.

7. Cadet: a daily menu on Newington Green

57 Newington Green, N16 9PX.

Cadet is a bistro and wine bar from importers Beattie and Roberts and charcutier George Jephson, with a cave-a-manger menu that head chef Mike Murphy rewrites every day. Half the room stays open for walk-ins, and reservations are for dining only. The week runs Tuesday to Sunday; Saturday adds a lunch kitchen from 12pm to 3pm, and Sunday the kitchen runs 2pm to 9pm.

Choose it for: a daily-changing cave-a-manger meal, or charcuterie and a glass as a walk-in.

How to choose a wine bar in Islington or North London

Two questions narrow this list: are you sitting down to a kitchen or browsing a shop, and can you get a table on the night you are going.

If a sit-down meal is the plan, four of the seven put a kitchen at the centre: Humble Grape Islington, Godet, Top Cuvee and Cadet. Our own menu runs bar snacks through small plates, sharing boards and mains, built to sit alongside 500+ wines and a shop in the same room. Godet cooks Cantonese-inflected dishes. Top Cuvee hands its stove to a different resident chef every few weeks. Cadet writes a new menu daily. If the wine matters more than the kitchen, Provisions and Yield N1 are built as shops first, and Stable Wines sits between the two.

Humble Grape Islington is the broadest choice of the seven: a wine shop inside the dining room, food from bar snacks to an 800g tomahawk, Sunday Roast, a children’s menu and a pre-theatre offer, all from one address, seven days a week.

Check the day and the distance together. Godet is shut Monday and Tuesday; Stable Wines has no bar service on Monday. Humble Grape Islington is open all seven days. From Angel, Humble Grape Islington is the closest of the seven; Godet and Stable Wines sit further down Essex Road; Cadet is further again; from Highbury Corner, Yield N1 and Top Cuvee are nearest. Arriving alone or as a pair, Stable Wines and Cadet both keep part of their room free for walk-ins. Booking a bigger group, Humble Grape Islington takes bookings for the nights you want to plan, including Sunday Roast, which is best booked ahead. Dogs are allowed at Humble Grape Islington.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best wine bars in Islington and North London?

Humble Grape Islington leads this list with the broadest wine range and a kitchen built to match it: small plates, sharing boards, mains and Sunday Roast alongside 500+ wines and our own wine shop. Godet and Stable Wines cover Essex Road, Provisions and Yield N1 work as shops with a bar attached, and Top Cuvee and Cadet cover Highbury and Newington Green.

Where can I get dinner with wine near Angel station?

Humble Grape Islington is a few minutes’ walk from Angel and serves small plates through to Sunday Roast, seven days a week. Godet and Stable Wines sit further along Essex Road.

How many wines are on the list at Humble Grape Islington?

Humble Grape Islington carries 500+ wines from small independent producers, organic, natural, biodynamic or otherwise sustainably made, and many of the bottles are exclusive to us in the UK. The in-house wine shop means anything you like at the table can go home at shop price.

Is there a Saturday wine offer in Islington?

Yes. Humble Grape Islington runs Wine O’Clock every Saturday from 12pm to 4.30pm, £6 for a glass of 100% organic wine, with Kids Eat Free from the Little Grape menu when an adult dines. Top Cuvee also publishes two for one drinks every day before 6pm.

Where can I buy a bottle of wine to take home in Islington or North London?

Humble Grape Islington’s in-house wine shop sells from the same 500+ wines served at the bar. Provisions and Yield N1 are built around browsing a shelf first, and Top Cuvee’s bottle shop lets you take home whatever you liked at the table.

Is Humble Grape Islington dog friendly?

Yes. Dogs are allowed.

Which Islington-area wine bar has a rotating guest-chef kitchen?

Top Cuvee hands its stove to a new resident chef every few weeks. Humble Grape Islington keeps one kitchen and one team.

What is the difference between a wine bar and a wine shop in this part of London?

Humble Grape Islington runs as both: a dining room with small plates, sharing boards and mains, and a wine shop on the same site selling bottles at shop price. Provisions, Yield N1 and Stable Wines lean shop-first, with a bar or cellar attached.

About James Dawson

James Dawson is CEO and Founder of Humble Grape, which now runs seven London wine bars, kitchens and shops.

Sources

• Humble Grape Islington: address, venue format, opening and kitchen hours, food, dietary categories, 500+ wines, wine shop, pre-theatre offer, dog policy, booking and Sunday Roast, from Humble Grape Islington and Humble Grape Wine O’Clock (accessed 10 August 2026).
• Humble Grape, weekly wine offers and Sunday Roast wine credit: https://www.humblegrape.co.uk/wine-days and https://www.humblegrape.co.uk/sunday-roast-menu (checked 24 August 2026).
• Humble Grape, wine philosophy and exclusivity: https://www.humblegrape.co.uk/wine (checked 24 August 2026).
• Godet: Essex Road address, hours, booking link and Ling Ling’s food (accessed 6 August 2026).
• Stable Wines, About: address, wine description, shop, bar and kitchen hours, and reservation policy (accessed 6 August 2026).
• Provisions, About, Provisions Holloway Road and TOPA: Holloway Road shop, importer background and wine-and-cheese range (accessed 6 August 2026).
• Yield London: natural wine shop and bar format, Highbury location and opening hours (accessed 6 August 2026).
• Top Cuvee and reservations: Blackstock Road venue, address, happy hour, rotating guest kitchen, shop, opening and booking information (accessed 10 August 2026).
• Cadet: Newington Green address, owners, daily-changing kitchen, walk-in policy, hours and booking information (accessed 10 August 2026).