About five years ago, I started this food and travel blog; the purpose was to put and keep online my mother’s recipes as well as my experiences in food and travel around London and beyond. Along the way, I met lots of interesting people in food, travel, and many fabulous wine, lifestyle blogglers and so on…
Since the inception of Hot & Chilli, through many food and drink bloggers, I heard many times about Denise. Eventually, I met The Wine Sleuth, aka Denise Medrano, at an event about two years ago. Well, the rest is history, we became good friends. Through the same wine bloggers, I started taking an interest in wine and drinks in general – mainly food pairing. I learned a lot. Especially with Denise, I can’t tell you how much I learned. Her appreciation and understanding about the grape tipple is inspiring. Eventually, I started blogging about of wine too.
I was not surprised when Denise was asked to be the face of 68 of 68 and Boston, the wine bar just below Boston, the cocktail bar. I believe her new position suits her to a ‘T’, a true calling. Her enthusiasm and knowledge is the key to the venue success. It’s a mammoth task to choose the right wines to retail at £20/ bottle (plus service) in Soho, Central London W1 location. Brilliant idea wine bottles at £20/each!
I must point out that the wines are not your run-of-the-mill tipples. The well curated list includes wine, prosecco; with some excellent options, there’s something for everyone on that list. Wines are sold by the glass 175ml (£6.50), garrafe 500ml (£17). If you are not a fan of wines, there’s a small selection of 6 cocktails (£8/each), beers (£5/bottle), cider (£5.5/bottle) and non-alcoholic drinks too. The menu also has a small variety of bar food – nibbles from £3, delicious charcuterie and cheese boards at £18 for 2 people and £35 for 4 people. I love the sourdough toasties (£7/each) – my favourite is the n’duja and burrata- comes with a green salad – excellent dressing!
The wine and cocktail menus at 68 are ever changing – look out for the wine of the month. If you ask nicely, they will let you taste before buying bottles. Last time I was there the early Spring menu had just started with an addition to the list: Lambrusco! It was actually quite nice, if you like sweet and bubbles.
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| Lambrusco |
If you are a wine connoisseur and after something special, 68 offers a reserved wine list, just ask the staff, who by the way, are incredibly friendly, attentive and knowledgeable. The prices from that list, not £20/bottle, are very sensible for what is on offer – some excellent wines!
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| charcuterie and cheese platter |
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| halloumi and red pepper toasties |
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| Prosseco |
68 is divided in two: ground floor and basement, where there are two booths perfect for parties and big gatherings.
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| booth at 68 |
Behind the name:
“There are 67 wine-producing nations in the world. We want to encourage people to choose their wines adventurously and try regions and grape varieties that are unfamiliar to them, and so 68 will stretch their horizons that bit further. Upstairs, ‘Boston’ will be a loungy, late night destination with an authentic cocktail bar ambience”.
Boston is a gem of a bar- more about that later….
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| cocktails at Boston (68 and Boston) |
Advice: reserve a table on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays – thank me later!
Details:
68 – Wine Bar
Located on the ground floor and open from 5pm – till late, Monday to Saturday, our wine bar features a main list of quality wines, all priced at £20 per bottle. Bar food menu is available into the evening.
Boston – Cocktail bar
Open from 5pm- till late, located on the first floor, above 68 our late night cocktail bar offers classics and original serves from £10. They also have a food menu.
68 and Boston
5 Greek Street, Soho, London, W1D 4DD
t:020 7287 3713 | [email protected]
Disclosure: I was a guest at 68 and Boston for review purposes. All views are my own
Until next time why not join me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook…X
Glad to learn the place has cocktails too as I am not a big fan of wines and their tastes. Also congratulations to Denise
I love a glass of nice prosecco and the food looks amazing. I wish I lived closer to London to experience some of the great wining and dining.
THe food and the cocktails looks great, looks like it's worth a visit.
the food and coktails look great, it's worth visiting.
I love wine and cocktail bars, especially when they serve nice food platters too.
This looks and sounds like an amazing place. I go up and down Greek Street all the time but have never spotted this place x
Is it wrong to want to drink wine & cocktails now after reading this post? I love the idea of specially curated wines at £20 a bottle its an absolute steal.
This sounds like a lovely place to visit and it looks lovely too x
I'm not a huge wine drinker so I'd have to opt for a cocktail or two instead. I love the decor of the place. It looks lovely!
Halloumi and red pepper toasties?! My idea of heaven 😉
Oh wow what an absolutely amazing sounding place – I would love to go myself. x
This sounds like such a cool place, it's nice to have a good mixture of both wines and cocktails x
It sounds like a really great place to visit – looks lovely and I really like the cocktails! H x
I adore wine. I normally favour white because a cheap red is vinegar. However, these are hardly cheap wines so I would happily venture to try a red here.
Hallumi and red pepper toasties sounds like my kinda snack! I like the variety of drinks available and the interior design is so cool x
I'd love to check this place out and try some wines. The interior looks really nice.
Sounds like a lovely place. How wonderful to have access to such a gorgeous venue with good eats and drinks! 🙂
I hardly drink any wine these days but I like to relax with a glass every now and again. This interior looks relaxing.
What a fabulous looking place! I am often in London, so will be checking this place out in the near future!
I've been to a few wine tastings at university and loved the experience so I'm sure I'd love this place! I must check it out when i'm back in London 🙂
This looks like a great place to visit, really stylish. Absolutely gorgeous photos too.
I do enjoy good wine, so this sounds like a gem of a place to visit in London. x
Woah 6.50 for a glass! Can get a bottle for that were I'm from lol! That said, it ain't from a swanky looking wine and cocktail bar like here. This place looks so lovely. certainly somewhere I'd love to visit x
this looks right up my street, good food, good wine and a gorgeous setting. beautiful photographs too!