Bambi: Vinyl-playing Wine Bar & Restaurant

With acoustics that belong to music venues, trendy small plates, and a mouthwatering list of wines, Bambi attracts the most alternative crowd in London. It's a gem for those looking for a London experience, away from the usual hipster areas of Camden, Brixton, and Shoreditch that are well-known to locals and tourists alike.

The concept

The vinyl wine bar Bambi in London Fields is set up to attract a certain crowd. Specifically, it's the cool kids, artists, freelancers, and the alternative crowd of East London. In other words, it's hipster central, and it's the chic kind of hipster. The bar positions itself well with this distinct crowd with music curated by the decorated DJ Charlie Dark MBE, a line-up of record-playing resident DJs and a stunning hi-fi sound system. The tables are small, the stools are high, and the plates on the menu are for sharing. What's more, the wine list includes skin contact/orange wines.

Bambi is quintessential of a trendy London haunt.

The food, drinks, and acoustic environment at Bambi are set up to draw in the alternative East Londoners.

Noticeable within the second of stepping into the space are the wine bottles and their minimalist or abstract labels lining the walls of Bambi. Contemporary prints also break up the space here and there. The entire venue screams MOOD and ALTERNATIVE. You can already predict that the wine list will be full of funk and fun, and the list truly does not disappoint. I do suggest picking wines from regions and grapes you are not familiar with just to experiment, because where else would you do so?

Being at Bambi means embodying and being part of the funk. Start with your wine choice.

The food

As one would already expect, it serves chewy sourdough straight from E5 Bakehouse with thick slabs of Southdown butter, which has been aged for three days. There are innovative dips on the menu as well. Last time I visited, there was a dish with seared apricots, toasted hazelnuts on a ricotta-based spread, another plate, as pictured, of grilled vegetables.

Upon inspection of their latest menu, I spy sumac labneh with green apple and peppers for a snack; miso-dressed trout tartare; and tenderstem on za'atar yoghurt for small plates. If spices and flavours can be trendy, Bambi has sprinkled said trends onto their dishes.

The highlight

If the music, food, and wine are not enough to tickle your fancy at this point, this highlight might just do the trick. Every Friday and Saturday at 11pm, tables are pushed back and Bambi transforms into a dance floor with funk soul disco blasting from their speakers. If dancing is not your forte, I would recommend popping in on Thursdays for drinks or dinner, since it's the day of the week that DJs take their set to Bambi for a spin. If you don't call this place a gem, I don't know what will.