BYOB London or Edinburgh?

[carpet bagger]

Do restaurants in London and Edinburgh allow people to bring their own wine? If so is there a corkage charge?

[PS]

Some do, but most don't - or at least don't advertise it. However, those that don't explicitly advertise themselves as BYOB may be open to persuasion if you call up in advance.

In Edinburgh the ones that do say they're BYOB tend to be at the cheaper (student) end of the market. It's been a while since I've been to one, but I think corkage used to be £2 or £3, or thereabouts.

[slacker]

Would I be right to state that there are many more byo places (and no corkage) in Ed that in London? Or is that because I've not visited for ages?

[Gavin Convery]

A useful reference list for BYOB places is here:

http://www.wine-pages.com/byoblist.shtml

[Scott]

there are plenty of places in London, if not most, that will accept BYO.

the conditions are that you have to organise it beforehand, but they won't advertise. and you can expect to pay a decent whack.

£10 - £12 would be about right.

though the point is that you have a bottle you really want to bring, then the charge is reasonable.

[muichoi]

I think a £25 corkage charge is reasonable if the glasses are good-means no-one's trying to stiff the restaurant, but still good value if you drink really good bottles.

[carpet bagger]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their helpful insight about BYO. Carpet Bagger.

[Scott]

I think a £25 corkage charge is reasonable if the glasses are good-means no-one's trying to stiff the restaurant, but still good value if you drink really good bottles.

←

£25 is ONLY reasonable if the restaurant is up to it.

if it is an exclusive restaurant, like the square, or Pied a terre fine (both of which do charge just that); otherwise they're having a laugh.

I've seen places with housewine at £10 trying to charge £18 - 20. which is a joke.

the quality of my wine, or your glasses is irrelevant. Corkage should be the margin on a bottle of housewine, or a maybe a bit more if the restaurant is up to certain standards. I've had clowns try to tell me that I should be grateful for excessive corkages, because of what they would have charged if they stocked the bottle in question.

all of this said, most places are very reasonable and understanding, but some cowboys remain.