LondonWineHusband and I were at a loose end and hungry in Hammersmith the other night when I remembered a recent drive past the Fulham Wine Rooms. It’s at the nice end of Fulham Road and about ten minutes from the tube.

Fulham Wine Rooms, complete with decorative moose head on the wall.

Even on a Tuesday evening, it was bustling, full of girls dressed, in the Fulham tradition, exactly like K Middy. Although I did hear someone talking loudly about Rye-sling (FFS, people, it’s Reeeezling), the crowd seemed to be enjoying the wines on offer and the atmosphere was cosy.

Easily the coolest thing about the Fulham Wine Rooms are the Enomatic machines, which are basically Oystercard-powered wine dispensers. You top up a card with credit, put it in the machine, pick the wine you want from a selection of 40 or so bottles, and tell the machine whether you want a 75 ml taste, or a smaller or large glass, and it then charges you and fills your glass accordingly. Although initially I wasn’t quick enough off the mark and poured white Burgundy on my shoes (luckily, they were patent leather, so easy wipe-clean), it does otherwise seem pretty foolproof!

The Enomatic machine in action!

It allows the restaurant to have lots of wines available by the glass, as the machine keeps it fresh for a couple of weeks rather than the usual 2 or 3 days shelf life of open wine kept behind the bar. It’s also a great, low risk way of trying out a few different wines – you can try a sample before you commit to a whole glass, and also can have a glass of something that would be out of your price range if you bought a whole bottle.

The range of wines that the Fulham Wine Rooms offers is broad and interesting and our food was really nice, too – I had tempura fish and chips with minted mushy peas, which soaked up the many and varied glasses I drank nicely.

Fulham Wine Rooms make a tasty pile of tempura fish and chips.

I would definitely recommend it – they also have a sister restaurant, Kensington Wine Rooms in Notting Hill Gate which might be worth a go.

Needless to say, I’ve already started thinking about how I can make space in my kitchen for my very own Enomatic wine dispenser – do I really need a washing machine?

Thanks for reading –

LWG