by Aobh O’Brien-Moody
You probably wouldn’t dream of waltzing into your local offy, cracking open a bottle of their finest plonk and settling in for a few hours.
But that’s exactly what the good people at Yield N1 permit — nay, encourage — you to do at their bottle shop-cum-natural wine bar.
Pop in to pick up a few provisions and stay for a bottle of natty and some snacks at the recent addition to Highbury’s foodie street, St Paul’s Road (where its neighbours include Trullo and Prawn on the Lawn).
If the name rings a bell, that’s because it comes to us from the same natural wine wizards behind popular Stokey wine bar and deli Yield N16. This one, occupying a former electrical shop, is slightly smaller but no less lovely. It offers the same deli delights as its older sibling — think E5 Bakehouse bread, Neal’s Yard Dairy cheeses, Cacklebean eggs and Pump Street chocolate — amidst a handful of tables (there are also a couple of benches on the pavement out the front). The feel is the perfect balance of rustic and modern: it’s airy and bright, with plenty of wood throughout and industrial-style pendant lights hanging from the ceiling.
The drink-in wine list is small, so there are only a few available by the glass, but you can grab a bottle from the shop and drink in for a £15 corkage fee (or visit on a Monday, when corkage is scrapped altogether). The focus here is on minimal intervention, organic and artisanal producers and the selection is predominantly European-leaning, with a heavy presence of Italian and Spanish pours. Prices are accessible, with most on the drink-in list priced at around the £25-£35 mark. If beer is more your thing, simply slap on an extra £1.50 to the shop cost of the myriad craft beers on offer.
Complementing the European pours is a Mediterranean-inspired food menu that changes monthly. Charcuterie and cheese boards feature alongside small plates like toasted sourdough with sardines and preserved lemon as well as snacks like Nocellara olives and smoked almonds.
And to think you only came in for a packet of crisps…
NOTE: Yield N1 is open daily, 10am-9pm. There are no reservations, but you can find out more, and book for events like wine tastings, right HERE.
Yield N1 | 97 St Pauls Road, Islington, London, N1 2NA
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