Last updated: January 09 2025
Bar Douro’s ethos is a love story in itself. Passionate, warm & welcoming, the beautiful restaurant in London Bridge’s Flat Iron Square is an authentic Portugese experience to savour.
Think long lazy afternoon lunches in the Douro wine region, sipping on a glass or three, admiring the scenery and eating some of the most underrated food on the planet! Then imagine you can do exactly that, anytime you like, without leaving London.
Portuguese food really is something special. Quite simply, Bar Douro wanted to champion this underrepresented cuisine and celebrate its character and culture. So in 2016, following on from the success of a supper club series celebrating Portugese food and wine, Maxwell Graham whose family have been making wine in Douro for centuries, opened the restaurant in 2016. Since then an additional Bar Douro has opened in Broadgate in the city.
Quaint, chic and immediately transporting us to Porto, Bar Douro London Bridge is a beautiful restaurant. The light bounces off shiny blue and white hand painted azulejos tiles and the stunning marble counter (also imported), is a classic example of Portugese stone.
We begin with a white port tonic – a classic Portugese apertivo – refreshing and light, it’s the perfect start.
Rather than make our own selections from the menu, we’re keen to try the Seasonal Portugese feast for two priced at £42pp which showcases Bar Douro’s offering with some important Portugese dishes.
First out of the open kitchen are the Croquetes de alheira (Portugese sausage croquettes). Celebrating the stories and history of Portugese cuisine, these balls of deliciousness were originally created by the Jewish-Portugese community in the 1400s who were being forced to convert to Christianity. The porkless sausage was developed to fool communities into thinking they were no longer practising Jews and therefore avoiding persecution. Bar Douro’s version does contain sausage, as well as chicken, onion and parsley with the precise 25g balls dipped in egg, flour and panko breadcrumbs and fried until their golden. It’s hard to believe these tasty morsels could still hold so much significance all these years later and we take our time eating them – dipping them in the delicious accompanying sauce.
Garlic prawns arrive next – big juicy beauties bathed in garlicky Gambas sauce goodness along with Couve grelhada – grilled cabbage and soubise sauce. Cabbage is a staple in Portugese cooking and this is the best I’ve had. Grilled with a drizzle of olive oil, steamed and then oven baked, the flavour is incredible for such a humble vegetable! Served on a bed of luxurious soubise sauce made from onions and butter and decorated with crispy shallots for added flavour and texture, this dish has us both uttering ‘wowwwww’.
On to the Tamboril com feijoada de chocos (monkfish and cuttlefish bean stew), a hearty, satisfying and warming dish for the middle of winter which has been made in Portugal for centuries (Setubal more specifically). Cuttlefish is the key ingredient in this dish, along with creamy coloured beans rather than black ones (which are native to the Brazilian variation of the dish. The result is a smooth, sweet flavour, while the cuttlefish tastes almost meaty. I think this was probably my favourite dish from the tasting menu.
Another of the main dishes arrives shortly after our stew – Bochechas de porco e abóbora assay (pig cheeks and roast squash). I have to say by this point, I was struggling and perhaps didn’t enjoy the meat as much as I usually would have at the beginning of the meal. It was oh so rich and tender, slowly braised and bursting with flavour. The roast squash accompaniment tasted nutty and buttery. Utterly delightful!
We finished with Pastel de nata (custard tart and cinnamon ice cream) and Bolo de figo e medronho (sticky fig cake and milk.) Egg based desserts are common in Portugal and the story goes that they date back to the 18th Century when monks in Lisbon used the eggs left over from starching the nuns’ habits! I love this story if it’s true. In reality, we were way too full to eat our pastel de nata so I carried mine across London is a small box and devoured it for breakfast with an espresso – just how it should be eaten in Portugal. Fantastico is the verdict!
Annoyingly, I didn’t make a note of the wine we drank with our meal and looking back at the menu, there are so so many to choose from, I can’t work it out! Rest assured though, Bar Douro’s sommelier Sol is a true expert in Portugese wine and the wine list is award-winning, so you’re in the safest of hands with anything you choose.
My trip to Bar Douro is one of those rare occasions when writing up the review is as pleasurable as actually eating the food – I feel like I’ve been taken on a culinary journey through Portugal all over again.
One of our top recommendations for 2025, the most fabulous experience awaits at Bar Douro.
