Bar Douro, London Bridge
Max Graham comes from the Churchill port family, which is why the Portuguese list in this railway arch is the part reporters keep writing about.1
Why go
The room is an arch near Borough Market, tiled in blue-and-white azulejos, with counter seating and the cooking happening in front of it. Harden's survey calls it a hip, buzzy under-arch venue with counter seating
showing really interesting
wines and tapas-style dishes from Portugal.1
On the food the same reporters stay plain: Excellent Portuguese tapas at a very reasonable price
, and in another edition fresh, pungent sharing plates
that are cooked in front of you
.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: a glass off the Portuguese list before you order food. It is the strongest thing anybody has written about this room.1
- Order: at the counter, in rounds, since the plates come off the pass in front of you.1
- Avoid: carrying City reviews across. The Broadgate branch is a different door.1
What locals & experts say
- Harden's survey, on the wine and the price:
Excellent Portuguese tapas at a very reasonable price
and awide selection of Portuguese wines
.1 - The same survey, on the founder:
founder Max Graham is from the Churchill port family
.1 - On the sibling: the City branch in Finsbury Avenue Square
inspires no feedback (and is not listed)
.1
Good to know
- Where: Arch 35B, 85B Southwark Bridge Road SE1 0NQ, a few minutes from Borough Market.
- Sites: two. This arch, and Broadgate in the City.1
- Booking: worth doing. The counter is small.
- Age: Harden's says the tenth anniversary fell in the year of that edition, and the edition does not print the year, so no opening date is claimed here.
Verdict
should-visit — A railway arch under blue-and-white azulejos with the cooking in front of the counter, and a Portuguese wine list put together by somebody who grew up in the trade. Max Graham is from the Churchill port family, which is the reason the list is the part Harden's reporters keep returning to: 'a wide selection of Portuguese wines' and, in another edition, 'really interesting' wines alongside the tapas-style plates. On the food they are consistent and unfussy, 'excellent Portuguese tapas at a very reasonable price' and 'fresh, pungent sharing plates' cooked in front of you. It holds at this rung rather than the top because nobody in reach names a single dish, and because the strongest specific fact on the page is about the cellar rather than the kitchen.