Way back in 2013, when Max Graham was running a port pop-up on Greek Street, he noticed that something was missing from London’s evolving restaurant scene. While the likes of Barrafina were making waves with Spanish cuisine, Portuguese food was almost nowhere to be seen. “There was a real void,” he tells Broadsheet. It was a brainwave that eventually led him to open Bar Douro, his ode to the food and wine of Portugal, in a railway arch near London Bridge in 2016.
Now, a decade later, Porto-born Graham is returning to the street where it all began. Taking over the space that was 10 Greek Street until it closed in August after 14 years, Bar Douro Soho is the restaurateur’s third site, joining London Bridge and Broadgate.
The pared-back interiors of 10 Greek Street have been replaced with the brilliant dichromatic vibrancy of traditional Portuguese tiles. Graham has enlisted one of the few remaining workshops still hand-painting traditional Portuguese azulejos (tiles) to create a mural running the length of the ground-floor dining room, where diners can also grab a stool at the open kitchen’s bar. Downstairs, what used to be 10 Greek Street’s private dining room now features a fantastical enveloping forest of birds and mystical creatures, inspired by a religious artwork in Lisbon.
And while regulars will find solace in Bar Douro’s familiar dishes, the new restaurant promises a particular focus on the mountainous regions of northern Portugal. The idea came about in January, when Graham travelled to Trás-os-Montes, a rugged region bordering Spain, with executive chef Neuza Leal. There, they met farmers rearing native Portuguese cattle, including the Maronesa breed, and encountered vaca velha, or mature cow, a prized ingredient Graham believes deserves much more attention.
“I never see Portuguese native breeds on menus in the UK,” he says. Having witnessed the popularity of mature Galician beef from across the border in Spain, Graham was keen to introduce Londoners to its Portuguese counterparts. The result is a new grill section, which will showcase different native breeds, with Graham and Leal selecting a new cow each week.
They’re kicking things off this week with a doubly aged 14-year-old Minhota cow, raised on a smallholding in northern Portugal and cooked simply over the grill. Other breeds, including Maronesa from Trás-os-Montes, are set to follow. Graham wants to give diners the opportunity to explore the differences between cattle raised in various parts of the country.
Elsewhere on the menu, there are old favourites including crisp, golden croquettes made with smoked Portuguese sausage called croquetes de alheira; an unctuous, comforting combination of salt cod, potatoes and eggs named bacalhau à brás; and gambas à guilho, or garlic prawns. There’s also secretos de porco preto, a succulent cut of acorn-fed black pig, alongside plump piri-piri chicken inspired by Leal’s family recipe, and a delicately grilled whole sea bream.
For pudding, Graham is particularly excited about the new pão de ló, inspired by the traditional sponge cake of Ovar, south of Porto. “It’s like a very gooey, eggy sponge cake,” he says, comparing its appearance, though not its texture, to Basque cheesecake. Baked fresh every day, it’s served with seasonal fruit, starting with recently harvested stewed plums.
Needless to say, wine is a big part of the picture, too. The list offers pours from all 14 of Portugal’s wine regions, from the Douro to Madeira and the Azores. The cocktail list also celebrates Portuguese producers, with a white port and tonic made using aged dry white port from Churchill’s (Graham’s family’s port house), the Baga Negroni starring bagaceira (brandy) from Bairrada and a Madeira Old Fashioned.
Despite the growing popularity of Portuguese wine and the proliferation of pastel de nata bakeries across the city, Graham believes there’s still an enormous amount of the country’s culinary culture waiting to be discovered.
“I had no clue what I was doing,” he says of his early days on Greek Street. This time, armed with a decade’s worth of relationships and experience, he’s hoping to give some of Portugal’s lesser-known producers a platform of their own.
Bar Douro Soho
10 Greek Street, W1D 4DH
02073780524
Hours:
Mon to Sat midday–10pm
Sun midday–8pm
