Bar Douro Soho is the West End outpost of Max Graham’s Portuguese restaurant group, which started out beneath the railway arches of London Bridge in 2016. The focus is regional cooking, native grape varieties and independent producers, sourced directly from the farmers, winemakers and artisans wherever possible. It’s also something of a homecoming: in 2013, Graham spent eight months running the Churchill’s Port House pop-up in Soho, introducing Londoners to Portuguese wines and ports.
Executive Chef Neuza Leal oversees a menu that mixes Bar Douro favourites with dishes found only at this site. Petiscos and pratinhos (snacks and small plates) include Croquetes de Alheira, Bacalhau à Brás, Gambas à Guilho and Secretos de Porco Preto, made with Iberian black pig, while the Frango Piri-Piri main is based on Leal’s own family recipe. The headline act is Maronesa vaca velha - PDO-protected beef from mature cows of a native breed raised in the mountains of Trás-os-Montes, and rarely seen outside the Iberian Peninsula. It’s imported directly from Carnes Irmãos Unidos and served as Posta Maronesa, a flame-grilled sirloin, with rib-eye and other cuts on the specials board.
The all-Portuguese wine list covers all 14 of the country’s winemaking regions, with a particular focus on high-altitude mountain vineyards. Bottles come straight from growers, from boundary-pushing producers such as Hugo Mendes and António Picotes to established names like Quinta das Bágeiras in Bairrada. Ports come from Churchill’s in the Douro, founded by Graham’s father, John Graham, in 1981, where grapes are still foot-trodden in granite lagares.
The dining room is lined with azulejos hand-painted by Cerâmica Manuel Marques Antunes, a family-run atelier on the outskirts of Lisbon, and counter seats wrap around the open kitchen. There’s also a dedicated cellar room for tastings, producer dinners and events with the winemakers and farmers behind the menu.