Review: Bar Douro City
What’s the Douro all about? Well, apart from the historic English Port houses, the majestic winding river and the incredible-looking wavy terraces of vines that reach so high they brush the heavens, the Douro is also about food.
Salt cod fritters. Smoked Portuguese sausage. Ox tongue. Black pig. Garlic prawns. Sheep’s cheese. Pastel de nata.
Snacks upon snacks of Portuguese delicacies to be nibbled on with glasses of wine after a hard day’s work. Perfect, then, to serve the workers of the City of London, before they catch their trains home from Liverpool Street.
Bar Douro City on Finsbury Avenue invites the City slickers to unbutton those collars, swap heels for flats, roll up their sleeves and order a white port and tonic and a bowl of marinated olives, while they say goodbye to their work selves until tomorrow morning.
Jo enjoying the selection of wines at Bar Douro
That’s exactly what I did recently, with my friend Jo, for post-work drinks and pre-dinner snacks (which then turned into dinner because the menu was so good and we didn’t want to leave). This time, instead of a white port and tonic, a chilled white wine was what the body called for and I took in the wine list.
Imbibers might not be aware that Portugal makes some excellent dry wines of all colours nowadays, and even the Vinho Verde has moved up the quality scale and is a great choice for those seeking something light and refreshing or for a partner to seafood. I was about to go for a glass of the 'Landcraft' Vinho Verde, when a red Vinho Verde on the specials board caught my eye. Yes please! It arrived chilled and magenta-coloured, and provided a mouthwatering hit of tart cranberries.
To settle my white wine craving, Jo and I chose the Quinta das Marias Encruzado from Dão and had half a glass of each to discuss which one we liked best. The conclusion: we couldn’t decide.
We embraced the spirit of the Douro and ordered everything. Well, not everything but we gave it a good go. Milho frito (that is, crispy polenta and fermented pepper sauce), pataniscas de bacalhau (salt cod fritters), heritage tomatoes and white port vinaigrette, arroz de feijão e tomate (Borlotti beans and tomato rice), Tenderstem broccoli, almonds and homemade requeijão, atum com molho Vilão (seared tuna) and Ilha São Miguel, a pasteurised cow's milk cheese aged for 9 months served with homemade jam and oat biscuits.
Salt cod fritter
We ate every single morsel and given the chance, I’d order it all again next time! Absolute must-haves are the salt cod fritters (the orange sauce they come with is to die for) and the bean and tomato rice. And pretty much everything else we ordered. We didn’t try any of the meaty dishes, but my eyes followed servings of Bifana pork neck and onglet steak with onion and bone marrow across the room, so next time I’ll be trying those.
We finished the occasion with a glass of Port each: Churchill's Dry White Port for me and Churchill's 10 Year Old Tawny Port for Jo (both served chilled) with a nibble of the Ilha São Miguel cheese.
With shoulders fully untensed, muscles and brows relaxed and a merry sheen on our cheeks, we headed to catch our trains. A slice of the Douro is the ideal antidote to busy city living - slow down, chill your boots (and your Port) and eat some food together.