Under the slick custodianship of the Porteno team,Bar Louise has settled into a groove that can play high and low.
The spirited tapas bar downstairs is loud and lively,fuelled by sherry-and-lemonade cocktails and snacky gildas. Upstairs,the terracotta-toned dining room,hidden from the ebb and flow of the hungry hordes of Enmore Road,gives you more time and space to explore the wine list and its many tempranillos.
The kitchen has fun with Iberian staples,barbecuing thick slabs of chorizo,and chargrilling arrowhead squid to sit on a warm,oily crush of potatoes in paprika-stained sobrasada butter – a deft twist on pulpo alla gallega.
That said,you can’t beat the staples – jamon,anchovies,sardines on toast – and don’t sleep on the nostalgic charm of the torrijas either. That’s a soft,squishy pillow of cinnamon-sugared brioche – or the love child of churros and French toast.