Bar 61- Tapas Bar & Restaurant : one of London’s best restaurants

Bar 61 Tapas Bar & Restaurant is located in South London, a 30 minute drive away from Hyde Park or 20 minute drive from the London Eye. It is off the beaten track of the typical London visitors yet Bar 61 is currently ranked #5 of 17,837 Restaurants in London on TripAdvisor. We had dinner at Bar 61 and would agree with the many five-star reviews written about this charming restaurant on Streatham Hill.

Bar 61 Tapas Bar & Restaurant is a family run restaurant. Some of the family members or staff looked like they came right out The Godfather movie. I could imagine one of them saying,  like Don Vito Corleone, “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse” or “Revenge is a dish best served cold“. I was, of course, mixing things up – conjuring up images of the Italian godfather in a Spanish tapas bar.  The waiter, or he could be one of the owners, attending to our table did point to the bartender and whispered “Don’t mess with him”. He was part of the warm charming service we received all evening. We kind of looked forward to him bringing over the dishes to our table, because everytime he came by he had a joke to share or a witty remark about someone in our party.

Menu

As its name suggests, Bar 61 serves tapas and plenty of alcoholic drinks, but it also offers regular restaurant dishes. Fish and meat prepared in  various European styles – Spanish, Italian, French & English – are available; as are pastas and steaks.

Here are pictures of pages of the Bar 61 Menu.

Dinner at Bar 61

We were at Bar 61 as guests of the father of a bride to be. At such happy occasions food and wine flowed freely. We got to savour many of the starters and tapas dishes including ratatouille, stuffed dates, fried crab claws, mussels in white wine sauce and Spanish omelette.

The stand out dish was pulpo, or octopus. Rounds of octopus topped with olive oil, paprika and other herbs and spices looked appealing. The dish more than delivered on taste. The octopus was really tender and packed with flavours.

Just on the starters and tapas were alone, we had eaten more than we should. There were mains to come. We tried the grilled fish, seafood spaghetti and tagliatelle carbonara. They were all good – tasty quality dishes.

The Spanish red wine recommended by the Restaurant, Rioja Bordón, was excellent and certainly helped to make the happy gathering a lively and spirited one. The complimentary dessert wine served at the end of the dinner ensured that we left Bar 61 well fed and well lubricated with many happy memories.

Bar 61 Tapas Bar & Restaurant
61A Streatham Hill
London SW2 4TX

Tel: 020 86710444

The Ordinary Patrons
a Singapore food blog by ordinary people looking for places to eat