Grelha D'Ouro

Bathsheba over at the Stockwell News blog gave us a nice shout-out (thanks!) during an interview with the Londonist , which has inspired me to post another Stockwell restaurant review. Today:  the Grelha D'Ouro, on South Lambeth Road.

Stockwell is well known for its Portuguese community.  Indeed, the area is often referred to as "Little Portugal" for its proliferation of Portuguese shops, bars, cafés and restaurants.  It is estimated that there are 27,000 Portuguese in Stockwell, "which makes it one of the largest communities within the 500,000 strong Portuguese British population," according to Wikipedia.  The entry goes on that Portuguese families "first settled in the area during the 1960s and 1970s. Many worked in the catering and hospitality trade, with some women gaining a reputation as efficient and courteous domestic servants. Later, others, with their savings, started to open restaurants on South Lambeth Road." 

Jared and I are fortunate to live very near one of these restuarants, the Grelha D'Ouro.  My Portuguese is non-existant, but I believe that this translates as "the Golden Grill."  This is an apt description, as it turns out, for the Grelha produces an amazing steak.  We regularly order the T-bone to take away.  Although the cut of meat is not fantastic, it is always delicately flavoured and grilled to perfection.  And, as a special bonus for hungry carnivores everywhere, the Grelha D'Ouro's steaks are huge.  Enormous.  Gigantic.  Epic. A T-bone dinner for one at the Grelha will run you about fifteen quid but could feed you for days - in addition to the ridiculously monstrous steak, it comes with a full order of rice, chips, and even a little salad.  This is a considerable dinner, in every way. (See below.)

We've also had breakfast at the Grelha a few times - they do a marvelous garlic and mushroom sauteé, but I would advise against ordering the tomato and onion salad, as it's just a plate of sliced tomatoes and onions!  Although there's a restaurant proper in the back, the bulk of the Grelha's patrons prefer the front rooms, and there's always a lively crowd gathered outside enjoying a smoke and a Portuguese espresso.  The Grelha doesn't seem to be a destination restaurant outside our local community, but it's time it got the praise it deserves.  Located an easy walk from either the Vauxhall or Stockwell tube stations, there's every reason for anyone to patronize the Grelha. We live near enough that we can smell the scent of cooking meat from the kitchen, and it never fails to set our stomachs rumbling.   The finished product is as tasty as those scents suggest.

Grelha D'Ouro
151 South Lambeth Road
SW8 1XN
020 7735 9764

Here's an extra super-duper bonus, for history buffs:  the building in which the Grelha is located is one of a group of adjoining houses built in the 1880s or 90s.  One of the few bombs to fall in this immediate area during the Blitz fell on the house next door to the restaurant (on the right, in the photograph above), which is why there's a more modern building (the Stockwell Partnership) sandwiched in between the older Victorian terrace houses.