111-115 South Lambeth Road
London SW8 1UZ
As is always the way in our line of work, jobs all seem to happen at once. We can have nothing for a week and then three jobs back-to-back. This was the situation a couple of weeks ago when we had two jobs on the same day in central London. After the lunchtime job we found ourselves with a couple of hours to spare before the next one so we headed to Bar Estrella for some nourishment between shifts.
Bar Estrella is a Portuguese cafe/restaurant in Vauxhall and, once inside, you feel as though you could be in Lisbon, not London. The staff and customers chat together in Portuguese while at the bar there is a display of those lovely custard tarts you find in Portugal. The waiters are dressed in crisp white cotton shirts and black trousers – something British waiting staff don’t seem to do anymore. We sat in the cafe area but as we ordered a main meal rather than a snack they covered our table with a starched white linen tablecloth and brought olives, bread and butter to munch on while we waited.
I ordered rice with octopus which came served in its own little pot. It was piping hot and had a bisque-like flavour to it, perfect nourishment for a late finish. John chose pasta with garlic: the garlic that was tinged brown at the edges giving a lovely caramel taste. We washed this down with a couple of Cokes that came in proper Coke glasses with masses of ice. This isn’t fancy cooking, it’s delicious, well-cooked and fresh – just like Mamma used to make. If you’re affected by the credit crunch and can’t afford a holiday, go here for a taste of Portugal instead.
