Every June, Lisbon’s narrow streets fill with grilled sardine smoke, cheap wine, paper decorations and people who have absolutely nowhere better to be. The Festas dos Santos, celebrating saints Anthony, John and Peter across the month, is the kind of communal knees-up that Portugal does better than almost anywhere. Bar Douro is bringing the Festa to London.
Photo by Alano Oliveira on Unsplash
Every Sunday in June 2026, from the 6th to the 27th, the restaurant’s London Bridge terrace will host its own version: whole grilled sardines, Portuguese wines, and live fado performances adding genuine atmosphere rather than background noise. Bar Douro is a serious restaurant with a track record for not embarrassing itself on the food front, so the sardines should be worth eating rather than merely Instagram-adjacent.
London Bridge is straightforward to reach, with the Jubilee and Northern lines plus National Rail all depositing you nearby. The terrace is small, so booking ahead is sensible unless you enjoy standing on pavements looking optimistic. Expect to spend around £30 to £50 a head with drinks, which is honest money for this part of town.
This suits anyone fond of Portugal who either can’t travel or simply wants a Sunday afternoon with a point to it. It is not a replacement for the real thing, nothing in London ever quite is, but as a way to spend a June Sunday without boarding a plane, it is a genuinely considered idea. Skip it if you need a festival crowd of thousands to feel the atmosphere. Bring it on if a terrace, a cold Vinho Verde and a fado singer will do the job.
