Casa do Frango, the Portuguese grilled chicken connoisseurs, have brought a pocket of the sun-soaked Algarve to East London, with the opening of a new restaurant in Shoreditch. Casa do Frango Shoreditch will shine a light on the flavors of authentic Algarvian cuisine, with influences from other regions of Portugal. As with its first London Bridge site, charcoal-grilled piri piri chicken will take center stage, with the restaurant upholding Algarvian cooking traditions and preserving the age-old techniques of the region’s grill masters. The drinks menu will feature an exclusively Portuguese wine offering as well as a cocktail list utilizing special Portuguese spirits and three special Casa do Frango beers, created in collaboration with an Algarvian brewery.
Designed by A-nrd studio, the overall tone of the restaurant is channeling the country’s treasured café culture, with the ground floor housing a bespoke dark oak bar, where customers will be able to enjoy a menu of petiscos – the Portuguese equivalent of tapas. Walking through, a focal point of the room is the open-plan Pasteleria (Bakery), where several varieties of pastéis de nata – Portugal’s lauded custard tarts – are served from behind the three-meter height glazed facade.
Upstairs, the bright and airy dining room is flooded with natural light from wrap-around floor-to-ceiling windows. A further nod to influences from Portuguese architecture and design, the interiors will include reclaimed parquet flooring and lime-washed walls. Furniture and lighting have been mostly hand sourced from antique markets, to give the space a home feel.
The open plan kitchen, framed by hand-glazed tiles, will allow diners to watch the chefs cooking over the wood-fired grill from their tables. A local Portuguese artist has also been appointed to create bespoke hand-painted tile friezes that are greeting the customers at the entrance of the restaurant and on their journey throughout the three-floor restaurant.
