The Lounge Spanish Tapas Bar

My boyfriend and I went to The Lounge for a Spanish treat after having read all the good reviews this restaurant had.

First impression were goog, the restaurant looked very intimate and cosy and the owner was very friendly, but being a spanish restaurant I thought the owners were spanish. They were not, she was Portuguese and her husband who was in the kitchen was Swiss, that was a bit of a disappointment. I am spanish and I was craving some authentic spanish food.

The food took a bit longer than expected but everything was made fresh so we were Ok with that, the negative surprise was when we tasted it, every single dish had an overpowering taste of peper. We spanish people never put so much peper on our food as it takes away the delicate flavours of our mediterranean ingredients. The spanish omelete was too yellow as if they had put curry paste, or colourant. The cod croquettes had a nice taste but they were not spanish as they were made with potato, peper and spinach and pisto were nice but again too much pepper. We had 4 small tapas and tap water and it all came to 22 pounds which we thought was too expensive for a dissapointing meal.
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VMG
5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Sunday, October 02, 2011

I celebrated my 30th birthday at Lounge. They were able to accommodate my party of 40 by letting us have the whole top floor. I've been here before for parties and so had no hestitation booking it for my birthday as I knew how wonderful the service was. Philippe and Manuela, the lovely owners are so welcoming and hospitable. You can tell they genuinely enjoy what they do and they are very relaxed and friendly, while doing a great job of serving up delicous food for a large group very efficiently. They do set menus, so you can avoid the painful bill splitting at the end as well. Would definitely recommend. Great taste of Spain in Balham.
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Laura J
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Saturday, January 22, 2011

I may have found my new favourite place to eat in London. The Lounge has a rich and varied menu that makes you want to order e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g on it. There's a calm and intimate atmosphere with wonderful service from genuinely lovely people. I felt very much at home. The food is absolutely to die for. The Lounge scores top marks on all counts... but ESPECIALLY the food. The only down point of the evening was when I had to stop eating as there were so many more delicious sounding dishes to try. For that reason I'll be back. And back... And back...
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Steve C.
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Our wedding party at the Balham Lounge could not have been better. The organisation was excellent, the service was wonderful and the food, as ever, was delicious. It was great that we could customise the menu for our party of 35 people, and Philippe was really helpful and flexible regarding the table arrangements and seating plan. Manuela was the perfect host and made sure everyone received a glass of champagne on arrival (which was great because we ended up arriving a little late!).

A big heartfelt thank you to all the staff at the Balham Lounge.
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Dan and Christine
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, May 06, 2010

Delicious, fresh tapas made and served by the owners in a friendly neighbourhood restaurant. I have brought friends, family, colleagues and clients to The Lounge to rave reviews. It’s still my favourite venue for a meal for two – outstanding.
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F.Dobson - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, January 05, 2010