hihi, today I will be sharing my experience at the Bar Beach Grill restaurant in Lewisham.

Bar Beach Grill is a small Afro fusion restaurant combining some popular Afro dishes like jollof rice & Suya with bbq, seafood and grilled dishes. There’s lots of cocktails on the menu too

Dress code- casual

Experience

I’ve known about this place for a while now and last month my SIL and I tried to walk in thinking they had walk in tables. The place was packed but the door was actually locked (I have never seen this before lol) and we were informed they were fully booked with no walk in tables. We decided to book later to see what the fuss is about.

Decor- It’s a casual restaurant so the setting was simple, once inside I actually saw how small it was so I sort of understood why there would be no walk in tables but the locked door I dont understand lol.

Food & service

I was seated right away and we got the mixed sharing platter which had a little bit of everything we wanted to try. We got jollof & mac & cheese as additional sides and my SIL got some cocktails. The drinks menu doesn’t have any mocktails but the server did ask if she wanted it with or without alcohol. I think something should be added to the menu that drinks can be made mocktail style & a price because I was very surprised that for a place like this there were no mocktails on the menu. Anyway we didn’t have to wait too long for the food. The place was busy but not packed.

The food was good with some not quite hitting the spot. My SIL did not care for the suya at all but I thought it was nice just needed a tiny bit of salt but the meat wasn’t chewy or dry. The salt & pepper squid was great and we both loved that along with the dipping sauce it came with. The wings were nice with a little heat kick and the grilled prawns had a sweetish glaze and was ok. I’m Ghanaian so I prefer my jollof rice to be made with jasmine rice lol however this basmati jollof rice wasn’t bad either. It had a little heat but also needed a little bit of salt. The mac & cheddar was chessy and good. We didn’t even touch the chips tbh, we were so full. The platter is definitely a good sharing portion. We had the banana cake and custard for dessert because the table next to us had it and it looked nice, a bit heavy on the cinnamon but the cake was light and moist and you cant really go wrong with custard.

Verdict

I think it does live up to its hype. It’s a great little spot with good food and good service and I would be happy to go back for that platter alone. They do a bottomless brunch & the table next to us definitely enjoyed the bottomless drinks. They were very happy with the drinks and my SIL said her cocktails were really good. There is limited parking 2hrs if you park in the asda right next to it but there is a car park close by too. no street parking. Her food ratings were out of 10 were Mac&cheese 8, squid-10, wings 8, suya 7, prawns 7, dessert 10. cocktails 10.

a conversation with a fellow diner really got me thinking. She asked me if i was drinking and I said no & she looked so surprised then asked me why I wasnt but then I was so surprised by this lol. How is it so surprising that someone doesn’t drink that you question a complete stranger’s drinking habits? lol. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone ask why someone drinks when they say they are drinking? I found that very interesting and it got me thinking. I have no issues with alcohol or people who drink I just found that interaction surprising lool and made me think

Anyway highly recommend this place for brunch & lunch too