The Lounge (Balham)

I thought that I'd discovered most of the local eateries in Balham, but noticed this one on the London Restaurant Review. It had some really great reviews, and deservedly so. Just the other side of the trainline, so slightly off the main high street, this is a real gem.

It seems as though it's owned a husband and wife - I imagine he must be in the kitchen? I did feel slightly sorry for the wife though as she was left to take the orders, serve the food and drinks for the whole restaurant (which was pretty full). OK, so we did have to wait quite a while for our food, and the service generally wasn't the speediest, but it didn't really seem to matter. The lady was lovely, and really apologetic (and slightly bemused by how busy the restaurant was). The atmosphere is great, maybe it was just the sunshine outside, but I did feel like I was in a little Spanish tapas bar.

The food. So I seem to be the person that always drastically over-orders whenever I go out for tapas (yet somehow the food always goes?!). My friend and I shared: patatas bravas (lovely spicy sauce), king prawns in garlic and chilli (delicious), calamari, chicken wings, and chorizo. The food was all good.

I will definitely be back, with my boyfriend in tow, as he never likes to miss out on finding a new venue...