Meet the chefs thinking beyond pastéis de nata .

For years, a certain high-street purveyor of peri-peri chicken was one of the few widely known flagbearers for Portugal’s culinary tradition in London, but – thanks to a passionate crowd of restaurateurs, retailers and rissois fans – the city is now getting a glimpse of the nation’s cuisine at its best.

Not that London’s 40,000-strong Portuguese population need telling – venture to Golborne Road in west London, Stockwell – aka “Little Portugal” – to the south or the back streets of Camden in the north and you’ll find an abundance of neighbourhood spots for pastéis de nata, grilled fish and icy Sagres. But mainstream establishments are few and far between, especially when compared to London’s abundant Italian, French and Spanish offerings. Step forward a new wave of high-profile openings that – alongside the neighbourhood staples – are putting Portugal on London’s culinary map.

According to Mr Max Graham, the founder of Southwark’s charismatic Bar Douro – a azulejo-lined space in the railway arches of Flat Iron Square – this resurgence goes hand in hand with the Iberian nation’s increased popularity. “There has been such a rise in tourism in the past few years and this is reshaping people’s perspective of Portugal,” he says. “There is a larger reference bank to draw from and people understand the food better.”

And Bar Douro is in good company. Well known from his output at London’s Viajante and Chiltern Firehouse, Lisbon chef Mr Nuno Mendes returned to his roots by opening Taberna do Mercado in Spitalfields Market, where he’s been serving modern takes on traditional Portuguese fare since 2015. At the end of last year he released Lisboeta, a colourful culinary paean to the Portuguese capital that – with its vibrant photography and zesty recipes – seems to chime with the current mood in London.

With the kitchen helmed by Mr Tiago Santos, who worked for Porto’s hallowed Yeatman Hotel – Mr Graham’s team serves traditional Portuguese food in tapas form, including salt cod hash, grilled octopus and roast suckling pig. “Portuguese food is rustic and rooted in home cooking, family recipes and traditions,” says Mr Graham. “The Atlantic is what differentiates Portuguese cuisine from its Mediterranean neighbours; its cold, deep waters offer access to such a variety of fish. Dishes like the [famed seafood stew] cataplana are a testament to this.”

As well as restaurants, cafes and retailers are also tapping into all things Portuguese. I Love Nata – London’s first boutique café inspired by Portugal’s beloved custard tart – does a roaring trade in Covent Garden while A Portuguese Love Affair on Columbia Market serves a cafe menu alongside heritage goods including beautifully packaged soaps, sardines, preserves and wines, which are really finding form right now. “With more than 250 native grape varieties there is so much to discover,” says Mr Graham, whose bar boasts an exclusively Portuguese wine list. “Londoners have often been drawn to better known regions such as Vinho Verde or grape varieties such as Touriga Nacional. But this is changing and I am starting to see more obscure reserves, older vintages and independent producers featuring on wine lists.”

One Portuguese chef taking a different tack is also one of London’s most prominent. Mr Leandro Carreira, whose glittering CV includes stints at northern Spain’s Mugaritz as well as London restaurants Lyle’s, Koya and Mr Mendes’s Viajante, opened his debut restaurant, Londrino, at the end of last year. Instead of focusing on traditional cuisine (although a few dishes, including a stunning take on clams bulhao pato, are true national treasures), Mr Carreira says he’s tried to step beyond standard perceptions of Portuguese cooking. “You need one or two people to think outside the box – like Mr Massimo Bottura with Italy or Mr Ferran Adrià in Spain,” he says. “In the past few years there are a few chefs doing that both back home and here.”

As a result, the dishes served at his sleek space in London Bridge take influence not just from Portugal but also the far-flung Portuguese diaspora, which has roots across the world including the Far East, Africa and South America. One popular dish, cured mackerel with a vivid green almond accompaniment, pairs elements of both Japanese and Portuguese cuisine with herbs foraged by Mr Carreira. “We put importance on the ingredients rather than just producing recipes from Alentejo or homemade custard tarts,” says Mr Carreira. “We explore the Portuguese diaspora across the world in our dishes, so it’s Portuguese food, but not as you know it.”

For Mr Carreira, the domestic food scene back home has changed considerably, and that has helped project itself overseas. “When I started, you were a loser if you went into cooking,” he says with a certain hint of satisfaction. “Now people think that we are the rock stars!”

Luckily for us, London’s now starting to provide a worthy main stage.