The concept is based on the listening bars of Japan that have been popular there since the 1950s. Guests that come to Dahlia get to enjoy music played on vinyl in an environment that is optimised for a beautiful audio experience. The bespoke sound system is a key part of this and is one of the things that defines listening bars. It’s quite different to the sound systems we all know from the club scene and it also won’t be playing as loud. The intention is to give a really pure sound. In addition to the high end sound equipment, the room has also been acoustically treated and sound proofed with audio absorbing material and was designed by the established Portuguese architect Tiago Oudman.

The vast record collection, which is made up of over 6,000 vinyls and is kept behind the bar, has been handpicked by DJ Trus’me, who is the owner of Prime Numbers record label and has been collecting records for over 20 years.

Also, when it comes to the food, Dahlia bets on high quality ingredients prepared by a renowned chef. The executive chef, who created the menu concept is Daniel Morgan, known from the restaurant Robert in Paris and awarded Chef of the Year 2021 by Lefooding. The head chef is Vitor Oliveira, who was most recently the head chef at Damas in Lisbon.

The menu is a constantly changing array of Middle Eastern inspired shared plates, focusing on high quality, local and seasonal ingredients. The concept is to take simple and tasty dishes and elevate them. Dahlia offers the same level of ingredients and attention to detail on the plate that you would know from fine dining restaurants, but in a more casual and fun environment.

Accompanying the food will be a carefully selected list of natural wines that, just like the food menu, constantly changes to perfectly pair with the current dishes. Dahlia works with wines from a lot of different smaller producers who are making wine in alternative ways with minimal intervention and virtually no use of chemicals. Some of the natural wines are even imported all the way from Australia and are exclusively available at Dahlia.

“We want to bring a competent and knowledgeable, yet friendly and relaxed style of service. The idea is to create a neighborhood feel, where guests can come in regularly as well as for a special occasion.” said the general manager, Adam Purnell.