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Notting Hill is one of London’s most iconic neighbourhoods; a picture-perfect enclave of leafy streets, cobbled mews, colourful houses and classic cars. But for all of its polished concept stores and groomed dogs (with their equally coiffured owners), the soul of the area still remains. You may have taken a dive into the swell of nipple tassel-wearing crowds that flood its street during carnival, or visited on a Saturday when Portobello Market swings into action selling every semi-broken antique imaginable. Walking its streets, you’ll find stylish locals, buskers, food stalls, steel drum players and fragrant spice shops.

From some angles, Notting Hill looks the same as it did in the 90s when Hugh Grant and his puppy-dog eyes made it a tourist hot spot, but it’s also a place overflowing with young people, buzzy bars, contemporary art and some great cooking. The food scene isn’t the most talked about in the city, but scratch the surface and you’ll find a bellyful of cutting-edge eateries run by ambitious chefs, alongside traditional caffs that have been serving the same full English and bowls of tea since the 60s. Like the world-famous market itself, all you have to do is a little digging.

Cutting-edge kitchens, traditional cafés and the Notting Hill restaurants where you should be dining

Photo: @lareef.photography
Photo: @lareef.photography
Photo: @lareef.photography

Orasay

Named after the Scottish island where chef Jackson Boxer’s family have spent their summers since he was young, Orasay promises a menu which focuses heavily (and somewhat unsurprisingly) on seafood. Tuck into the likes of scallops, river oysters, surf clams and lobster – plus a few land-based dishes, including a succulent shorthorn rib with black kale – to a backdrop of lime-washed walls flanked with Kate Boxer’s (Jackson’s mother) paintings. Book ahead of time as the slim dining room, kitted out with slouchy linen banquettes and unclothed antique French oak tables, has limited seating.

Photo: Jade Nina Sarkhel
Photo: Jade Nina Sarkhel
Photo: Jade Nina Sarkhel

Suzi Tros

Rubbing shoulders with sister restaurant Mazi, Suzi Tros offers similar fare to it’s older sibling, focusing more acutely on northern-Greek cuisine. Dishes inspired by the diners of Thessaloniki are simple and prices are modest, ranging from £2 to £22. Start with grill-marked bread with creamy taramasalata and follow with prawn saganaki and smoked aubergine laden with tahini and honey. For a fresh dish, the tomato and cucumber salad hits the spot, while turbot (served off the bone) with zesty greens is another must-order. Request a table upstairs in the bright back room if you’re planning a drawn-out dinner or, for a more brief bite, aim for the bar seating towards the front of the restaurant.

Haya

Choose from a well-edited menu of small bites at the Tel-Aviv inspired Haya to stave off hunger while final decisions are being reached – opt for the grilled halloumi skewers and padron peppers served with smoked salt and harissa mayo. For mains, a strong order for two would read: Jaffa-style cauliflower; asparagus with cashew sauce and feta cheese; spiced lamb cutlets with honey yoghurt (these are generously portioned); and a tendril of grilled octopus served with rainbow chard and turmeric emulsion. The dessert offering is just as good. Let your fullness levels guide and either go light with the deconstructed lemon meringue and raspberries – perfect for those whose key interest in said dessert is the whippy top – or go all-out with the home-baked cookies served with chocolate fudge, salted-caramel ice cream and hazelnuts.

Gold

This neighbourhood restaurant on Portobello Road would go unnoticed were it not for the rave reviews being whispered around the borough. Gold is the sort of place with which you’d expect Notting Hill to be littered, but which is surprisingly hard to come by. A hybrid between a pub and an al-fresco dining space, Gold has interiors with an artisanal feel, at once informal and eclectic. It’s spread over three floors – the ground level is the most atmospheric thanks to the garden terrace’s dusty coral walls, potted palms and a strong hurricane lantern-to-table ratio. Made using live-fire cooking, dishes are designed to be shared and are served as soon as they are ready. Don’t miss the wood-roasted, whole sea bream with wild oregano and capers or the black tiger and datterini tomato salad with salted ricotta, basil and verjus dressing. The burrata paired with charred flat peaches, Tuscan ham, radicchio and balsamic dressing is also a knockout. We’d go on if this weren’t making us oh so very hungry.

Pedlars General Store

Portobello hipsters get their kicks at this independent shop, which sells bits and bobs for the home and the great outdoors. Situated next door to Rough Trade records, you can pick up ceramics, utility clothing, prints, candles, and the kind of camping equipment you’d never actually take camping. In the back room, you’ll find a dog-friendly café fitted with reclaimed wood serving craft coffee, brunch classics and crumbly custard tarts.

Caractère

This casual, contemporary restaurant founded by Emily Roux (daughter of chef Michel Roux Jr) and Diego Ferrari oozes with character. Evening seatings serve up romantic vibes in dimly lit surrounds while afternoon slots offer a lighter atmosphere. Interiors blend edge and polish – think: rough brick walls and velvet seating – and the menu is similarly eclectic, with a focus on Italian and French cuisine (to reflect its owners’ respective provenances). Feast on an à la carte menu of seared-oxtail ravioli with beef consommé and bone marrow and mackerel served with confit beetroot, black cardamom and parsley, or try a wider selection of dishes by opting for the £78 tasting menu.

The Tin Shed

This peaceful artisanal bakery/wine bar is a little Parisian-esque postcard of wooden floors and rusty lights, with a marble bar topped with perfect floury bread and fluffy cakes. Choose from an all-day breakfast menu of classic egg dishes (ham and cheese omelette, benedict, Montreal…), hot bagels, fruit and lots of seasonal toppings piled onto crunchy sourdough. There is excellent coffee and many a corner to sit and read a book in the sunlight as you wait for the fine wine to start flowing.

Tonkotsu

After their success in Soho and East London, the soup-and-noodle masters behind Tonkotsu have voyaged west. Few things beat a bowl of steaming ramen with a cold beer – which explains why we struggle to go a week without visiting this place. All of their bouncy noodles are made in-house and their slow-cooked pork broths come topped with things like sliced chicken, tender pork, spring onions and a gooey marinated egg, sprinkled with their famous ‘eat the bits’ chilli oil. Be sure to try the fried ginger and soy chicken, silky gyoza and one of their killer Japanese-inspired cocktails.

Lowry & Baker

There’s nothing like a café as homely as your best friend’s living room to give you an appetite for cake. This cosy little spot serves Monmouth coffee and lovingly homemade sweet treats, as well as comforting breakfast and lunch dishes like homemade granola, colourful salads, English muffins with smoked salmon and, of course, avocado and poached eggs on toast.

Pizza East

If it’s an intense pizza craving you need to tend to, Pizza East will happily oblige. Just like its Shoreditch counterpart, this split-level restaurant is rustic and with a carefully curated dishevelled look born from blue steel chairs and plenty of reclaimed wood. Pizzas are dressed in silky mozzarella, slow-cooked tomato sauce and toppings like black truffle, burrata, spicy sausage or veal meatballs and slid into the blazing white-tiled pizza oven, where they crisp up perfectly while still retaining that delightful doughiness.

Ukai

This local favourite recently expanded from its long-standing home on Portobello Road to this new spot on the corner of Westbourne Park Road. The Japanese diner serves top-quality sushi, seafood dishes, steamed buns and sake in a classic, creaky-floored West London pub, where their dining room is lavished with pop art posters, retro lighting fixtures and Japanese cartoons.

108 Garage

Critics are falling over themselves to get a seat at this British-Asian restaurant, set in a former garage. Many of the original details lend themselves nicely to a cool, industrial interior, from the brick walls to the exposed pipework and concrete floors. The best seats in the house are at the bar, where you can watch the chefs at work. The bold, colourful food is served on handmade Japanese ceramic dishes – things like braised lamb agnolotti, veal sweetbread with hazelnuts and short rib with dill pickles. And the pre-dinner (and post-dinner, in our case) sourdough is something to behold. Definitely somewhere you’ll want to book in advance.

Daylesford

Picture yourself as a glossy haired new mother in linen overalls with a penchant for rare truffles – and this is where you’d come. This luxurious farm shop sells the kind of organic wine, preserves and cheeses you wish you had in your cupboard. It also has an in-house butcher and fishmonger, sells organic skincare and has some pretty beautiful homeware on sale, too. Visit the breezy café for seasonal breakfast, brunch, lunch and supper dishes made using produce from the shop, with freshly baked bread and butter from their own creamery.

Taqueria

Finally, good tacos have come to London. You can indulge this new obsession at this slick Mexican joint on Westbourne Grove, which started life as a successful Portobello Road food stall. In 2005 they opened their first permanent space – a brickwork, industrial-style space with a bar at its centre. They make their own soft-corn tortillas, which are loaded with traditional fillings like battered fish, juicy slow-cooked beef or shredded pork with pickled jalapeño. Their more contemporary flavours include soft-shell crab and fried plantain with mature cheese. You’ll want to sample as many as you can fit on the table, but save space for some ceviche tostadas, garlic-mushroom quesadillas, a deep-fried oyster with chipotle mayo and, of course, margaritas – they have all kinds of intoxicating versions, including pink grapefruit and cucumber.

Farm Girl

Slip in to this bright antipodean café for some virtuous food from Rose Mann, a holisitic eater who spent her youth milking cows on a dairy farm in Australia. Order a cold brew or a rose latte at the teal-tiled counter before settling down by the big windows or in the whitewashed courtyard. You’ll feel pretty good about yourself after a some pumpkin millet porridge, baked Turkish eggs, lentil and fennel salad or a coconut BLT (apparently coconuts are now masquerading as bacon). There are also crab cakes, chicken sandwiches and a big plate of steak and chips, with the option to sprinkle some bee pollen, maca and spirulina on top…

Pedlars General Store

The Tin Shed

Tonkotsu

Bluebelles

Falafel King

Goode & Wright

Lowry & Baker

Eat Tokyo

Pizza East

Ukai

108 Garage

Daylesford

Taqueria

Farm Girl

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