London Holland Park Restaurant Guide

Is it London? It doesn’t feel like it at this enchanting, 17th-century ballroom adjoining Holland House, and surrounded by the tranquility of Holland Park. As a restaurant, it’s had many ups and downs over the years (there’s always a temptation here to coast on the location), and its latest incarnation was launched without fanfare in December 2022 by George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev, of Goodman, Burger & Lobster and Wild Tavern. True to the DNA of these other offerings, it’s been handsomely revamped and now serves an Italian-influenced menu centred on luxe casual dining – raw seafood, USDA steak, plus fancy pizza and pasta. In a February 2023 review, Giles Coren of The Times decried it as akin to “the second-best Italian restaurant in Dubai” whose unifying principle is “expensive” not Italian. Our initial reports are less sniffy: “an amazing meal with attentive service, and good ambience even if the decor is a bit overdone for my taste and the food is on the pricey side for what it is”.

2021 Review: “Go for the wine: there’s a great selection” focused solely on Italy at this Kensington yearling, with bottles lining many of the walls. Even fans can note that the food (pasta, cheese and meat boards, salads) “is not as good”, but it avoids any harsh critiques. Brunch here is also a possibility.

“Roberto, Francesco and Alberto are finally back” (after a prolonged closure during Covid) and “really go out of their way to make you feel welcome” at their “wonderful neighbourhood Italian” in posh Holland Park. Its large local fanclub sometimes acknowledge that “prices are too high”, but don’t mind because the food (including a number of Sardinian specialities) is “tasty and well presented” and the overall performance makes it “dependable for any occasion”.

“Such traditional, family-run restaurants are quite a rarity in London these days”; and the Chiavarinis have maintained this “quintessential”, “old-fashioned” trattoria, opposite the Design Museum, for over 50 years. Fans say the food is “terrific, albeit a bit pricey probably because of its posh postcode”. But there is a less charitable school of thought, which says results are “uninspired, but it’s always busy, possibly because the locals don’t know how to cook…”

“Fairy lights, greenery and charming decor create a warm and cosy atmosphere” at this still-expanding group, which is most popular as a “reliable and friendly brunch option”. Its Med-inspired tapas is typically rated somewhere between “tasty” and “nothing special” and scores overall are dragged well down by those experiencing “chaotic service” and “food that doesn’t live up to the pretty dining room”.

This tasteful backstreet 1980s Italian, with interesting art on the walls, sits in the no-man’s-land between Kensington and Olympia; and has become less well-known since the death of Michael Winner ten years ago (who used to plug it remorselessly in The Sunday Times as his favourite restaurant). Its quiet virtues as a high quality and authentic venture have changed little over the years: “still love this venue, but best to go in the week when the kitchen isn’t too busy”. Top Menu Tip – go for fish and seafood here.

2021 Review: “I started eating at Alounak when it was in a container in a car park round the corner” over twenty-five years ago, and this Iranian café over the tracks from Olympia remains a “favourite BYO” to this day, with its “consistently good Persian comfort food”: in particular “superb kebabs”. (A Bayswater ‘Alounak’ is still in operation, but seems now to operate independently of W14.)

“A pioneer in championing dishes from the Philippines” – this Kensington feature opened in 2016 and helped pave the way for what’s nowadays a healthy level of interest in the cuisine in the Capital. It’s named for a well-known Filipino diplomat whose grandchildren own the venture; and who also run a number of similarly branded cafés back home in Asia.

This offbeat, “really high-quality Japanese” outfit in a Kensington backstreet from Yasuhiro Minemo and Shinya Ikeda has carved out a niche for itself over the last 13 years with its “delicious sushi” and “extremely attentive staff”. It’s pricey, but “the lunch menu is great value”. Its offshoot Ocean House is in the former Brompton Library, while the latest addition from 2022, Sushi Kamon in Arcade Food Hall on Oxford Street, offers a cut-price 45-minute omakase experience.

“Terrific posh Levantine food with a twist” is the story of this Kensington High Street three-year-old, whose kitchen is run by former Palomar head chef Tomar Amedi. The menu can seem “confusing” to first-timers (“what’s a starter? a main? a side? did we order enough?”) but the small plates are “interesting and all very tasty”.

On one level it’s like any other “friendly local”, but few pubs have such a picturesque location as this popular tavern, on the kind of Regency square in Kensington that makes tourists swoon (and with its own cute outside terrace). “Great pub-like food” (without any gastro pretensions) is served in its “lively” dining room. Piers Morgan throws an annual Christmas party here, hosting celeb pals from TV and politics, with Gary Lineker in regular attendance… well, nowhere’s perfect…

2021 Review: “When all you want is an old-school burger”, these US-based arrivals of recent years really “hit the spot” – you can “build your own”, with “tons of accessories”; plus “seriously addictive fries”, “thick milkshakes”, and “more soda flavours than is reasonable”. “The eat-in experience is as depressing as McDonald’s”, though, in fact perhaps more so – “some branches have a strangely gloomy ambience” – but fans feel that “if you don’t mind 1980s-rock, a trip can still be surprisingly fun”.

“I’ve had dinner here at least 20 times over the last 10 years and have never had a bad meal. I’m a fan!” – this smart and “very comfortable” (“slightly dull?”) fixture sits in a side road off Kensington High Street and is very accomplished by the reckoning of neighbourhood venues (and is nowadays in the top-100 most mentioned London restaurants in our annual diners’ poll). Star chef Phil Howard is a partner in its management, and standards are “very good all round”, including the “really creative and delicious” modern European cuisine.

“Fragrant and tasty dishes” win approval at this cute Indian hidden away in a Kensington backstreet. Its siblings in Little Venice, Barnes and Kingston get very little notice from reporters.

“Where else can you get ramen and laksa in the same place?”, ask fans of this “efficient and friendly” pan-Asian chain founded almost 30 years ago in Bloomsbury’s Brunswick Centre and now with branches in Ealing, Putney, Kensington and Chiswick plus two delivery-only kitchens.

With its “perfect pub atmosphere”, “pretty front garden” and “excellent, interesting food that never disappoints”, this unusually gracious Ladbroke Grove local is “a real contender” as one the capital’s better hostelries. On the debit side, service was often said to be “up and down” this year (“smiling and helpful, but run off their feet”).