London Brook Green Restaurant Guide

“Love the different pizza-base options such as charcoal and gluten-free” (there’s also wholemeal and ‘traditional’) at these popular pizza pit stops, where the dough is fermented for 48 hours then cooked in purpose-built gas and wood ovens. Two branches were added in 2022: in Stoke Newington in April and in Canary Wharf in summer.

This “lovely local restaurant” run by an Italian couple in a quiet backwater near Brook Green is a popular choice for its “really delightful staff” and “excellent range of dishes”. It’s a small but light and airy space, with “tables outside in summer”.

2021 Review: “Grotty-looking, but serving top steak!” – that’s been the trade-off for over two decades at this “intimate and special”, but simultaneously “fairly basic” little quirk of a bistro, in the backstreets near Olympia. “If you like good steak then this is as good a place to start as any: its excellent meat, cooked perfectly, takes some beating”, and is supplemented by an intriguing wine selection of well-chosen bin ends. The N19 branch is no more.

“A nice and buzzy local bistro” that’s attractively styled and “a good choice in the area” (a barren stretch of trafficky road, north of Brook Green). The formula is classically French, including a handy prix-fixe option.

“Popular in the neighbourhood and very easy to recommend” – this blue-tiled Victorian tavern behind Olympia excels for “good, slightly pimped gastropub fare”. Launched as a more foodie operation in 1996, it still draws fans from across west London and beyond.

2019 Review: Small Lebanese café lost in the backstreets immediately behind Olympia. Known mainly to a faithful local crowd since the days of its redoubtable but endearingly chaotic former owner, “it maintains the standards set by Marcelle: the big difference is in the improved reliability of the service!”

“Pizzas with an absolutely stunning crust – and excellent toppings as well” – win rave reviews for this pub conversion near Brook Green. It’s a well-run operation, part of the Oak group of pizza-pubs, and everything on the menu is “fresh and well-sourced”.

“Delhi-style street food” from an “extensive menu with different descriptions” has won a fan club for these “fun”, “small” and basic cantinas in Ealing (x2) and on gracious Hammersmith Grove. Reviews this year however weren’t quite as enthusiastic as in times past.

Slap bang in the middle of Hammersmith Broadway, it’s easy to ignore Grade II listed ‘Bradmore House’, nowadays a hip coworking club. The food (from a menu created by chef Andrew Clarke) doesn’t aim for foodie fireworks, but is way better than you would expect just seconds from the tube platforms, as is the stylish and cosy basement location.

A “fantastic wine list”, including “interesting wines by the glass”, is the strong suit at this Hammersmith hub, where verdicts on the “bistro cooking” range from “dependable, with good ingredients” to “OK but rather boring”. Breakfast gets a thumbs-up – “fab baps” and “they remember how you like your coffee”.

2021 Review: “Just around the corner from Olympia”, it’s worth knowing about this well-rated pub, in the not-particularly-auspicious northerly reaches of the North End Road. In the same stable as Earl’s Court’s excellent Atlas, it delivers “a very enjoyable meal, with a good quality menu and a lovely atmosphere”.

2022 Review: Three minutes’ walk from downtown Hammersmith, this characterful pub – sibling to The Atlas in Earl’s Court – is worth knowing about for its dependable cooking, atmospheric style and lovely outside terrace.

“Spankingly good Italian food” is found at this long-established modern venue in an “isolated location” behind Holland Park, whose “posh locals know a good thing when they see it”. There are plenty of “unusual options on the menu”, with an emphasis on “original and well-prepared fish dishes”.

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.)

2021 Review: “In the heart of Walthamstow Village”, this “great neighbourhood spot” – a Spar supermarket with kitchen attached – wins praise for its “quality” cooking (“the 2019 Harden’s description of pub-type grub underplays its standard and originality”). “Very relaxed and welcoming for young children”, the venture’s best-known innovation is bacon jam, which you can buy by the jar in various flavours. Other branches have opened in Hackney and, most recently, Hammersmith (somewhat better-served areas, so these respective branches are somewhat less of a local lifeline).

“Predictably good meat-free food that’s worth a detour” has helped win a big fanclub for this small veggie chain, which vies with Mildreds as London’s best multiple plant-based group. (The Gates are less well known than their rivals nowadays but score higher for food). In particular, there’s high praise for “the original and best” location, which occupies a “lovely light-filled” space above a church, behind Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo (and with a ‘secret garden’ in summer). The St John’s Wood spin-off closed this year, leaving two others near Sadlers Wells and in Seymour Village. If there’s a gripe, it’s the “somewhat unchanging menu”, which has seemed more static of late.