London Hammersmith Restaurant Guide

“The kitchen is on song” at this “brilliant gastropub” in a side-street near Ravenscourt Park, long known as one of the capital’s best, thanks to its “proper” cooking and characterful interior, complete with “roaring fire” in winter, and small outside terrace. Service – historically a weak point – is “attentive and accommodating” too.

“An amazing place that’s still full on a midweek winter evening after 30 years” – Hammersmith’s world-famous, riverside Italian shows no sign of running out of steam: “it still feels fresh and contemporary”, “Ruthie Rogers herself is still there doing some of the cooking”, and it remains a standard-bearer for “the simplicity and clarity” of its Tuscan cuisine. The perennial elephant in the room here is “wallet-busting” prices, which regularly win this W6 legend the survey’s booby prize as London’s Most Overpriced Restaurant. Even so, most reporters are inclined to be forgiving: they “love the place despite the absurd cost”, particularly those who appreciate “the very best, carefully sourced ingredients”; who adore the “helpful staff”; or who acclaim “the glorious outside terrace in summer”, which “can’t be matched”. A sizeable minority, though, “know all the arguments as to why the place is worth it… but don’t agree”. A prime gripe for those who feel the most taken for a ride is the “crazy bills you get for sitting in what’s basically a big canteen”: while fans applaud this egalitarian set-up as “a perfect mix between formality and informality”, the less charitable find it “noisy” and “crammed in” (“my chair was frequently banged into by waiters squeezing past”).

History is in the air at this riverside pub, down a cute Hammersmith alley, and with fine views from the small Thames-side terrace. Feedback is enthusiastic about its “fantastic” pub scoff, but the marvellous characterful interior is the big deal here.

This “excellent local pub/restaurant” near Hammersmith Broadway caters with aplomb to everyone from “the giddy lunchtime rush of the nearby office population to the more genteel folk of the ’hood dining and wining in the evening”.

The “excellent burgers and pub-type grub” at these ‘Spar-supermarkets-with-kitchen-attached’ in Walthamstow Village and Hackney (and also Bishop’s Stortford) make them favourite local hang outs as well as “super places to go for a meal with the kids” (even if non-parents can sometimes find it “family overfriendly!”). Top Tip: the “renowned chicken burger” (and their famous bacon jam, which can be bought by the jar). In late summer 2018 a new branch opened on the opposite side of town, south of Hammersmith Broadway.

“Wonderful Indian cuisine with unusual and delicious use of spices” has generated a big name and following for Manoj Vasaikar’s “varied and interesting” nouvelle Indian, a short walk from Ravenscourt Park. On the downside, its premises – while attractive – are “tightly packed” and “can be quite noisy”.