Notting Hill, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Where’s a fourth Michelin star when you need one?” – Clare Smyth’s “world-class” Notting Hill luminary offers “a supreme gastronomic experience” and now dominates our diners’ poll, topping not just votes as top gastronomic experience and highest food rating, but also the most-mentioned restaurant this year: an incredible achievement for somewhere charging top dollar. “From the moment you walk in to the moment you leave, everything is perfect”, but “despite being in the top echelons of restauration, everyone is so friendly and unstuffy” and “Clare and head chef Jonny Bone always make time to say ‘hi’ from the kitchen doorway”. The service (led by Rob Rose) is so smooth and slick “it’s almost like a ballet” and “Gareth Ferreira’s ability to pair wines is also exceptional”. When it comes to the cuisine itself, the third Michelin star awarded in January 2021 was “well-warranted and overdue” thanks to the “unsurpassed levels of sophistication, technical expertise, and the sheer culinary pleasure of the majestic tasting menu”. Dishes are “consistently bursting with flavour” (“I have never been so excited by a potato dish!”) and “look like works of art”; while “vegetarians and pescatarians are clearly no afterthought”. “After two cancellations for Covid restrictions I finally made it… well worth the money!”.

The Notting Hill pub where Bill Clinton famously downed a half and scarpered without paying in the dying days of his presidency is now a vibey sleb-magnet frequented by the likes of Sienna Miller, Ed Sheeran and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, following a revamp and name-change (from Portobello Gold, RIP) under Nick House, the founder of nightclubs Mahiki and Whisky Mist. Now featuring an upstairs party room and a garden room with retractable roof, it serves ‘modern European’ food by former River Café chef Theo Hill. Reports diverge on the new venture’s qualities, ranging from enthusiastic – “great atmosphere” – to damning – “a place for posing, not eating”.

2021 Review: Egg-citing Notting Hill arrival of a California-based chain majoring in… you guessed it… which beamed down from La-La Land into Portobello in late-summer 2019, too late for survey feedback. Signature dish is ‘The Slut’: a coddled egg on potato puree in a jar, plus sliced baguette.

“Outstanding fish and seafood” form the backbone of the menu at this Notting Hill two-year-old that celebrates the Hebridean island that supplies the name – where chef Jackson Boxer (of Brunswick House in Vauxhall) spent his childhood summers. The food is “delivered with great consistency” and there’s a “short but interesting wine list, too”. There’s a danger of the place being “over-hyped” – but Boxer brings it off and provides “a nice change from the surrounding Italianesque and fusion hangouts”. Top Tip: “Béarnaise sauce worth eating on its own” (but you may have to order one of the “fab steaks” to get a taste).

The four London farm shop/cafés – in Brompton Cross, Notting Hill, Pimlico and Marylebone – supplied by Lady Bamford’s organic farm offer a reassuring taste of life in the Cotswolds. They serve “pleasant café food, but some of the prices are too much”.

“We’re so happy to have Julie’s back – the atmosphere is brilliant”, say long-time fans of this Holland Park veteran – a hugely characterful subterranean warren that’s a throwback to the louche 1970s and still under long-time owners Tim and Cathy Herring. Its reopening in late 2019 after four years of closure soon turned into a rebaptism of fire with the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, and eventual departure of launch chef Shay Cooper on reopening in May 2021. Overall, however, the impression this romantic destination gives is that it has been successfully resurrected much as before: “with a brilliant atmosphere, and food that’s a bit overpriced”.

This upscale, flower-bedecked gastropub, off the smarter end of Ladbroke Grove, is one of London’s more genteel-looking gastropubs (although it still draws a lively crowd). The food is “always good” and it’s an “enjoyable place for Sunday lunches” – it’s dog-friendly, too, so the perfect culmination of a walk in nearby Holland Park.

Brett’s back!! Having closed his superb Notting Hill legend in June 2020, Brett Graham announced in August 2021 that its reopening is imminent. Pundits bent over backwards to be amazed, but a less surprising announcement is difficult to imagine. As always appeared possible/likely, Aussie Brett and team clearly made the smart move of shutting up shop, merely in order to sit out the pandemic (at the pub he co-owns, the Harwood Arms). There will be changes on its return, we are told, but these are still somewhat shrouded in mystery as we go to press. Whatever changes, it is still likely to be pitched at the very pinnacle of London dining. The press never mention Brett’s low-profile but high-impact backer, Nigel Platts-Martin OBE, who owns a very significant stake in the restaurant (as he does at the tremendous Chez Bruce, Trompette and Glasshouse).

2021 Review: On Ladbroke Grove, this big landmark pub was taken over by Harcourt Inns, with chef Ruairidh Summers at the stoves, and re-launched in mid-2019, too late for survey feedback.

This “smart neighbourhood restaurant” in Holland Park is “great value for some quite elevated cooking”, with menus that change daily. It’s “very small” (36 seats), “very friendly”, and has a “super wine list”. It sees itself as a ‘smarter, smaller and more mature relative of Parlour’, the highly rated gastropub in Kensal Green. Top Tip: “well-priced lunch menu”.

Chris Denney, chef at the excellent but now defunct 108 Garage (RIP), launched this curiously named spot on the Notting Hill site that was formerly Santo (RIP) site in July 2021 (after our survey had concluded). You eat on the ground floor with views to the open kitchen (and there’s also a basement bar), with the option of either à la carte or a 6-course tasting menu. The cuisine is in a similar, creative modern European vein to what was offered at 108.