London Bayswater Restaurant Guide

“The best roast duck in the world? I have no idea, but it’s certainly superb” at these Cantonese canteens… and “you definitely don’t go for the ambience. No, You go for the duck… if you’re really smart, the roast pork… or even better, the pork and the duck!”. “But the service is comically, disastrously rude – and your arteries will probably thank you if you don’t go too often”. Launched 35 years ago in Queensway, the group now has outlets in Chinatown, Soho, the Hippodrome (Chop Chop), Colindale’s Bang Bang Oriental food hall and Oxford.

“Just love this authentic busy Chinese!” – Since 1978, this “bustling” linchpin of Queensway has won a huge following and is a “favourite Chinese” for many Londoners. Despite its grungy, ’70s-tastic interior and brusque service, it’s actually known for high-quality seafood: in particular, lobster and noodles with ginger. That said, its ratings were more middling this year, on the back of some who say “the positivity this resto attracts continues to puzzle me”; or who find dishes “solid but uninspiring”. Top Menu Tip – “We always eat exactly the same things: salt and pepper asparagus, lobster with ginger and spring onions, Peking duck, chicken with dry chilli and ginger… because they’re so damned delicious; and fantastic value!”

Some of “the best Chinese roast duck and excellent char siu” can be found at this no-frills Cantonese in Queensway (with a sibling in Chinatown) – “if you can put up with the surroundings”.

“Don’t be put off by the venue!” – a very basic pitstop inside Queensway Market (itself, a bright, tacky, rambling mass of stalls on this touristy street, between the two tube stops). Run by Normah Abd Hamid, who “can usually be found in the cramped kitchen cooking your meal with love – her very special ingredient! – and the Malaysian food at this tiny cafe is very good indeed”.

Almost everyone has walked past this 30-year fixture next-door to Queensway tube station at some point. Those who have dropped in for a meal have found “delicious and authentic Cantonese food”, including roast duck and seafood – “but don’t expect friendly service”. Top Menu Tip – “beef with black bean sauce and crispy noodles”.

“Interesting and tasty small plates” – “sort of evolved eastern Mediterranean” – is backed up by a “short and eclectic wine list” focused on the same region at Barry & Patricia Hamilton’s Levantine duo in Queensway and South Kensington. With its “fast, efficient service”, the latter is a “good place for pre-Albert Hall dining”. Top Menu Tip – for brunch, “the Turkish breakfast (halloumi, merguez, baked eggs, spicy tomato crush, pitta bread)”.

“Ambience is not key when you just want to stuff your face!” – you “just get a great dirty burger” at these tongue-in-cheek diners, whose signature offering is the ‘Dead Hippie’. Founded 16 years ago from the back of a truck by Scott Collins and Yianni Papoutsis, at the time a technician with the English National Ballet, it now has 15 London outlets and a national delivery operation.

Mathew & Charmaine Tabatabai’s chic little Bayswater ‘brunch café’ ticks the boxes for tasty (and healthy) daytime treats with specialty coffee, and is a “lovely place to sit and people-watch” as the denizens of Westbourne Grove pass by.

2021 Review: “Perfect coffee every time” keeps caffeine fiends crawling back to this small and serious chain. “Baking from Fortitude Bakehouse is a good complement”.

“A perennial favourite” – Nino Sassu’s quirky first-floor venue above a Bayswater pub is now in its 30th year serving “very well executed Italian food (fish is particularly good)”. If it no longer excites the fooderati as it once did, reporters still extol the “warm welcome” of an “airy room with no music, just the pleasant murmur of fellow diners enjoying their food and conversation”.

“Chicken with amazing sides” is the winning formula at Romain Bourrillon’s rotisserie chain, which imports its chooks from France. “Nice brunch”, too.

This “brilliant local curry house” off Westbourne Grove has “been there forever (since 1956, in fact) for good reason” – “we’ve been going for over 40 years and it’s always delicious and great value” and there’s “always a friendly welcome”. Top Tip – “it no longer has an alcohol licence and is now BYOB, so is even better value”.

2021 Review: “Extraordinarily good pizzas”, “very good negronis” and “no burgers” are served at this bar, which boasts “the style of Mayfair transplanted to Notting Hill”. It’s upstairs from Assaggi, and from the same team, in the former pub they share, and these days seems the less risky bet. Top Tip – “try the truffle pizza in winter and English asparagus with San Daniele ham in summer”.

2021 Review: Mussels, prawns, calamari and other seafood by the, er, bucket-load is the promise at this “lovely local” yearling on the Bayswater/Notting Hill border – a “comfortable” modern bistro with simple-but-effective decor, serving “a wide selection of very fresh fish and seafood” (in small metal pails) that’s “very good value”. Top Tip – oyster happy hour 4pm-7pm weekdays and 4pm-6pm on weekends, when oysters are £1 each with any bottle, jug, cocktail or bucket of beers.

“Good-to-very-good dim sum”, “excellent seafood” and “good duck” are the hallmarks of this “wonderful Cantonese” venue in a modern basement setting in Paddington Basin – although it has yet to recover the stellar ratings it achieved before the pandemic. Top Tip – it’s often recommended for a family meal with kids in tow.

“Cute” and “fun” small operation, off Notting Hill Gate, which launched the Gladwin Bros’ now five-strong group in London 13 years ago, and retains the “chaotic” feel that was always part of its shabby-chic charm. The ‘Local & Wild’ food, much of it sourced from or foraged near the family farm in Sussex, is an “interesting” proposition, and – notwithstanding the odd ‘off’ report – was generally well-rated this year.

“Aussies know how to do a breakfast”, and this “always-friendly” outlet of the ‘Daisy Green Collection’ (big modern cafés generally in recent developments; of which there are about 15) is also well-located by the canal in Paddington (“every restaurant we’ve been to in the Green collection has been good but Bondi Green is in a lovely location as well”). “Try the Shakshouka or the Fancy Bacon Roll if you’re a sinner or the Healthy Start if you’re not. Either way, the coffee is excellent”.

“Great Malaysian cooking at very low prices” has won a fair following for Med Pang and Koi Lee’s street-food operation in the ground-floor restaurant of a hotel just off Queensway. “Although not a meat-free restaurant, there is an extensive veggie selection of Malaysian street food”, plus “very good satay and roti chennai, good laksa” all “clean-tasting”. “It can get very busy and a little chaotic (part of its charm?)”.

The sophistication of Manhattan’s Midtown and Upper East Side was the style-guide for Jeremy King’s fit-out of this prominent new Bayswater site: on the corner of Queensway facing Kensington Gardens. With its big windows, wood-lined walls, ever-so-flattering lighting and maroon leather banquettes, it’s a very handsome space that could certainly hold its head up high on Park Avenue. It opened in mid 2024 soon after his re-launch of Arlington (see also), and was already into a majorly impressive stride on a first-week visit by your editor (with Jeremy himself, immaculately tailored as always, taking personal care that the service ticks along). As at all King’s places, the food underpins the occasion: it’s not, itself, the occasion. Here a long all-day menu (with another dedicated to breakfast) jumbles up comfort food treats with a vaguely US spin – pastas, salads, sandwiches… even hot dogs and ice cream sundaes – alongside (slightly) more crafted dishes such as Chicken Milanese or Ham Hock Pie. Yummy… but won’t distract you too much from your conversation. (Rated on editor’s visit, not our annual diners’ poll).

No less a figure than Queen Azizah of Malaysia (while she was over for Charles’s coronation) cut the ribbon for the May 2023 opening of this first European venture from one of Malaysia’s leading restaurant groups – a steakhouse in Craven Road, Paddington, that takes its name from the meeting of Eastern and Western food cultures. No alcohol is served and the meat is fully halal, with cuts flavoured by infusion in Asian marinades. Reports please!