Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in London Kensington
Hardens guides have spent 29 years compiling reviews of the best Kensington restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 44 restaurants in Kensington and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Kensington restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Kensington Restaurants
1. Clarke’s
British, Modern restaurant in Kensington
124 Kensington Church Street - W8
“Never failing to excel, even after years and years…” – Sally Clarke’s Kensington HQ (opened in 1984) is nowadays a “classic”; and even those who say “it’s a bit of a time warp nowadays”, concede that her California-inspired cuisine is nigh-on as “modern and fresh” as ever. “The moment you step in, often to be welcomed by Sally herself, you know you are in for a wonderful evening, with imaginative but unpretentious dishes that are impeccably prepared – with great ingredients that are allowed to stand out – while service is always professional and present-without-hovering”. The atmosphere here has always been slightly divisive: for a few “dull” or “formal”, but to most diners – “with its artwork, soothing colors, and low noise level to allow plenty of engaging conversation” – romantic and “always a delight”.
2. Romulo Café
Filipino restaurant in Kensington
343 Kensington High Street - W8
“Beating Jollibee if you want to try decent, quality Filipino food” – this London outlet of a Philippines-based chain (owned by the grandchildren of a famous general) operates on a different level than its fast-food rival in nearby Earl’s Court (see also Jollibee). Offering “very fresh” and interesting dishes (for newbies, “there’s a strong whiff of Thai cuisine”), “enthusiasm is key, and the food is presented with great bravura”.
3. Maggie Jones’s
British, Traditional restaurant in Kensington
6 Old Court Pl - W8
“Cosy, fun, old place that has been around for years and years” – a favourite in its time of Princess Margaret, who used to slip away to here from nearby Kensington Palace, and whose alias when booking provides the current restaurant’s name. Its rustic, heavily-romantic style isn’t dissimilar to its stablemate, La Poule au Pot, and it likewise serves “basic, traditional English dishes” designed to satisfy your hunger at a “decent price” rather than to dazzle your tastebuds. “There’s a reasonable wine list too, unless you go for the magnum where they measure with a stick how much of it you’ve taken from the bottle: amusing to say the least but not their best vintage…”
4. The Kensington Wine Rooms
International restaurant in Kensington
127-129 Kensington Church St - W8
Forty wines by the glass, and 150 by the bottle are the main ‘gourmet’ attraction at this modern wine bar, near Notting Hill Gate (which, over the years, has added siblings in Fulham and Brackenbury Village). To accompany the liquid refreshment, there’s substantial fare like steaks and seared fish, or you can stick to the “great bar platters”.
5. Cheneston’s Restaurant, The Milestone Hotel
British, Traditional restaurant in Kensington
1 Kensington Ct - W8
2017 Review: “Charming”, traditional dining room, offering a tranquil refuge from Kensington. It is particularly recommended for its “feast” of a breakfast and splendid afternoon teas (“scones are perfect – crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside!”)
8. Launceston Place
British, Modern restaurant in Kensington
1a Launceston Pl - W8
“In a quiet residential corner of Kensington”, on a picture-book street – this “lovely and calm” pre-Victorian townhouse (established as a restaurant in 1985, and owned by D&D Restaurants since 2007) creates a sense of “privacy” that’s particularly “great for a romantic evening”. “Over the years there have been many changes of chef”, but since Ben Murphy joined in early 2017, the food rating here has been “on an upward trajectory” and his “exciting” cuisine – “fun, whimsical, delicious” – won impressively consistent praise this year. “Surely a Michelin star is now beckoning for this young chef”?
9. Il Portico
Italian restaurant in Kensington
277 Kensington High St - W8
This “proper, family-run Italian trattoria” in Kensington pre-dates the new Design Museum on the other side of the road by decades, and exudes “cosy”, “olde world charm”. That it’s “family-owned and family-friendly” is key to its longevity, and has made it a “go-to restaurant” for its many long-term regulars. But “after decades, the business has passed down a generation, and young and old alike agree it’s brought an improvement, with an approach that’s more energetic”. Its strengths are “a charming atmosphere”, “authentic Emilia-Romana cuisine, instead of the usual floods of red sauce” and the “unfailing and unflappable care of owner James Chiavarini and his well-trained staff”.
10. Pizzicotto
Pizza restaurant in Kensington
267 Kensington High Street - W8
“Skip the ubiquitous PizzaExpress locations and head to this family-run sister to Il Portico” (“owned by the same family”), a few doors down, and opposite Kensington’s new Design Museum. The pizzas (featuring “activated charcoal bases”) are “miles better than the usual”, and they also offer “freshly made pasta and traditional entrees”. Top Tip – “go for the incredibly simple Sicilian deep-fried pizza dough with salt on – then ask why there aren’t east London hipsters selling these!”.
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