London West Kensington Restaurant Guide

“Great Turkish food, either to eat-in or take-away” wins loyal fans for this “slightly dated, but consistently good” BBQ just north of the A4 and West Kensington tube. The ‘1996’ in the name was added to distinguish it from a now-closed cousin south of the A4 (owned by a separate branch of the family) and another (still operating) near Fulham Broadway.

“Pretty much any Asian dish you fancy is available” (“where else can you get sushi, ramen, laksa and char kway teow in one place!”) at Ding Chu’s five canteens in central and west London, which celebrate their 30th anniversary this year. They are “terrific value, especially for areas of town where restaurants are generally overpriced”. You wouldn’t choose them for a romantic supper though: each interior is a “bit of an overly bright space”.

If you’re veggie, impecunious or both, this sweet, bargain-basement café of over twenty years’ standing is worth discovering, despite its trafficky location (by the gyratory where the Lillie Road and North End Road cross one another): all dishes are 100% vegan and clearly labelled for allergens too.

2024 Review: An “attractive riverside setting” (incorporating a 45-cover outdoor terrace, complete with retractable roof) is a major selling point at star chef Robin Gill’s second opening under the ‘Maria G’ banner, on the ground floor of a shiny new residential development, in the deepest, darkest Fulham no-man’s-land near Imperial Wharf (by the big Sainsburys). Despite its out-of-the-way situation, it’s already attracting more feedback than the first Maria G, which opened two years ago. That’s also hard to find, and also in a glossy new block – this time part of a retirement village on the Kensington/Olympia borders. At both outlets, the culinary theme is Italian although SW6 concentrates more on its raw bar and pasta, with reports praising “some innovative dishes” (The Telegraph’s William Sitwell was also a fan, proclaiming it a “chic oasis” with “delicate and authentic Italian food”). Reports in our annual diners’ poll on W8 were scant (but the Daily Mail’s Tom Parker Bowles found it a “lush, lovely Italian oasis… [in] the sterile, anodyne surroundings of those deluxe flats”).