Best Restaurants in Notting Hill

Eggs with Hollandaise sauce on a plate next to a plate of half grapefruit and a bowl of strawberries and banana

Belvedere, Holland Park – for smart Italian

Belvedere, a west London institution with its picture-perfect home in leafy Holland Park has had a glow-up thanks to new chef Lello Favuzzi. Now the menu matches the majestic surroundings with turbot, langoustine and caviar all making a play for your attention. Taking influences from his Italian roots and using carefully sourced ingredients from Italy and the UK, this is food to be savoured slowly, either on the terrace overlooking the park or inside the grand dining room. But stuffy it isn’t – go for pappardelle or a pizza, too, albeit topped with truffle. Highlights are Welsh lamb, lobster linguine for two and Lello’s tiramasu. Wines offered by the glass and carafe encourage experimentation, with English and orange wines joining Italian and French classics. belvedererestaurant.co.uk

The Barbary, Westbourne Grove – for counter-dining with a Southern Europe and North African flavour

At night this welcoming corner site on Westbourne Grove literally glows, as much due to its warm colour scheme and clever lighting as its lively open kitchen where chefs cook over fire. Grab a counter seat to watch heat-packed dishes prepared: Kapia pepper and feta brulée; house-made merguez; whole chilli cauliflower. More Southern Europe to North Africa (Barbary Coast) influences are seen in scallop aquachile; coffee-rub chicken; pata negra pork chop and crispy saffron rice. Cocktails – smoked pineapple paloma; saffron negroni – show imagination and match up to the menu’s punchy flavours. thebarbary.co.uk/notting-hill

Julie's, Portland Road – for brasserie classics

Iconic is a word often used to describe this west London institution, with its history of celebrity visitors and intrigue. Now chef patron Owen Kenworthy is at the helm, its well-executed brasserie classics has earned it a reputation for its menu, too. Highlights include clever snacks such as spider crab toast; tuna tartare served with house-made crisps from the raw bar; grills and salads including a luxurious lobster caesar. While the menu has a French flavour, ingredients sourced closer to home from suppliers, such as Shropshire’s Linley Farm, underline the kitchen’s commitment to regenerative agriculture. A martini trolley and potent cocktails ensure the balance between virtuous and decadent. juliesrestaurant.com

Kuro Eatery, Hillgate Street — for minimalist all-day dining

Kuro’s minimal and carefully lit décor – white walls, large white bar counter and blonde wood tables – is considered and striking. Led by chef Andrianos Poulis, the mainly Mediterranean-inspired menu uses locally sourced seasonal ingredients. Fish is showcased throughout the menu with smaller sharing plates of oysters; pork fat powder and apple; bream ceviche, fermented chilli and green apple; and more substantial spaghettoni, clams and bottarga. Don't miss the flatbread, goat's cheese and fermented hot honey, and the exceptional pork chop with chilli pork fat and aged soy sauce – order an extra portion of sourdough and olive oil butter (made in the recently opened Kuro Bakery nesrby) to mop up the delicious sauce, and enjoy a side of roasted potatoes, parmesan oil & chives and a sharp fennel and herb salad. Desserts include tarte tatin with more goat's cheese and a burnt cheesecake with rosemary, berries and oats. The cocktail and wine menu includes a range of natural, organic and biodynamic options, too. kuro-london.com

The Flatbread with Goat’s Cheese and Fermented Hot Honey at Kuro Eatery

Walmer Castle, Ledbury Road — for British-inspired pub dining

Notting Hill’s Walmer Castle pub has had an excellent do-over by publican Jack Greenall (also of The Surprise in Chelsea). References to the area, pre-loved furniture and locally made fittings makes for the ideal décor for an area that includes Portobello Road. The ground floor is a proper pubby bar with a fire in the grate, art worth a closer look on the walls and a welcoming vibe. The menu gives you what you want from a modern pub including pork and fennel sausage rolls, braised ox cheek, halibut with smoked tomato and corn risotto, and a dry-aged beef burger. Vegetarian dishes such as celeriac schnitzel and gnocchi with hazelnut pesto are a cut above, and puddings include the crumble, and, of course, sticky toffee pudding. walmercastle-nottinghill.co.uk

The restaurant space at Walmer Castle in Notting Hill, featuring with pre-loved furniture in warm green and yellow shades

Empire Empire, All Saints Road — for contemporary Indian

The Indian disco era of the 1970s inspired this opening from Harneet Baweja (Gunpowder). Eat traditional dishes such as bihari boti kebab, tandoori broccoli and chicken malai tikka from the open grill serenaded by 70s Bollywood bangers from the bespoke jukebox. For the ultimate in luxe dining order the showstopping lobster dum biryani to share, £42 – complete with the crustacean’s head emerging from the pastry lid. empire-empire.restaurant

Dorian, Talbot Road — for British bistro cuisine

Headed up by a team with personal ties to the Notting Hill area in which it resides – all of whom are plucked from institutions including the two- Michelin-starred Kitchen Table and Ikoyi, and three-Michelin-starred Core – Dorian’s ever- changing menu is a celebration of seasonal British produce, prepared with playful techniques that are sure to surprise and charm. Coupled with a cocktail menu created with foraged ingredients in mind, plus an extensive curated wine list that’s predominantly from France and Italy, and elegant décor, Dorian has all the makings of a mainstay in the London hospitality scene. dorianrestaurant.com

SUMI, Westbourne Grove — for top-quality sushi

The bright and airy space, with pale wood panelling, large windows and outdoor decking, perfectly suits the calm practice of SUMI’s sushi chefs. Watch them prepare stunning courses of fresh nigiri on bouncy and neat rice mounds, and wrap wafer-thin sheets of nori seaweed round the likes of minced red tuna and fermented mooli, or diced scallop with delicate purple hanahojiso flowers to make signature temaki rolls. Menu highlights are the seaweed salad coated in a creamy tahini dressing with toasted almonds, and a ceviche showcasing seasonal sustainable fish among a picture-perfect plate of peppers, corianders, marigold and a zingy yuzu dressing. Superb seared Japanese A4 wagyu is served with charred puntarelle and a jug of yuzu onion sauce. Finish by gliding a bespoke wooden spoon through the matcha mille cake’s thin layers of vibrant green, matcha-infused double cream and ultra-fine crepes. Don’t skip cocktails — the popular kawaii ne is a delicate mix of sake, local Portobello gin, lychee and yuzu, while the smoky boulevardier offers a much punchier blend of peaty whisky, umeshu plum sake, Antica Formula and Campari. sushisumi.com

Sushi served on a slab on a wooden table at Sumi

Gold, Portobello Road – for neighbourhood vibes

Gold is a buzzing restaurant and late-night bar on London’s Portobello Road which puts cooking over coals at its heart.

Split into raw, charcuterie and cheese, salads, vegetables and plates, all the dishes are designed to share. Portions are hearty though, so start off steady and see how things go.

Charred pears with burrata welcome the salty tang of Tuscan ham, while a bouncy farro salad with sweet peas, broad beans and Berkswell cheese steals the show with its fresh flavours.

The dessert menu is worth bringing a crowd for so you can unashamedly order them all. Honey rum babas arrive as boozy as they should be, with plenty of lemon verbena cream, while buttery sable biscuits layered with raspberry and mascarpone are lifted further with the crunch of praline. goldnottinghill.com

Click here to read our full review of Gold

A greenhouse-style dining room has exposed brick floors, palm trees and hessian chairs

Orasay, Kensington Park Road – for British produce

Modern, cool cooking in a posh end of town, with big flavours and the best British produce, particularly Scottish shellfish, from one of London’s most talked-about chefs.

Any meal that starts with little fried shrimp, dusted in celery salt, that you’re encouraged to eat whole – head, shell and all – has got to be good. And it was, right through to the posh rice pudding at the end, hiding sweet and sour, Pink Panther-hued stewed rhubarb, fired up with ginger, and topped with a crisp brandy snap. orasay.london

Click here to read our full review of Orasay

A white oval shaped plate is topped with stewed white beans with bitter greens and slices of Tamworth pork chop

Caractère, Westbourne Park Road – for date night

The debut modern French/Italian restaurant from married culinary couple Emily Roux and Diego Ferrari, in the heart of London’s fine-dining territory. There are influences from both their ’hoods, namely France and Italy, and an unconventional approach to menu writing, grouping sections as character traits, ‘curious’, ‘subtle’, ‘delicate’, ‘robust’, ‘strong’ and ‘greedy’.

It’s some of the more veg-centric dishes that wow the most. Celeriac cacio e pepe with aged (25 years, no less) balsamic vinegar steals the night early on. Ticking multiple trend boxes without being gimmicky – the al dente root added an earthiness we didn’t know such a classic needed. caractererestaurant.com

Click here to read our full review of Caractère

Core by Clare Smyth, Kensington Park Road – for fine-dining

The tablecloths might be missing at Clare Smyth’s debut but the tone is undeniably formal. Don’t let that be confused with stuffy, though – Britain’s most lauded female chef has made her first solo mark thoroughly modern.

Décor is stripped back and contemporary – via a small bar (where you can eat, too), you’re led to a dramatic chef’s table in front of the glass-fronted kitchen, and through to the bright dining room.

Colchester crab royale to start comes in three parts – a bowl of sweet white meat surrounded by a moat of brown meat, a crab doughnut and a flute of shellfish broth. A single Isle of Mull scallop is cooked over wood fire and delivered under a cloche of smoke. A brackish, buttery sauce is lifted by herbs and chopped coral pearls of roe. corebyclaresmyth.com

Click here to read our full review of Core by Clare Smyth

Isle of Mull scallop sitting on a large shell and under plenty of greenery

Trailer Happiness – for cocktails and dancing

Descend from busy Portobello Road into this lively basement tiki bar for an evening of rum-fuelled fun. Bartenders in tropical shirts set cocktails on fire, laid-back locals drape over low-slung chairs and a DJ spins Northern soul and disco tunes from a wooden booth in the corner.

The bar décor is enthusiastically kitsch – think geometric carpets, yellow fish stencilled onto glass doors, and tropical wallpaper. Tiki-style vessels in various shapes and sizes hold punchy rum cocktails. Try the Cotton Mouth Killer, a fiesty combination of Don Q and Wray & Nephew rum with apricot brandy, blue curaçao and guava. There are also playful rum twists on classics – Bacardi Carta Blanca is stirred with watermelon shrub, St Germain and tonic water in the Supersonic Tiki Tonic; and spiced rum is shaken with Tia Maria and Trailer Happiness homebrew coffee to create the Espresso Martiki. Trailerh.com

A bar lined with hundreds of bottles of rum and more at Trailer Happiness Bar Notting Hill

Farina, Notting Hill High Street – for pizza

Nestled on Notting Hill High Street, Farina pizzeria focuses on traditional Neapolitan pizzas, with no pineapple or pepperoni in sight. In the summer, grab a table by the floor-to-ceiling folding glass doors and wait for the smoky scent to waft over, or hunker down next to the small open kitchen.

The 48-hour fermented dough is light, with a pillowy, charred crust – tear some off to save for mopping up the leftover tomato juices at the end. Order the Farina, topped with ‘nduja, salami and provola if you like something spicy, or the Burratina topped with courgette and burrata for a fresh, creamy topping. farinapizza.co.uk

Click here to read about all our favourite pizza places in London

Farina pizza at Farina pizzeria, Notting Hill, London

EggBreak, Uxbridge Street – for brunch

The people behind Soho House and The Hoxton Hotel Group together opened an egg-based café on a residential street in Notting Hill.

Split into basics (eggs on toast, egg benedict etc), buns, plates, salads and sides, the most dishes at this daytime café come with an egg of some sort, be it poached, fried or – surely the most fashionable egg of the moment – 63 degrees: cooked slowly in a waterbath at, you guessed it 63 degrees. eggbreak.com

Click here to read our full review of Egg Break here

Electric Diner, Portobello Road – for brunch

Electric Diner’s interiors are true to its name – ribbed red leather banquettes are set up, train carriage-style, down one side of the narrow room, condiments are waiting to be used on wooden tables, and the buzzy atmosphere bounces off low curved ceilings and exposed brick walls. Slide into a booth or sit on a green leather stool looking onto the open kitchen to make sure your eggs are being prepared just how you like them.

The egg-heavy brunch menu features omelettes laden with Gruyere cheese, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, and all of the classics – Benedict, Florentine and Royale. electricdiner.com

Click here to read about all our favourite places to eat brunch in London