Gold, London W11: restaurant review

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

Who’s cooking?

Theo Hill (of River Café acclaim) is leading the kitchen, with Pizza East’s Alex Ghalleb and Soho House’s Arez Akgundogdu heading up front of house.

What’s the vibe?

A stark contrast to pastel-hued neighbours, Gold’s exterior is stripped back. Street artist Vhils created the façade out of red brick, plaster and white paint, all materials the building’s been covered in over the past century.

Head inside and you’ll find a moody central bar and open kitchen, with chefs podding peas, then delivering the finished plate to your table. You can dine in two rooms, but head to the covered terrace on the ground floor for Moroccan rooftop vibes.

Exposed plaster walls, rattan chairs and palm trees dotted between tables keeps things relaxed, while inside artwork has been created by former residents including Lucien Freud and David Hockney.

What’s the food like at Gold?

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.

A bowl of citrus-spiked rabbit leg tortellini is a thing of beige beauty. Silky parcels of braised meat in porcini butter manages to be light yet comforting. Another, the nettle ravioli, happily lets the tangy sheep's ricotta filling shine.

For sides, crispy fried purple potatoes arrive topped with surprisingly zingy sauerkraut, gently spiced with caraway.

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.

And the drinks?

The cocktail menu celebrates seasonality, with shrubs and syrups (think fig, corn and sweet tomato) all made in-house. Prosecco is pimped with sweet pina colada syrup for the Royale Retreat, while fennel adds a savoury note to the Campari with bee pollen gin. An extensive wine list includes an East Sussex sparkling and Italian natural prosecco.

olive tip

We’re informed by our enthusiastic waitress that the smoked aubergine is the showstopper dish, but they often run out after lunch, so try and get there early to try it.

Gold, 95-97 Portobello Rd, Notting Hill, London, W11 2QB

Words by Ellie Edwards

Photographs by Ingrid Rasmussen (interiors) and Matt Inwood (food and drink)