Not far from Notting Hill’s beating heart, Ladbroke Grove has its own vibe and a hotchpotch of colourful restaurants to satisfy any culinary craving, at any price. There are beautiful bistros, superior ramen shops, and even the odd Portuguese custard tart on display – not to mention cafés, bakeries and fashionable high achievers peddling modish contemporary food. We’ve compiled a list of our favourites below.
As a cookbook specialist, this bookshop-cum-café is one for the purists. Each week, its tiny in-house kitchen road-tests recipes from the latest titles and serves them as two or three-course lunches at OMG prices. There are also loads of cakes, all of which would have Mary Berry coming back for seconds. It may be off the tourist trail, but this is a hugely popular spot – so expect to queue.
Easily outclassing its previous incarnations, this sidekick of Notting Hill’s Electric Cinema is done out like a grungy New York diner – all bare brick, concrete and red leather banquettes. A blaring soundtrack adds to the vibe, while the supersized menu is stuffed with stateside classics – philly chilli cheese dogs, hot reuben sandwiches, wedge salads and unmissable ‘fries au cheval’ (inspired by Chicago’s Au Cheval diner).
There’s usually a queue at this ‘Med-inspired’ Turkish grill, but no-nonsense service means you’ll bag a table pretty quickly. While you wait, get the juices flowing by watching Fez’s meat maestros as they rotate the hefty barbecue skewers and shave slices off the own-made doners. They also score with cut-above accompaniments including crunchy red cabbage, spice-rubbed flatbreads and tangy Turkish yoghurt. It’s also BYO and they don’t charge corkage – hooray!
Prepare to queue if you want one of Lisboa’s famous pasteis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts) – especially at the weekend. This little shop/café has been trading on Golborne Road since the ’90s, selling its wares amid packed tables and blue glazed tiles. Service comes with plenty of banter, and Lisboa’s offer also extends to fancy cakes and pastries as well as snacks and savouries. If you fancy lingering, their bica (Portuguese espresso) is good and strong, and they do a nice galão (latte) too.
It’s counter-seating only at the mini Notting Hill branch of this Japanese chain, a casual eatery dedicated to the glories of superior ramen. Thin, homemade noodles steeped in rich, slow-simmered pork bone broth come topped with all the good stuff, and service is so swift that you’ll barely have time to order a cocktail before the main event is blowing steam in your face. Savour this soup.
A tiny, eccentrically decorated café with total commitment to quality, Lowry & Baker is a local godsend. A couple of hotplates behind the cake-laden counter do duty as a kitchen, knocking out everything from beautifully poached eggs on avocado toast with smoked salmon to beans on toast, pancakes, soups and sarnies. The food is served on a delightful jumble of unmatched crockery, while the perfectly brewed coffee – with beans from Monmouth – comes in well-warmed white cups.
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