The Best Restaurants in Notting Hill

Caia is one of those wonderful restaurants where you’re likely to have a fun night out as well as a delicious dinner. Bring some friends and kick the evening off with a cocktail or a glass of wine from their well-chosen list, before sharing a wide selection of wood-fired dishes. There’s a welcome degree of creativity in the cooking, which packs in plenty of flavour too. All of this takes place against the backdrop of some fantastic music, played from the restaurant’s own eclectic vinyl collection.

Pork ragu mezze maniche, ox cheek with polenta, John Dory with salsa verde – this is the sort of lip-licking, flavour-forward Italian food that’ll have you booking flights to Il Bel Paese for your next holiday. The menu at Canteen is appealingly unstructured, so simply order plenty of dishes to share – and the very charming staff will ensure they won’t all arrive at once. This end of Portobello Road, at the junction with Golborne Road, is awash with restaurant choices so if the wait for a table is too long (the restaurant doesn’t take bookings) then there are options available close by.

The thing with an area like Notting Hill is that its neighbourhood restaurants tend to be pretty smart affairs. So it is with Caractère, the home of husband-and-wife Diego Ferrari and Emily Roux, which goes some way to explaining the Italian and French leanings on the menu. They do things a little differently here, offering dishes distinguished by their character: fish may be described as ‘delicate’, for example, while meat is more ‘robust’ and, in a playful touch, desserts are ‘greedy’. It’s all delivered with unfussy yet impressive technical skill.

Sitting at the very top of the UK’s culinary tree, CORE is one of the Notting Hill dining scene’s greatest assets. Despite its success, the restaurant continues to evolve, with the impressive refurbishment of the Whiskey & Seaweed Bar one of its more recent triumphs. Clare Smyth is a chef who leads by example, and more often than not you will find her welcoming guests as you pass the on-view kitchen en-route to your table. The exquisite dishes are impeccably well-honed, showcasing immense attention to detail and ornate presentation that only add to the appeal.

One of the hottest tickets in London, let alone Notting Hill, Dorian was making waves almost as soon as it opened in 2022. It’s the sort of modern-day brasserie most people would love to have on their street, with a welcoming, laid-back feel and a palpable energy. The skill of the chefs is evident in the way they understand ingredients, showcasing the ‘simpler’ things well and, when it’s called for, blending creativity, technique and an understanding of flavour and texture to produce a real wow factor. The engaging service team just want you to have a great time – and boy do they succeed, especially if you’ve got a seat at the counter.

Chef and restaurateur Jackson Boxer has been a Notting Hill fixture for a while now. Before Dove was born, this space was Boxer’s seafood spot Orasay, and now it’s a neighbourhood operation that’s all about seasonal sharing plates. It’s the kind of place where simple snacks like fried potato pizzette sit alongside whole fish and prime cuts of meat ideal to split between friends. The wine list is a major attraction too, with a refreshingly high percentage available by the glass and a selection of ‘Special Pours’ from the team’s favourite growers.

Restaurateur and businessman Chris D’Sylva is a big name in the Notting Hill food scene of today. As well as owning MICHELIN-Starred Dorian, he’s also behind the Supermarket of Dreams and Notting Hill Fish + Meat, two high-end produce shops beloved of chefs and on-trend foodies alike. Eel Sushi is his sushi counter, where more top-shelf ingredients are crafted into nigiri and sashimi priced per piece, where all the focus is on the undeniably superb fish. Go for the chef’s selection for the best overview.

The owner of the ever-popular Gunpowder restaurants decided to head west within the capital for this opening focused on the northwest of India and the region of Punjab. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the jukebox, which earns its keep playing Bollywood bangers. The brightly decorated room takes its influences from old school curry houses and the menu offers enticing options such as paneer makhani and wild mushroom biryani. The hardest part is deciding what not to order.

Attention, veggies of Notting Hill – Holy Carrot is the wonderfully named plant-based restaurant you’ve been looking for. It’s not just for vegetarians and vegans though, as the sharing plates are so expertly rendered and full of flavour that everyone will enjoy them. Whether it’s mushrooms, leeks or the eponymous carrot, this is cooking that shows off what can be achieved while skipping the sausage and cutting out the cow. The interior design has an uncluttered lightness to it that contributes to a good all-round vibe.

Notting Hill is a pretty high-end neighbourhood these days and Julie’s is a fittingly glamorous spot for it. A restaurant with decades of history behind it (including multiple owners and plenty of celebrity visitors), today it is being slickly run by a strong team who are delivering classic French dishes with a luxury edge to the produce – and in fittingly opulent surroundings, thanks to the plush soft furnishings and eye-catching patterns. It all comes together to make an experience that feels at once comforting and exclusive.

‘A Taste of Ukraine in Notting Hill’ reads the tagline for Sino, and that is exactly what it delivers. Chef Eugene Korolev is behind this endearingly run restaurant and the flavours of his homeland are the driving force behind a menu of robustly flavoured dishes. The likes of the black pudding croquettes and the beef dumplings have plenty of intensity, while the Borodinsky rye bread is worth making a trip for alone. In a neighbourhood filled with restaurants of all kinds, Sino still manages to offer something different and distinctive.

Endo Kazutoshi, better known for his omakase restaurant Endo at the Rotunda, has been proving here that he can do neighbourhood dining rather well too. Sumi, named after his mother, has been a hit since day one, its popularity even necessitating an expansion into the premises next door. The menu is concise yet wholly inviting, mixing a selection of sushi with fish and meats from the robata grill. If you’re going all out, then the A4 Wagyu beef must surely catch the eye. For dessert, the ‘Matcha Mille Crepe’ is something of a speciality.

For many years, CORE by Clare Smyth was Notting Hill’s only restaurant in the Three-Star club. That was until February 2024, when The Ledbury joined the party by receiving our highest honour. It was no less than its chef and co-owner Brett Graham and his team deserved, having crafted a truly special dining experience that combines warm, genuine service, a vivacious atmosphere and outstanding cooking. The kitchen takes the very best ingredients and fashions them into supremely sophisticated dishes with originality and, despite the immense work put into them, a sense of effortlessness.

This old boozer was certainly given a new lease of life when its current team took over, becoming an eminently buzzy spot with terrific cooking to boot. Run with real care and passion, the place has retained its pubby look and vibe, becoming the heart of the local community once more. The menu, with a proudly British focus, oozes appeal and offers great value for money when you consider the care taken and the quality of the ingredients. Daily specials written on the mirror could include fish cooked in its entirety.