West Kensington Restaurant Guide

“Great Turkish food – either to eat in or take away” has earned a more-than-local reputation for this pair of Anatolian charcoal BBQs, on Fulham Broadway and near West Kensington station. (Note, ‘Best Mangal 1996’ in North End Road is a separate business).

“Great Turkish food – either to eat in or take away” has earned a more-than-local reputation for this pair of Anatolian charcoal BBQs, on Fulham Broadway and near West Kensington station. (Note, ‘Best Mangal 1996’ in North End Road is a separate business).

2021 Review: “Just around the corner from Olympia”, it’s worth knowing about this well-rated pub, in the not-particularly-auspicious northerly reaches of the North End Road. In the same stable as Earl’s Court’s excellent Atlas, it delivers “a very enjoyable meal, with a good quality menu and a lovely atmosphere”.

“Where else can you get a range of Japanese, char kway teow, laksa and pad thai, all in one restaurant?” – Ding Chu’s pioneering Pan-Asian canteens (first branch WC1 in Bloomsbury in 1996) continue to put in a consistent if low-key performance. “Busy, crowded and cheap”, “you will find something to your taste”, “service is friendly and efficient” and – for the likes of “a quick meal after going to the cinema” (either in WC1 or W4) – it’s ideal.

Chef Ben Asamani’s “lovely” long-running vegan café on busy North End Road in Fulham (by the crossroads with Lillie Road) celebrates its 21st anniversary this year – and nobody has a bad word to say about the place. Top Tip – the weekend lunch all-you-can-eat buffet is a steal at £18 a head.

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”).