Notting Hill, Italian Restaurant Guide

This “decent Notting Hill Italian” is “always mobbed (and the back area is particularly noisy), but the basic fare is great quality and the service is smiley”. It has notched up a quarter of a century, and spawned two offshoots in the same street – Essenza and Osteria Basilico.

A “local favourite” in Notting Hill for more than 30 years on account of its “always-consistent” cooking, this rustic Italian is the sort of place with something for “every member of the family”. It has spawned two offspring in the same street, Essenza and Mediterraneo – an indication of how well it suits the neighbourhood.

“Make sure you sit in the front garden” or the “nice covered terrace” to get the most out of this “lovely local”, not far from Notting Hill Gate. Despite the “fresh fish on display”, lots of regulars “only ever have pizza, which is very good indeed with lots of very fresh-tasting toppings”. “Nice gelato” too. And it’s “excellent value for the quality and area”.

“Run by Michel Roux’s daughter” Emily and her husband Diego Ferrari (former head chef of Le Gavroche), this Notting Hill five-year-old “gives us the best of two culinary worlds: French and Italian”. The “precise, thoughtful and delicious dishes (celeriac, crab, turbot, veal)…” are “real high-end comfort food” and the “dining room is cool and buzzy without being overly formal”. “Both wine list and cheeseboard are on the conservative side, but none the worse for that”; and “the Italian sommelier has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Italian wines and will always steer us to something new and unusual”. Some reports note a “post-Covid blip amidst staff changes”, and a slip in ratings generally backs up those who feel the experience is “not bad, and better than average, but not quite the quality it was previously”. Top Tip – “lunch is particularly good value”.

“Roberto, Francesco and Alberto are finally back” (after a prolonged closure during Covid) and “really go out of their way to make you feel welcome” at their “wonderful neighbourhood Italian” in posh Holland Park. Its large local fanclub sometimes acknowledge that “prices are too high”, but don’t mind because the food (including a number of Sardinian specialities) is “tasty and well presented” and the overall performance makes it “dependable for any occasion”.

2021 Review: “Extraordinarily good pizzas”, “very good negronis” and “no burgers” are served at this bar, which boasts “the style of Mayfair transplanted to Notting Hill”. It’s upstairs from Assaggi, and from the same team, in the former pub they share, and these days seems the less risky bet. Top Tip – “try the truffle pizza in winter and English asparagus with San Daniele ham in summer”.

For a “solid menu, with a wide variety” of “reliable Italian” options, this duo have a broad fanclub – both the Marylebone five-year-old and its year-old Notting Hill sibling. Their ratings are undercut, though, by a feeling that they are “expensive (but isn’t everything nowadays…”), and can “lack atmosphere when they’re not busy”. Top Tip – for some folks, “the most important thing is that they welcome both families and doggies!”