Best restaurants in Notting Hill: The cosy restaurants edition

Date night, catch-up with a friend, or solo dining with a good book – the lure of a cosy restaurant is hard to resist. The picturesque streets of Notting Hill lend themselves to snug eateries, the kinds of places that are coffee bars by day and moonlight as the cosiest of wine bars by night (more on that below).

These are the best restaurants in Notting Hill for a low-key atmosphere and delicious dining – there may be a log-burning fire or two for good measure.

Orasay

Orasay is a Notting Hill restaurant that feels romantic even when you’re dining with a friend – low-lit, understated elegance, and a menu that reads like a love letter to the sea. It’s minimal without being stark or coldly futuristic, grounded by accents of wood and earth tones. The design won’t distract you from the presentation of the plates – also a study in understated elegance.

Jackson Boxer’s Orasay takes inspiration from the seas and coasts of the Western Isles of Britain. The menu reads in couplets and triplets: pickles and ferments; chopped tuna with rice cake and subtly spicy and aromatic perilla leaf; and celeriac char siu with burnt onion and bergamot. You’ll also find Cornish and Scottish delights paired with herbs and flavours from the four corners of the world.

The pudding and wine pairing menu celebrates the best of British flavours with the likes of Somerset wines, single malt scotch, and a divine digestif from Cotswolds distillery Capreolus – the Perry pear eau de vie (fruit brandy).

Kensington Park Road | orasay.london

Ria’s

Ria’s is a triple threat: neighbourhood coffee shop with cookies in the morning, focaccia sandwiches at lunch, and deep-dish Detroit-style pizzas and natural wine by night. It’s as relaxed as your living room but better looking, with sky-blue wooden panelling decorating halfway up cream-coloured walls. Even the exterior of Ria’s is inviting, a quaint off-white shop front with big windows and a windowed door, you’ll walk past and want to go inside.

There’s not much that can be said about focaccia, pizza, and natural wine that hasn’t already been said but what’s specific to Ria’s is this: it’s simple, good old-fashioned flavours done well. The fluffy deep-pan Detroit-style pizza is light with a crisp chewy crust – please, and thank you – and I can’t think where else in London is offering this style of pizza. Ria’s has ambience and good food and wine (and beer and cocktails!) – you’ll want for nothing.

All Saints Road | rias.world

Tsiakkos & Charcoal

Here’s a neighbourhood restaurant that’s been around for a while. Tsiakkos & Charcoal offers Greek Cypriot fare and the titular charcoal grilled dishes. The quaint exterior is a bluey teal with a couple of tables dotted out front in summer, and walking through the restaurant you come to an enclosed terrace that’s always buzzing with conversation and the chime of dishes in summer, day and night.

Unlike newer restaurants that go hard on trends, aiming for TikTok and Instagram-ability, Tsiakkos doesn’t try too hard. The mismatched chairs are genuinely just mismatched, the few old prints on the walls don’t follow a coherent theme or colour pattern and so genuinely look eclectic rather than an affected eclecticism. It looks very much like a restaurant you would find in Cyprus, a little old-school and charming.

The charcoal cooking is the star here: whole seabream, chargrilled halloumi, the chicken souvlaki and pork souvlaki – have it all. Depending on your age, Tsiakkos will remind you of what plates in restaurants used to look like – attractive enough that you want to stick your fork or spoon in and not so pretty you’re afraid to do so.

Maryland Road | tsiakkos.co.uk

Walmer Castle

West Londoners rave about Walmer Castle and for good reason. The Victorian free house and restaurant offering modern British fare is a study in cosiness. The pub truly is lovingly restored with wooden accents, a log-burning fireplace, candle-topped tables, vintage spirits prints and a general tippling-themed art collection curated by world-renowned artists that offers an irresistible charm.

The menus offer hearty flavours and classic flavours – the Devon chicken and Cashel blue cheese croquettes are moreish, the baked goat’s cheese tartlet will make you wish it were main rather than starter until you get to the mains: Atlantic halibut, Somerset rump of lamb, and that all-time pub classic: beer battered fish and chips.

It’s elevated pub dining with cold lagers and fine wines, classic flavours, and a digestif at the end to round it all off.

Ledbury Road | walmercastle-nottinghill.co.uk

Akub

The olive green exterior of Akub catches your eye and makes you want to go in and when you do it’s even better on the inside. Instead of the ever-trendy Scandi minimalism, Akub offers Levant minimalism and quiet elegance. Potted olive trees, embroidered chairs, and – in the bar area – a stunning handpainted mural in sepia tones that evokes the Palestinian landscape.

The menu marries British seasonal produce with age-old Palestinian recipes. Chef Fadi Kattan takes influence from his grandmother Emilie, creating his interpretations of Palestinian dishes. Share small or large plates, Akub’s flavours are aromatic and evocative across the board.

With the starters and small plates, there are spiced focaccia, zaatar bread with the likes of coriander tahinia and labaneh – clean, fresh, and aromatic; arak wild cured sea bass, maftool salad – Palestinian hand-rolled wheat with root vegetables and mint. And for the large dishes: crunchy mansaf – rice and pulled lamb shoulder or bukjet mousakan – chicken, onion and sumac in a bread parcel, or monkfish with chilli, dill and caraway.

Uxbridge Street | akub-restaurant.com

Caia

A blog on cosy restaurants would not be complete without the listening bar, the concept of which is meant to evoke a relaxed (stylish) living room ambience – and that’s exactly what Caia offers with low-lit cocktail lamps and vinyl records playing disco, funk, jazz and everything in between.

The concept of the seasonal menus is age-old: dishes cooked over an open flame enjoyed alongside wine and cocktail favourites like Maldon oysters (add a single shot martini it – you’re welcome), focaccia, lamb salami, and smoked stracciatella. You won’t go wrong with the turbot with the citrus beurre blanc and rock samphire, ibérico ribs, and Highland sirloin with shallot, tarragon and bone marrow.

Caia should be the edging towards the latter part of the night, a cosy spot with mood lighting, and funky tunes. The kind of place where you can stay after dinner for a couple of cocktails a nightcap or just one more bottle of wine.

Golborne Road | caia.london

The Pelican

If you’re into the slow living philosophy and aesthetics then The Pelican is for you. Natural materials and tones permeate the restored pub, with wooden floors and bar, sepia-toned walls, and a table by the log-burning fire. It manages to be cosy even though it’s a relatively large space with plenty of natural light by day and mood and candlelight by night.

Contemporary British cuisine and fine ingredients fill the short, seasonal menu – do check the mirror for group-sharing dishes. Like the rest of The Pelican’s aesthetic and ambience, the menus are simple yet refined: smoked trout with kohlrabi, pumpkin with goat’s curd, skate with brown butter, onglet with shallot, cod and mussels, and guinea fowl with cabbage. Clean, classic flavours that speak for themselves.

All Saints Road | thepelicanw11.com

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