London

Little Venice

W9 — where we live and love

Where two canals meet at a pool of still water lined with weeping willows and handsome cream stucco houses, Little Venice is an extraordinary place to exist inside London. The narrowboats, the waterside cafés, the Rembrandt Gardens in morning light — it has the quality of a neighbourhood that has no interest in convincing anyone it is worth living in, because the people who live there already know. Walk the towpath west towards Kensal Rise or east to Camden and you will find one of the finest urban walks in the country.

Notting Hill

W11

Stripped of the film, Notting Hill is one of the most genuinely beautiful urban neighbourhoods in Europe — the painted stucco terraces in cream and white and pale blue, the private garden squares, the market on Portobello Road best visited on a quiet Friday morning before the weekend crowds arrive. Come in late September when the light turns low and golden and the coloured houses look like a postcard of themselves. The streets behind the Westbourne Grove end are among the finest residential streets the city has to offer.

Primrose Hill

NW1

The top of Primrose Hill at sunset, looking south across the whole London skyline, is one of the great views in the city — buildings all the way to the horizon, the sky enormous above. But the neighbourhood itself is the real reason to come. The quiet streets below the park, the independent shops along Regent’s Park Road, the Saturday farmers’ market, the sense that things move here at a different speed. A masterclass in how a city neighbourhood can feel like a village.

Hampstead

NW3

Perched on the highest hill in London, Hampstead has been a place of retreat for the city’s artists and writers for three centuries, and something of that character survives. The Heath is vast and genuinely wild by urban standards — a place where you can get properly lost on a misty morning, swim in the ponds, and feel the city fall completely away. The village itself has one of the finest collections of Georgian architecture outside the centre. Come on a weekday morning when the high street is quiet and the Heath stretches empty ahead of you.

Fulham & Chelsea

SW6 / SW3

The stretch from Fulham Broadway to the King’s Road and east along the embankment to Sloane Square contains some of the city’s finest residential streets. Chelsea is expensive and knows it, but at its best — the physic garden in summer, the embankment at first light, the quieter streets behind the main roads — it repays the visit entirely. Fulham, slightly further west, has the better daily life: excellent neighbourhood restaurants, a more relaxed tempo, and the river at Putney Bridge on a Sunday morning.

St John’s Wood

NW8

One of the most quietly elegant neighbourhoods in the city — wide leafy streets, handsome white villas set behind tall hedges, a village high street that still functions as one. Lord’s Cricket Ground is here, which gives the place a particular character on match days. Come midweek, walk the residential streets, find the Abbey Road crossing for old time’s sake, and settle into the neighbourhood at its most unhurried. It is a very pleasant thing to do with a morning.

Ida

Queen’s Park

The city talks about Ida in the way it talks about places that quietly got everything right. A small, warm Italian restaurant that has been excellent for years and is now, deservedly, booming. The pasta is made daily, the wine list short and considered, and the room has the particular warmth of somewhere people return to rather than simply discover. There are countless restaurants in this city — these are our favourites, and Ida is near the top. Book well ahead.

The Hero

Maida Vale

The proper local pub at the foot of the canal neighbourhood — good beer, a kitchen that takes its food seriously without pretending to be a restaurant, and a garden that fills up on warm evenings. The kind of pub you want at the end of your road and rarely find. Ten minutes from Little Venice, and worth the walk every time.

The Fat Badger

Notting Hill

A very good local pub in the heart of Notting Hill — the kind that does everything right without making a fuss about it. Good food, good atmosphere, and the particular ease of a neighbourhood pub that has earned its place. The sort of evening that starts at six and ends much later than planned.

Zephyr

West London

A neighbourhood favourite that has become something more — the kind of easy, honest cooking that London’s best local restaurants do better than anywhere. The sort of place that earns its regulars slowly and then all at once. Find it, settle in, come back.

It’s Bagels

Primrose Hill & Notting Hill

The best argument for not overthinking breakfast. A proper bagel — dense, chewy, still warm from the oven — with smoked salmon, cream cheese, or both. There are a few locations across the city; we go to Primrose Hill or Notting Hill. Almost nothing else on the menu, and nothing else is needed. Queue, order, find a doorstep. This is what London mornings were made for. Also worth knowing: Dover Street Counter does excellent bagels if you find yourself in Mayfair.

Zaika

Kensington

For Indian food done properly — regional, considered, not a curry house in any conventional sense. The dining room is beautiful, the cooking precise, and the spicing is the kind that makes you reconsider what Indian food could and should be. For an evening when the occasion deserves something genuinely special.

Yashin

High Street Kensington

The best Japanese cooking in this part of London — clean, precise, the fish sourced with real care. The sushi is exceptional, the service knowledgeable without being oppressive, and the room quiet enough for a proper conversation. Go for lunch and order whatever the kitchen is most proud of that day.

The Belvedere

Holland Park — for special occasions

For the occasion that calls for something genuinely beautiful. Set in the former orangery of Holland House in the heart of Holland Park, the Belvedere has one of the most remarkable dining rooms in the city — high ceilings, arched windows, the park visible through the glass. Come in summer when the light through the garden is at its best and the evening deserves to last. The food is as good as the room.

Scalini

Chelsea

A Chelsea institution that has been feeding the neighbourhood for decades without once trying to reinvent itself. Italian in the truest sense — the kind of place where the waiters know the regulars, the portions are serious, and the atmosphere is warm in a way that newer restaurants spend years trying to manufacture. Go for the pasta, stay for the whole evening.

The Good Earth

Chelsea

The best Chinese restaurant in this part of London, and one of the most reliable in the city. The cooking is precise and consistent, the room comfortable, and the menu broad enough that you will find something exceptional whatever you are in the mood for. A long-standing favourite that earns its loyalty visit after visit.

Layla Bakery

West London

The croissants, the soft bread still warm from the oven, the pastries that disappear before ten in the morning — Layla is the kind of bakery that quietly resets your standard for what a bakery should be. Small, beautiful, always worth the detour. The city has excellent bakeries; this is among the finest. Come early.

London has more good restaurants than any guide can hold. More of our recommendations — the smaller finds, the seasonal ones, the ones that just opened — live in our Instagram highlights.

Love Supreme

Ladbroke Grove

Yoga that takes itself seriously without taking itself too seriously. Love Supreme is the neighbourhood studio that has earned genuine loyalty — the teaching is excellent, the room is beautiful, and the community that has grown around it is the kind that forms around places that simply get the basics right. Morning classes are the best place to start. Come regularly and it becomes one of the best parts of the week.