Six of the best Notting Hill pubs

5 April 2012

There's more to the Notting Hill Carnival than costumes and long queues for the Tube station. If you fancy a beer or several with your Bank Holiday weekend partying, you may wish to check out one or two of these pubs.

Babushka, 41 Tavistock Crescent, W11 (020 7727 9250)

A Russian-inspired vodka chain with a deserved following. Each offshoot has its own look and feel - Brixton, for example, looks Stalinist from the outside, but the interior is filled with leather sofas, candles, chilled people and music. The Notting Hill site, then a Firkin, figured in 'Withnail & I'.

Portobello Gold, 95 Portobello Road, W11 (020 7460 4900)

Despite its position in the heart of Notting Hill, and despite having been one of the first pubs in town to be given the bar-treatment, this gentrified boozer has never attracted the more self-conscious end of the local trendies market. Market traders rub shoulders with tourists in the bar and large dining conservatory, and there's quite an interesting list of drinks. Bill Clinton was here.

Portobello Star, 171 Portobello Road, W11 (020 7229 8016)

This small Notting Hill pub -- with the front largely open to the street on sunny days, and a few benches on the pavement -- is a favourite with the local market traders. Opened in 1838, originally as a "jug and ale house", it retains an old-fashioned, down-to-earth atmosphere and serves a full range of tipples, including Heineken Export, Stella, Flowers Original and Boddingtons on tap.

The Prince Bonaparte, 80 Chepstow Road, W2 (020 7313 9491)

It used to be at the basic end of trendy gastropubs - and drew a slightly less poncey Notting Hillbilly set as a result - but this well-known Bayswater boozer was 'cosied up' somewhat in mid-2004 with a lick of paint and the addition of moodier lighting and chandeliers. The food is good (the Sunday roast in particular), and a fair array of wine and Belgian beers add interest to the drinks selection.

The Walmer Castle, 58 Ledbury Road, W11 (020 7229 4620)

In another postcode this would just be a nice and trendy but traditional boozer. But a location at the heart of trendy Notting Hill has made this one a fave rave with a trendy twenty- and thirtysomething crowd. Its popularity is most evident in summer when there's a pavement-clogging crush outside its front door. Good cheap Thai scoff (served in the intimate upstairs dining room) adds to its appeal.

The Westbourne, Westbourne Park Villas, W2 (020 7221 1332)

A great outside terrace (fight for a space) helps maintain this trendy Bayswater boozer as one of the top posing spots for Portobello trendies, especially in summer. It also does some very decent grub, but -- even assuming they haven't run out of what you wanted -- it's unlikely to come in any great hurry.

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