Restaurants

It has been a while since badgers, fat or otherwise, populated the northern stretch of the Portobello Road, but you’ll still find wild life around here. To fit in with its trustafarian locals, this large pub steers clear of the tarted up. The ground-floor bar may sport bare wooden flooring and sofas, but the floor is scuffed and the sofas bashed. Tongue-in-cheek pink wallpaper depicting street muggings adds a faintly louche air. The first-floor dining room is slightly more formal, with attractive old wooden tables. It’s often closed for lunch, but the enticing Mod Euro menu is also served downstairs (on coffee tables impossible to get your feet under). There’s an Irish slant to proceedings, with the likes of crubbeens with onion marmalade, and a top-notch dish of smoked haddock, brown shrimp colcannon and mustard butter, on the daily changing list. A starter of creamy, bland jerusalem artichoke soup was given some pzazz with chopped hazelnuts. For afters, we’ve heard great things of the monumental sticky toffee pudding. Bob Marley gets a regular outing on the sound system, as does Timothy Taylor Landlord on the handpumps. Service was friendly but flaky.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009