Portobello Gold

If you want to step away from the buzz on Portobello road and enjoy it as a bystander — this is the place. They have indoor seating, a back garden-​ish area and front seating. We saw all the three and preferred the front area the best. They have some fabulous rose on the wine list. My pasta and the husband’s calamari were really really good. The service staff, each and every one who interacted with us, was goofy and lost. Very friendly and apologetic nevertheless. Can sit there for hours and sip on wine. The best part was when the owner drove up the curb in this vintage open dodge car — his personality, in one sweeping glance, seemed like he lives his life to the fullest. Felt lucky to have a chance to see the car when one of the waiters said to us, «I have been working here for three months but never seen this car!» A chance spotting indeed!

My wife and I stopped in to the Portobello Gold at the recommendation of a friend on our trip to London. I couldn’t have been happier about it!
Our server Alex, was really friendly and took the time to make us feel «at home» despite how busy it was. I ordered the Wild Boar sausages, and haven’t stopped telling my friends at home how great they were. Probably one of the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth.
I can’t recommend it enough.

Terrible service. We waited over an hour for our food before we called it quits. All we got for apologies was ‘sorry there were a lot of customers today’. We were even charged for the little food we got!

It’s not a fancy place, but neither are the prices. Excellent pub food. Best bangers and mash. Great half roast chicken. Kids loved it. £12 bottle of house Sauvignon blanc tasted much better than expected.
We got to sit next to the house cat too. It moves for nobody. The service was great. Was quiet when we went in early to feed two tired kids on a Wednesday night. Lots of seating in the conservatory out back. A Portobello Road institution.

Fixed Sunday lunch was great, well worth the price and tasty. I had the calamari and steak. My friend had the tapas and risotto. All well done and good portions and comes with a glass of wine for 12 pounds. A very nice stop we selected randomly I the Notting Hill area. Highly recommended.

Friendly staff serving wholesome food. Cozy atmosphere with good music is affordable.

Visited there in late July with friends. We had a late lunch and long visit and rested our feet. Waiter was great, food was delicious.

Lo siento, odio dar puntuaciones tan bajas pero no lo recomiendo :(
El sitio es muy bonito y la comida está buena, eso lo voy a reconocer. Fuimos un sábado, el día grande del mercadillo, y fuimos a este sitio porque era cercano.
Al entrar la imagen iba subiendo pero estuvimos 40 minutos para que nos atendieran y la simpatía del camarero no comepensa con el hambre que teníamos.
La comida estaba buena pero las raciones me parecieron pequeñas. Lo peor fue el precio, me pareció caro para estos fallos de raciones y tiempo de espera.
Si te acercas a tomar una cerveza siempre puedes probar las cervezas naturales que tienen y seguro que no tienes la misma impresión que tuve yo. No sé, no creo que vuelva.

Came in when hiding from the rain, to grab a couple quick drinks. After walking for ages, I was open to pretty much anywhere that had a bloody mary on the menu.
As some reviews mention, its pretty grungy in here… which i’d have been ok with, if dressed more casually (which lets be serious, is never). The bartender was nice, made my boyfriend his white russian he could so rarely find in london, nice window overlooking portobello road — if it were just a bit more clean (i.e. not stained seating etc), i’d likely have enjoyed it more. Two stories and didn’t venture upstairs, but all in all, cute on the outside, not quite as cute on the inside.
Can’t say i’d want to try oysters here per one reviewer, while i love oysters, definitely a bit sketchy of a place to be trying any seafood that virtually has to be fresh to be edible… or safe, if you don’t want food poisoning.
if you like a grittier pub, this would be a good spot to try. although there were a couple outdoor tables that looked cute, were it not for the rain.

I enjoyed fish and chips and a cider. Be specific about your portion size — the bartender assumed I wanted a large for L12 when I would have preferred a smaller one for L8.

Cheap and cheerful, with emphasis on the latter. I loved the covered back room and the plants, I liked the visit by the pub dog, and i loved the food. They served Leffe too. Mmmmmmm.
The room was TINY though, with a wall on 3 sides of the bed, and little other space. The toilet was reached by walking through the shower. Not a wet room, just a cheat on the space. I bet it would be a fun place to stay on the weekend.

Schöner Pub um mal vom geschäftigen Treiben auf dem Antikmakt ein wenig Ruhe zu finden. Sehr freundliches Personal. Große Auswahl an Speisen nicht die sonst übliche Pub-​Speisekarte. Schöner überdachter/​lichtdurchfluteter Innenhof.

Really cool place in the middle of portobello hustle and bustle. There’s a cool but slightly pricey dining area that looks like how I want my living room to be when I grow up. All sunroof and giant jungle leaves everywhere. Seriously cool.
But since we weren’t there for the foods we ended up going back to the front of the building and through the double doors for some mulled wine. Smaller but not crowded bar area. Decent prices and nice bartenders.
There’s music upstairs sometimes, going to check their schedule to see what’s playing next. Cool place overall.

Came in with my husband one afternoon because word on the street was they had oysters in the pub. Indeed they do – I ended up ordering the salmon sashimi and a half dozen oysters (I was dying for something actually fresh by this point in our trip). The food was really good (and you can get the oysters served in one of three styles) so I was happy with that. I was concerned about ordering raw items in a place like this (I’ll explain more in a minute) but it turned out ok. We also ordered a cheese plate to share which was good as well.
I do have some issues though! First, the place is downright filthy. I was excited at the prospect of sitting in the «hippie deck» in the conservatory room but when we came in and I saw how gross it was (upholstery stained, crumbs and smears all over the table) I passed on that. The circular booth just below it was even worse — the cushions were so stained and coated with grime, it looked like the Exxon Valdez had dumped its load in there. WTF! I almost wanted to leave at that point because really, food is served here? Gahh! The floors look like they haven’t been cleaned in years, there’s grime caked into the corners of the walls, and the bathroom is really icky.
Also, our server was incredibly slow and pretty much forgot about us. It wasn’t a busy afternoon either; we were one of maybe 4 tables in the whole place.
Good food, pretty good beer, but man… this place needs a douche!!!

This place does not even deserve one star. They house both the most disgusting food and horrible tasting wine I have ever had in my life. The wine tasted like medicine syrup? It might have even been… so do not order the Sauvignon blanc. I ordered the veg. fajitas they were smothered in grease and overly seasoned. My bf ordered fish & chips. The fish smelled foul and was greasy. The service was incredibly slow. The only time they came to the table promptly was when there was money on the table. I think my bf’s Guinness was the only thing to go right. But for 36 pounds in all we could have paid a lot less for the one decent item. Eeeeek!

If there’s a more charming pub garden than the Gold’s anywhere on the planet, I would like to know about it… Great vibe and the food is sensational — try the mussels, try the oysters, try it all!
This place is a gem. Real beers, too. Plus an interesting mix of crusty locals and tourists. Possibly the last real pub in Notting Hill?

Review is of the accommodations, not the restaurant. We stayed in the Roof Terrace room and had four people. We had planned for two to sleep on the couches but, upon arrival, observed that the couches were not suitable for sleeping on given their drabby condition. The bathroom is located off of the upstairs bedroom with only a tub; no shower facilities and the toilet flushing system leaves much to be desired. Any time the toilet is flushed, it uses a pump which is quite noisy and located in the kitchen area downstairs. There is a communal toilet and shower stall on the first floor.
If you are here in the summertime, note that sleeping with your windows open might be tough since the pub is right downstairs. Smokers standing in the street with their pints get quite rowdy as the evening progresses. Wi-​fi was extremely spotty at best, even in the pub. There is no door on the upstairs bedroom, which offers little privacy given the loft-​style. The unit appeared to have newer carpet, the linens were clean and it’s a great location. The private roof top terrace almost makes up for the other inadequacies.

I was meandering around the Portobello Road market on a warm afternoon, looking for a cozy place to cure my maladious thirst (I’m pretty sure I just made up that word). That’s when I saw the sign for Portobello Gold, which I recognized instantly from the Unilocal birthday party. Boom.
I went in for one, ended up having two, and enjoyed it immensely. Cool décor, laid-​back vibe, and plenty of choice for beer. Will most definitely be back.

Ahoy!
When I was told that some birthday celebrations I would be attending were to take place in the Portobello Gold, I checked the previous reviews from Unilocalers and was then quite looking forward to the evening. POP! That was the sound of my bubble bursting. Upon arrival the place looked appealing; plenty of bar staff, football on the TV, garden-​restaurant type bit at the back and a good atmosphere (a good amount of punters inside but certainly not crowded).
From here the evening went downhill however, as not only were we herded in to the wrong area which our hostess claimed she had not reserved (we were in the middle of the pub and she had asked for, and been told she could have, an upstairs area), we were then denied a birthday cake!
Yes! A birthday cake! Which was baked by the birthday girl herself and she wouldn’t have brought it all this way if she had not been adamant that another group had done exactly the same thing (bring their own cake, that is) just the week before. A bar chap and a bar lady rounded on us as the cake was withdrawn and pointed out that what were doing was actually ILLEGAL! Strong words, I could smell marajuana on some punters but they were worried about a birthday cake! The law must’ve changed in the past week I guess. Even so, if they weren’t happy about people bring their own food along (as I’m sure it isn’t actually illegal, perhaps just frowned upon) a little compassion certainly goes along way as this put a bit of a downer on the birthday girl.
That aside, the «good amount of punters» I referred to turned out to be the middle aged locals who felt it necessary to almost shout to each other despite being only a foot or so away from their fellow bar-​propping chum. On top of that the few nice beers they had on tap cost around £5 a pint!
All in all I didn’t really enjoy the night that much, although I may have just been on a bad night and the Gestapo staff probably didn’t help. I wouldn’t rule out going back but I also wouldn’t be looking forward to it if I did,
peace y’all

I met the Portobello Gold clan at the Unilocal birthday party and have since gone to the Pub a few times. It really is an amazing place and all the reviews in the world couldn’t do it justice.
I love the décor and the vibe, which is very inviting. I certainly hope some day to rent out the terrace room for some special occasion. For now, though, you can find me on the ground floor slurping tequila and enjoying the hell out of my time at Portobello Gold.

I stayed here with Mr Q a few years ago. The rooms are a great deal. The one we stayed in was pretty small but we weren’t in the room much anyway. The only thing I had a hard time getting used to was the sink was inside the shower stall. I think when we first arrived I was jetlagged and I stepped up to use the sink and stubbed my toe really hard on the edge of the shower stall. Ahhh vacation adventures.
The staff was quite friendly and accomodating-​I believe we stayed for 7 days or so & each day we had thick toast with ginger extra jam, and a cup of tea or coffee for breakfast. The location cannot be beat if you want to be close to the Portobello Market & it was a short walk to the tube once we got our bearings.

An independent pub on Portobello Road? A B&B style room for £74? The best margarita and nachos this side of the pond? An extensive tequila list? An indoor tropical paradise? Mulled wine? Attractive bar staff? An owner with charisma that would make Obama jealous? A loo that has been loved by the likes of William Jefferson Clinton? Free wi-​fi?
I’m just not sure what’s not to love about this local gem. (Maybe that I don’t live next door. Or upstairs on the roof terrace, for that matter.)
I’d say that this pub on Portobello is a *must stop* full stop. Then I’d say it three times fast, because Portobello Gold is the epitome of a 5-​star establishment in my book. No pomp and circumstance, just a low key local with fair prices, just enough camp to be cute, and a family feel. What’s not to love?