London Parsons Green Restaurant Guide

With its inviting décor, this fast-expanding group has been a big “winner” since the pandemic, mushrooming to 18 sites, all of which have generally proved useful additions to their respective areas. But while “it certainly looks the part, and the staff look after you well enough”, the brunch-friendly fare can be hit ’n’ miss, with reports ranging from “surprisingly good” to “formulaic and really abysmal”. Top Tip – “always a top option for feeding the family”.

“It can be very crowded so get there early” if you visit this well-known Cantonese chain: still a top choice for “very tasty dim sum”. With the famous Queensway branch closing a couple of years ago, you now have to go to Baker Street, Canary Wharf or Fulham for your fix (although the latter is little commented on). “Whatever else keeps people coming back here, though, it’s certainly not the service!”

“Delicious roast chicken, with sides such as potato purée and root veggies” – as well, of course, as fries and salads – have won a growing fanclub for Romain Bourrillon’s upbeat French-rotisserie chain, whose most popular branches in our annual diners’ poll are in Bayswater, Queen’s Park and Parsons’s Green.

This “very friendly family-owned restaurant” near Parsons Green offers a small menu of “reliable Italian food”, at “very good value for money”.

“Delicious Thai food, served with charm” has won a very loyal local following and something of a wider reputation for this long-established café-style venture in a Fulham shop conversion. Arguably “tables are too close together”, but most feel “even if it’s cramped, it’s still worth it”.

This flexible and well-run New Zealand-inspired spot just off Parson’s Green is an equally “dependable” option “for Chelsea pre-match brunches” and “candlelit dinners”.

Overlooking Eel Brook Common in Fulham, this “great (although rather pricey for a pub)” rustic-chic Fulham gastroboozer offers “fast service from attentive staff”, and is the follow-up from former royal equerry Mark Dwyer and his partner Eamonn Manson, who sold their local trio the Sands End (Prince Harry’s occasional watering hole), Cross Keys and Brown Cow for a reported £10m six years ago.

A wide range of Anatolian grilled meat including “superb lamb doner made in-house, fresh every day”, earns consistent high praise for these “welcoming” and “good value” venues in Fulham and West Kensington.

“Pizza of similar quality to those you’d find in a Naples basement” (with “authentic slow fermentation of the dough”) inspire followers of this growing, twelve-year-old group, which they say is “second-to-none for texture and flavour”. But the relocated original site in Ealing is “cramped” and seems “really dull” compared to the old one: “the pizza remains good, but it’s lost the sense that you were part of something special and secret”. (In recent times, they’ve also added an Islington branch and one in Brentford – not listed – that’s part of a car showroom!)

This Parson’s Green yearling is a tribute to the Canadian West Coast, and is named after the Vancouver street where founders Livia Boumeester and Louisa Stevenson-Hamilton hung out when they lived there. “Don’t expect stars; do expect earthy comfort food.” Poutine – the chips, cheese curds and gravy combo that is Canada’s gift to a hungry world – is on the menu, along with “the best mac ’n’ cheese around”.