The Fat Badger

Part vibey pub that has a big focus on live music and part very intimate restaurant where's there's no menu from which to choose, The Fat Badger on Notting Hill's Portobello Road is a tantalising contradiction that has captured the capital's dining population in a way that few restaurants have. First, you have to find the pub, which it accessed through a side door, past the washing up kitchens and up a foreboding flight of stairs, and once you're in there's very little to suggest that a restaurant is part of it.

Yet climb some more stairs and you'll find yourself in a small, buzzy space with a open kitchen where you'll be squeezed into your seats and put in the very capable hands of chef George Williams and his team. Here you'll feel like you're being cooked for personally, with a procession of dishes guided by the seasons and making use of vegetables from its own market garden in the Cotswolds. Our advice: sit back and enjoy the ride.

Williams' cooking is innovative and fun but does not look out of place in its pub setting, while the service style, with dishes brought to the table by the chefs, is fun and engaging. Come to The Fat Badger on any day of the week and it will feel like a Friday.

Once you've eaten, head back down to the pub, which will be in full swing with live music, and continue the fun. The Fat Badger is part of Public House Group, which operates other estimable pubs including The Pelican, The Hero and The Bull at Charlbury, and it knows how to run a pub as well as a restaurant, so you're in very safe hands.