95-97 Portobello Road,
Notting Hill,
London,
W11 2QB
0872 148 2028
The ViewLondon Review
The Gold is nice enough for me to wish to conceal this fact from you all so it doesn’t become nasty, overbearing and overcrowded.
A stroll up past the delicate residential houses at the beginning of the Portobello Road, the Gold occupies its niche between tumbledown antiquarian shops with dirty windows and nouvy trinketry trendophile shops.
Inside there’s a cosy fireside bar with nice booths, not too big for a discreet drink for two but roomy enough to squeeze four or five round for more social revels. The round bar in the middle is nicely curved and friendly, and the American barman who floated therein, rather like the nucleus in an amoeba, was helpful and charming.
There’s another room set back from the bar, which is restaurant seating. Very nice and spacious it looked too, with its abundant foliage and faintly comic rag rolled wall paint effect. If forced to be picky, I wasn’t entirely sure about the black and white photography. It was guilty of a rather questionable affinity with a certain poster company that dominated the genre in the 80’s.
The clientele were generally local, not chi-chi queens or posture princesses, but kinda cool in an understated fashion, like the bar. Even the internet stations are designed to look like (slightly) discreet futuristic pinball machines instead of large unsightly off white blobs.
It’s also not too expensive. Starters from £2.50, mains such as Steak for £7.00, bottle of house wine £9.50. The house white was fine for the price. Seafood is something of a speciality and there’s an oyster bar.
The main thing about it is that there’s a lovely laid back atmosphere, and as it’s not packed on a week night or terribly expensive, the commodity of good vibe is all the more valuable. As redolent of good cheer as a visit to sprightly but deeply decadent, hoarse-voiced aged relative.
Images: www.portobellogold.com