The 11 Best Places for a Coffee in Notting Hill

Ahh, Notting Hill. Home to row upon row of beautiful houses and the beautiful people that inhabit them, the world-famous Portobello Market, and hundreds of tourists wandering around at the weekend trying to find shooting locations from a movie filmed a quarter-century ago.

I didn’t come across either Hugh Grant or Julia Roberts during my recent month-long stay in the neighbourhood, but what I did come across was a remarkably good collection of coffee shops. Bear in mind that I now spend most of the year in Melbourne, home to some of the best coffee on the planet, which basically just means I’ve become a massive snob about how my caffeine gets delivered.

Despite that handicap, I was genuinely impressed with the quality of the coffee in what is really a pretty small neighbourhood. Many of the dedicated places roast their own beans, and most of the others have an interesting, high-quality selection of filter and espresso options that change regularly.

With that in mind, I made it my mission to feed my caffeine addiction explore the area, trying out at least one new place each day. Once the jitters finally wore off, I figured it’d be worth putting together this list of where to find the best coffee in Notting Hill, at least in my opinion.

Everywhere I visited offered alternative milks for your flat whites and lattes, and many of the specialist places had a range of filter and batch brew options as well. Several sell beans by the bag (and will happily grind them for you if you ask), so if you like it, you can take some home with you.

The coffee scene in London has changed beyond recognition from when I first moved there in the late nineties, and Notting Hill illustrates that as well as anywhere in the city.

Ok, enough preamble. Let’s get down to the recommendations!

Notting Hill Coffee Project

If you prefer your flat white with a side of social good, look no further than the Notting Hill Coffee Project. Handily located beside Notting Hill Gate station, it’s a lovely space, with plenty of greenery giving some much-needed tranquility when you step in from the busy street outside.

The company prides itself on the ethical sourcing of its beans, featuring a different grower each month and roasting inhouse. Prices are on the lower side for the area, and 25p from each cup gets donated to Centrepoint, a youth homelessness charity.

It’s rightly a popular spot on weekday mornings, with a line of people out the door grabbing a brew before descending the stairs of the tube station outside. Later in the day, however, it’s somewhere to linger at the long table along the back wall, enjoying the chill playlist as you do.

Speaking of the tunes, if you like them as much as I did, check out the website: there’s a Spotify playlist embedded there so you can recreate the experience at home if you’re so inclined.

Of course, all the ethical sourcing and charitable contributions in the world don’t mean much if the coffee isn’t good. Luckily that’s not the case: well-extracted and with perfectly textured milk, my flat white was right up there with the best.

If you’re more into black coffee, you’ve got the choice of filter and espresso-based options, along with matcha, chai, and a small range of teas. I didn’t see bags of beans for sale instore on the day I visited, but I think that was an anomaly. In any case, you can certainly buy them online for home delivery.

Whether you’re after a caffeine hit to help you face the morning commute or just want a guilt-free cup later in the day, this is the perfect place to find it.

Farm Girl

Farm Girl is a great, stylish cafe that’s tucked away behind a lovely old church building on the quieter part of Portobello Road. I went there for brunch one weekday morning and got the last available table: this place is popular, and for good reason.

The food was excellent, and while this isn’t a post about the best brunch spots in the neighbourhood, suffice it to say that you’re very unlikely to be disappointed if you do decide to eat there yourself.

What if I’m only there for the coffee, I hear you ask? Well, unsurprisingly for a place that was started by an Australian and plays up its Down Under connection, it’s bloody good. Using beans from fellow Australian-owned roastery The Roasting Party, they sling better flat whites than many of the specialised coffee shops in West London.

There’s also a wide range of other espresso-based options, along with matcha, chai, and a CBD-infused hot chocolate that Lauren enjoyed so much, she took her family there to experience it a couple of weeks later! If you’ve got a tea lover in your group, there are close to a dozen varieties available for them.

You can buy whole beans as well, although it’s not something that Farm Girl particularly specialises in: don’t expect a wide range.

Farm Girl has been successful enough over the years that the company has gone on to open two other outlets in Soho and South Kensington, but Notting Hill is where it all began. Do yourself a favour and pop in.

Guillam Coffee House

Guillam Coffee House is a small chain of coffee shops, with four locations in west London. Two are within a five minute walk of each other, one on a quiet back street in Bayswater, and one amidst the noise and bustle on Notting Hill Gate.

I tried them both: the former is a nicer space, but I had a slightly better coffee at the latter, so that’s the one I’m going with. To be honest, though, you’re unlikely to be disappointed with either.

It’s not a huge area, but you’ll likely still be able to get a seat (inside or out on the street) most of the time. Service was a little slow on the day I visited, but it was worth the wait: the 6oz flat white that showed up was a strong little cup of perfection.

Being a specialty place, I expect to see a wider range of options than what you’ll get at your typical cafe or high street chain, and Guillam didn’t disappoint. That’s true both in terms of the number of different beans on offer (at least nine), and the ways you can get them extracted and served to you.

Sure, there’s the Americanos, lattes, and flat whites that you’d expect, but it was good to see more unusual options like cortados and macchiatos listed on the menu, along with pourover (V60) if you’ve got a bit of extra time and want to experience the full flavour profile of whatever bean you’ve discovered.

There’s a small range of croissants and other baked goods available if you need something to snack on, and beans to buy and take home once you’ve found some you particularly like.

Amoret

If you’re looking for somewhere that really takes its coffee seriously, look no further than Amoret. It’s only a couple of minutes away from the chain stores on Notting Hill Gate, but I doubt I could find somewhere less similar to them if I tried.

I mean, what do you think the chances are of finding a £20 Yemeni pourover on the menu at Caffe Nero?

If your tastes (and budget) don’t extend quite that far, never fear: there are plenty of other options. Most of the milk drinks only come in one size: I’m not as militant about the “right” size of a given type of coffee as some people, but these guys seem to be, and I’m not sad to see it.

The store looks pretty small from the outside, but it’s deceptive: head up the stairs and there are plenty of tables to choose from.

As you’d hope, my flat white was flawless. The coffee was complex and well extracted, the milk couldn’t have been more perfectly textured, hell, even the latte art was crisp and precise (which is far from a given with oat milk!).

If you prefer your coffee unadulterated (and in a place like this, I suspect that many customers do), you’ve got the option of batch brew or pourover. Amoret roasts all of its own beans, and as I discovered, if you’re not sure which you’d prefer, the staff are knowledgeable and happy to share their thoughts.

Whole beans are very much available, although exactly what’s on offer depends a little on the day. When I enquired about them, I was asked if I’d be in the area for a while. “Come back later in the week”, I was told. “I’m roasting some interesting new beans tonight, so it’s worth waiting a bit.”

And indeed it was.

Cable Co

At first glance, it’d be all too easy to walk straight past Cable Co Coffee. It’s in a prime location just off Portobello Road, but the store is so small that you’d likely not even notice it if you didn’t already know it was there.

And that would be a real shame.

Of all the coffee I’ve had around Notting Hill, the flat white at Cable Co was consistently the best. I went back several times, just in the interests of research you understand, and my drink was strong and tasty with perfectly-steamed milk every time.

Remarkably, it’s also one of the cheaper options in neighbourhood, helped by there not being a surcharge for oat or other alternative milks. If you prefer your coffee black, that’s not a problem: batch brew is available, along with the usual espresso-based options.

There’s a small selection of pastries available, but really it’s all about the coffee. If you like what you’re drinking and would like to recreate it at home, 250g bags of beans are available as well.

Given the petite dimensions of the store, it’s no surprise that coffees are served in takeaway cups: with only one table and a small counter along the window, there’s a good chance you won’t be drinking inside. That said, there’s also a bench on the footpath outside that’s a great spot to watch the crowds on Portobello Road, especially on a sunny day.

With friendly baristas, great coffee, and very reasonable prices, I guess it doesn’t really matter where you end up drinking your Cable Co coffee in the end. Just make sure you’re drinking it somewhere.

Granger and Co

A quick glance at the photo above should tell you two things about Granger and Co. First, it’s a full-service cafe, rather than a coffee shop. Second, it gets seriously busy. We had to wait ten minutes for a table, and that was mid-morning on a Friday.

Fortunately, if you’re only after a takeaway coffee, you don’t need to join the lengthy line of hungry customers. There were several people milling around outside waiting for their caffeine fix, which I think is always a good sign for somewhere that doesn’t really specialise in coffee.

If you do happen to find yourself there at a time when it’s not so busy (it’s open early morning to late at night every day), however, it’s worth taking the time to grab a table and linger a bit. It’s a bright, airy space, and the staff were friendly and efficient even under pressure.

The food was delicious (this is another Australian-style brunch place, albeit one that also stays open late), and the coffee was excellent as well. I don’t always expect perfect coffee from somewhere like this, but whoever was manning the espresso machine that day was doing a great job.

Along with the usual range of espresso-based drinks and a few less common options like piccolo and macchiato on the menu, you can also opt for a single origin cold brew drip and a few iced varieties. Not unexpectedly in the UK, there’s no shortage of tea flavours either.

My only real complaint is the price: at £3.80 for a flat white and 60p extra for oat milk, it’s the most expensive place on this list. Nearly half as much again as the same thing from Cable Co or Notting Hill Coffee Project, it certainly wasn’t 50% better!

As a result, I’m not sure I’d choose it for takeaway, given the other excellent, cheaper options nearby. If you’re looking for an excellent brunch in Notting Hill (or one of the four other London locations), however, and an equally good coffee to accompany it, Granger and Co is a great option.

Hagen Espresso

Just around the corner from bustling Granger and Co, Danish-inspired Hagen Espresso is quite a different proposition. One of nearly a dozen outlets around west and central London, the Notting Hill location is a smaller, more intimate kind of place, with just a few high seats along the bar and back wall.

It’s a coffee shop, of course, not a cafe/restaurant/bar. To that end, the food options are pretty limited (although if you like cinnamon buns, you’re in for a treat). It’s much more about the coffee; there, at least, you’ve got plenty of choice.

Whether you’re there for a strong espresso, foamy milk drink, or an interesting pourover, you’ll find it at Hagen. If any of the rotating cast of beans are to your liking, you can buy them instore or online

While the staff weren’t super-friendly and there was little effort made with the latte splodge art, the coffee itself was really pretty good. It’s not the absolute best in the area, but was still tasty, well-textured, and reasonably priced.

Given the popularity of the place when I visited one random Thursday afternoon, it seems I’m not the only one with that opinion.

Hermanos Colombian Coffee Roasters

Hermanos Colombian Coffee Roasters is another one of those small chains of speciality coffee shops that seems to have sprung up in London in recent years. I went to a couple of them during my time in the city, a tiny one beside Victoria Station and this one in Notting Hill.

The Portobello Road store was warm and inviting, with upbeat Spanish-language tunes pumping out and a few empty tables inviting me to turn my plans for a takeaway coffee into a more lingering, sit-down affair. So that’s just what I did.

I loved the stylish little cup that my flat white arrived in, and enjoyed the taste of it just as much. Interesting, well-extracted coffee and perfect microfoam are pretty much all it takes to make me happy when it comes to a flat white, and I found it here.

Not sure what all the flat white fuss is about? There’s a vast array of alternatives, both espresso-based and others. V60 more your style? Prefer batch brew or a chemex? They’re all there, along with chai, matcha, and a couple of perfunctory tea options.

As you’d perhaps expect, Hermanos roasts its own beans and sources them entirely within Colombia, from small family-run farms, large estates, and everything in between. You can buy them instore or online, including some of the small-batch and unusual varieties that are hard to find elsewhere.

Flying Horse Coffee

If you find yourself needing a caffeine infusion after hours of hunting out bargains at Portobello Road Market, do yourself a favour and keep walking past all the stalls and food trucks. Instead, head for Flying Horse Coffee on a busy stretch of Golborne Road, just past the far end of the market.

Like many of the better coffee places in this part of the city, it’s pretty small: just three or four little tables on the street and a couple inside. If you can manage to snag a seat outside on a sunny day, it’s worth sitting for a while and watching life go by, but otherwise it’ll be all about the takeaway.

However it’s delivered, you’re in for a treat. The friendly staff were only too happy to explain the options, and there were plenty of them. Along with the standard espresso-based range, there’s filter and cold brew, hot chocolate and tea. There isn’t a huge range of food, but the bagels are excellent if you’re feeling peckish.

If something takes your fancy, there’s a small range of beans available to buy instore (or online) as well. Roasted for either espresso or filter, the single-origin varieties change regularly. Staff were more than happy to grind them for the Aeropress I travel with: lets just say it was a dramatic upgrade from the sachets of instant at my accommodation!

Prices were pretty reasonable, both for the coffee and the beans, and my flat white was small and delicious, just how I like it. Flying Horse is a (very) small chain, only three stores at the time of writing. Given what a good experience I had there, though, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they expanded before long.

TAB X TAB

Tab X Tab is a bit of an unusual place, and not just because of the name. It’s very much a brunch spot (we went there for the food, at least initially), but it seems to take its coffee more seriously than some of the so-called specialty places I’ve visited on this trip.

They use their own coffee blend that they’ve created in conjunction with a local roastery, and have seasonal single origin varieties available if you’d like to try something different. Speaking of that, there’s a “1+1” tasting option on the menu, where you get both an espresso shot and a piccolo served up.

Pourover more your jam? That’s on the menu as well, a definite rarity anywhere that isn’t a specialist coffee shop. There’s a filter option as well, and of course all the usual milk and black espresso-based drinks.

There was even an espresso tonic, which I’ve recently become quite the fan of. I was first introduced to it in Vietnam, of all places, and now I find it very hard to go past whenever the sun is shining. Lets just say the bottles of tonic water in my fridge at home aren’t just for the gin any more!

Given all of that, I had high hopes for my flat white, and I wasn’t disappointed. It was a darker colour than usual, but that didn’t affect the taste, or at least not in a bad way. Strong and tasty, it was exactly what I was looking for at the time.

There were plenty of seats inside, so you shouldn’t have trouble getting a table other than at the busiest of busy times. If the weather’s nice and you’ve got the option, though, I’d recommend grabbing one of the outside tables instead. Even though it’s near a busy-ish road, it was just a nice spot to sit in the sun.

And oh, if you’re there for the food like we were, you won’t be disappointed by that either!

LIFT Coffee

Last but not least, LIFT Coffee is on the south side of Notting Hill Gate, close to Kensington Palace and Gardens. It’s a minimalist, industrial-looking affair on the inside, with a few seats on a raised platform on the ground floor, and more available downstairs.

As achingly cool and well-designed as the interior is, it doesn’t count for much if the coffee isn’t up to scratch. That’s definitely not the case here: my flat white was one of the best I had in the area, perfectly extracted and steamed, and served in a 6oz glass. Even the latte art was perfect, no mean feat with oat milk!

As you’d expect from somewhere like this, though, there’s plenty on offer beyond the milk drinks. Three different filter varieties were on offer the day I visited, from Kenya, Colombia, and Burundi: they’re not cheap, but good coffee doesn’t tend to be. Matcha, chai, and various teas round out the selection.

I visited on a Tuesday afternoon: the place was busy without being full, with a couple of people working on their laptops. If you decided to do the same and needed some nourishment (beyond caffeine, obviously) to get you through the day, there’s a range of croissants and other pastries available.

Whole beans are available, which the staff will happily grind for you, and accessories like filter papers are on sale as well. All in all, I really liked this place; it was an unexpected find in this part of the neighbourhood, and a very welcome one.

Did I miss anywhere great? Let me know in the comments!

Main image via Juan Garcia Hinojosa/Shutterstock.com, all other images via author