Maida Vale feels like Central(ish) London’s best-kept secret, a pocket of W9 that somehow escaped the relentless march of chains and concept restaurants that have colonised so much of the capital. With Little Venice’s waterways providing a scenic, breezy backdrop, and Victorian mansion blocks lending the area an almost village-like tranquillity, it’s the sort of place where locals guard their restaurant recommendations fiercely.
But here’s the thing about Maida Vale: beneath that residential calm lies a quietly impressive dining scene. You’ll find everything from Grade II-listed pubs serving Sunday roasts that make Hawksmoor look pedestrian, to Korean BBQ joints where you can grill wagyu while watching narrowboats chug past. It’s a satisfying juxtaposition indeed.
The beauty of eating in Maida Vale is that you’re rarely more than a five-minute walk from the canal, which means you can easily hop between venues or work up an appetite with a waterside stroll. Plus, with Maida Vale and Warwick Avenue stations both on the Bakerloo line, getting here from central London proper is embarrassingly simple.
Anyway, we’ve sold it quite enough. Here are the best restaurants in Maida Vale.
The Prince Alfred
Ideal for experiencing Victorian drinking culture whilst eating exceptionally good modern British food…
The Prince Alfred is London’s only surviving pub with its original 1890s snob screens intact – those etched glass partitions that allowed Victorian gentlemen to drink without being seen by the riff-raff. David Bowie shot part of his ‘Jazzin’ for Blue Jean’ video here, which tells you something about the sort of place this is.
Head Chef Reggie’s modern British cooking sets pulses racing (they’re easily titillated round these parts). The menu changes with the seasons, but you might find roast Cornish cod with samphire and brown butter, or hogget shoulder shepherd’s pie. Everything feels both familiar and surprising, like Sunday lunch at your poshest mate’s house.
The Sunday roasts here are legendary, with Yorkshire puddings that could serve as small boats on those nearby canals, and beef that’s been aged for longer than some London restaurants have been open. At around £25, they’re not cheap, but when you factor in the setting and the quality, it’s money well spent.
The compartments themselves are a marvel – mosaic floors, carved timber, and those famous snob screens creating intimate little drinking dens that feel like something from a period drama.
The wine list offers a solid international selection with good representation across price points, from accessible bottles around £30 to premium selections in the cellar reserves, with a few English sparkling wines from Nyetimber adding local interest.
Book ahead for one of their monthly tasting menus, where Reggie really gets to show off.
Website: theprincealfred.com
Address: 5A Formosa Street, London W9 1EE
The Hero
Ideal for when you want to experience the future of the gastropub…
You know how it is – you wait years for the perfect gastropub, then suddenly Maida Vale has two of them. The Hero opened in 2024 and immediately made most other gastropubs in London look a bit tired. This four-storey Victorian pub makeover by the team behind Notting Hill’s The Pelican is what happens when you combine serious money, serious design talent, and a serious understanding of what modern diners actually want.
The ground floor operates as a traditional pub, but one where the snacks include lamb ribs with harissa yoghurt and the cheese and onion pie contains Cornish Yarg and comes with piccalilli that tastes like it was made by someone’s incredibly talented grandmother, rather than a supermarket who loves the taste of E223 sulphites. It’s comfort food, sure, but it tastes comfortingly fresh, too.
Head upstairs to the Grill Room and things get more serious – Barnsley chops with tenderstem broccoli, whole roast chicken for two with bread sauce that’ll have you cursing your ma’s one at Christmas. The cooking here is confident and unfussy, the sort of food that makes you understand why British cuisine is finally having its moment.
The design – all emerald-green Victorian tiling, exposed timber frames, and leather banquettes – creates a vibe that you’ll want to sink into and never leave. The second-floor cocktail Library feels like the sort of place where literary types would hold court, whilst the top-floor events space offers panoramic views across W9. Oh, and they pour a mean Guinness, too. Some pub, this.
Website: theherow9.com
Address: 55 Shirland Road, London W9 2JD
The Waterway
Ideal for romantic dinners and the sort of terrace dining that makes you forget you’re in London…
The Waterway has been capitalising on its Grand Union Canal location since 2002, and frankly, with a terrace that’s been voted London’s best, who can blame them? This is the sort of place where you book a table for two at sunset and end up staying until the fairy lights come on. And then, only leave when you’re ushered out by staff who want to go home…
The food is Italian leaning, with enough ambition to justify the setting – think grilled tuna steak with puttanesca sauce or a Neapolitan octopus tentacle served with fennel and potato salad.
Inside, it’s all plush white sofas and open fires, like a ski chalet that’s somehow ended up next to a canal in W9. But honestly, why would you sit inside when you can watch narrowboats chug past whilst grazing on imported charcuterie? The terrace is heated year-round, because the management understands that in Britain, al fresco dining is a state of mind, not a weather condition.
Book well ahead for weekend evenings, when half of Little Venice descends for what feels like the neighbourhood’s unofficial social club.
Website: thewaterway.co.uk
Address: 54 Formosa Street, London W9 2JU
GOGI
Ideal for interactive Korean BBQ with a side of canal views…
GOGI brings Korean BBQ to the banks of Little Venice, and honestly, it’s one of those combinations that shouldn’t work but absolutely does. Each table comes with its own built-in grill, which means you get to play chef whilst your dining companions judge your meat-flipping technique.
The marinated bulgogi beef is exceptional – sweet, salty, and with just enough char from the grill to make you feel like a Korean BBQ master. The dolsot bibimbap arrives in a stone pot so hot it continues cooking at the table, creating those crispy rice bits that Korean mothers have been perfecting for generations. The highlight, though, is the yuk hwe (Korean steak tartare); it’s silky, rich, and showstopping.
The setting is modern industrial – exposed brick, steel finishes, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the canal. It’s the sort of place where you can grill premium wagyu while Little Venice’s canal life unfolds just beyond, which feels very 2025 somehow.
The drinks list goes deep on Korean beverages – from neat soju and creative soju cocktails to traditional rice drinks and Korean sodas, plus a comprehensive wine selection. But really, you should stick to the soju.
Website: gogi-restaurant.com
Address: 451 Edgware Road, London W2 1TH
The Summerhouse
Ideal for seafood lovers who appreciate Cape Cod charm in Little Venice…
The Summerhouse is The Waterway’s seafood-focused sister restaurant, and if you’ve ever wondered what would happen if someone transplanted a Cape Cod fish shack to a Maida Vale canal bank, this is your answer. The nautical theme could easily tip into theme park territory, but somehow it feels just right – all weathered wood, rope details, and windows that maximise those canal views.
The focus is firmly on fish and shellfish, with a menu that celebrates everything good about Britain’s coastal waters. The whole baked sea bass is a showstopper, arriving at the table with lemon and herbs, whilst the fruits de mer platters showcase oysters, king prawns, and whatever else looked exceptional that day.
The weekend brunch menu is particularly good – think smoked salmon eggs Royale with hollandaise that’s been made from scratch rather than whisked up from a powder, with a generosity that belies/justifies the £13 price tag.
Service is friendly and knowledgeable, with staff who can tell you not just where the fish came from, but probably what it had for breakfast. The wine list focuses on crisp whites and rosés that complement the seafood focus, with enough by-the-glass options to keep things interesting. The somewhat ubiquitous La Loupe Grenache Blanc Pays d’Oc is £8.50 for a generous 175ml, as a reference point.
Website: thesummerhouse.co
Address: 60 Blomfield Road, London W9 2PA
Read: How to grill a whole fish on the BBQ
Tsiakkos & Charcoal
Ideal for Greek-Cypriot cooking that goes big on flavour…
Behind the distinctive turquoise shopfront on Maryland Road, Tsiakkos & Charcoal has been serving some of London’s best Greek-Cypriot food for years. This is the sort of neighbourhood gem that locals guard jealously, the kind of place where you’re as likely to hear Greek as English.
The secret weapon is the traditional charcoal grill, which imparts a smokiness to the lamb and fish that simply can’t be replicated with gas. The fresh sea bream arrives whole, charred on the outside and flaking within, served with nothing more than lemon and olive oil because when your fish is this good, why complicate things?
The moussaka here is a piece of work – layers of aubergine and meat sauce topped with béchamel that’s had a little egg yolk added until it souffles and gratinates golden. It’s comfort food that happens to be Greek, rather than Greek food that’s trying to be comfortable. If, erm, that makes sense…
Website: tsiakkosandcharcoal.com
Address: 5 Marylands Rd, London W9 2DU
Le Cochonnet
Ideal for the sort of neighbourhood Italian that is properly transportive…
Le Cochonnet occupies that sweet spot between casual neighbourhood joint and somewhere you’d happily take visiting relatives. The conservatory setting makes it feel like you’re eating in someone’s very well-appointed garden room, whilst the open kitchen allows you to watch pizzas emerge from ovens tended by people who have the requisite wrist action when working the paddle.
Those pizzas have a fine, blistered, thin-ish crust, and are topped with ingredients that taste like they’ve been sourced by someone who cares about provenance. The weekend £14 pizza-and-beer deal is a neat little package that takes all the decision-fatigue out of perusing a menu.
The atmosphere is relaxed and family-friendly, the sort of place where children are welcomed rather than merely tolerated, and where dogs can accompany their humans without causing diplomatic incidents. The wine list focuses on Italian bottles that complement the food without breaking the bank.
Website: lecochonnet.uk
Address: 1 Lauderdale Parade, London W9 1LU
