Ottolenghi

Delicious! The wait staff is ok, the seating is cramped, but the food is excellent. We came at an awkward time between breakfast and lunch (we hadn’t yet eaten breakfast). So my husband and I ordered the quinoa muesli and a plate with 3 salads. Both were fantastic. The muesli was creamy, flavorful, and had great texture. We chose a roasted pepper and lebnah salad, a roasted sweet potato salad, and eggplant with mint — the peppers and eggplant were fantastic. Overall, a wonderful experience that I highly recommend.

Ottolenghi is fresh and yummy in that it celebrates the vibrancy of great food. This location has one table which you can enjoy with new friends and it makes your meal interesting. Platters of food greet you upon entry into this cute restaurant. I love and own all of Yotum’s cookbooks and this restaurant!

Ottolenghi, unlike Nopi (which we also went to, words and photos coming soon!) is more of a casual deli style eatery. Upon entering the small space, we were met by a long table holding countless salads and pastries on different levelled tiers.
The menu at Ottolenghi is simple and minimal, with the focus on salads and pastries on display, and a few hot items.
Ottolenghi pays special attention of vegetables, especially his amazing salads. There was an option of a large or small salad plate that allowed you to pick out three (for the small plate) or four (for the large plate) types of salads.
Seating is extremely limited, so bear that in mind when visiting. There is a communal table that seats up to ten people down the back, however most people opt to take away. Make sure you try out their roasted aubergine salad, and don’t forget about the sweet pastries on offer.

Ottolenghi! How do you pronounce your name?! At least I can’t mess it up on Unilocal.
Anyway, this place was recommended to me by a dear friend and I’m so glad we went. This particular location only had a large table down some stairs, so most people take food to go. That’s what we did.
I think their salads are a bit different from other places, because they offer wider flavors and more imaginative options. They cooked their cauliflower with some kind of magic– the best cauliflower I’ve ever eaten at a restaurant– and that’s really saying something! The eggplant (oh sorry, aubergine ;)) dish was very good as well, and the pomegranate and yogurt sauce complimented it wonderfully. I also liked the sweet potato, and the green beans had a curry spice that was nice too.
The desserts were beautiful but I didn’t try any.
The only thing is– high quality delicious stuff comes with a price. Additionally, the plates of food are sitting out towards the customers, leaving it quite easy for people to breathe, cough, or shed their hair on them.

The food here is good, with lots of flavor and it is very fresh. However if this is your first time here expect a couple of things:
They weigh salads and meats separately.
There is no sneeze guard or anything that separates from the people standing in line from the platters of food. The woman in front of me had her fur coat dragging in one of the platters while she was ordering her takeaway.
Also, the space is pretty cramped and narrow.
Would I come here again? Probably, but I will only ask for the food that is further away from the customers standing in line.

Die Atmosphäre des Ladens ist sehr schön, man sitzt mit fremden Menschen an einem gemeinsamen Tisch, das Personal ist sehr freundlich und die Gegend wunderschön. Das Essen hat mich allerdings etwas enttäusch, es gab zwar eine interessante Auswahl, aber die Salate waren wenig aromatisch und das Fleisch kalt, die Preise dagegen recht hoch. Hätte von einem Ottolenghi– Restaurant mehr erwartet.

Decided to check out this place due to the popular reviews, a a bit disappointed. There is very little dine in space. Also if you dine in, you just have to find a shared large table. I opted for take out instead. There was a queue when I went. I decided to get a small takeout box of salad. First time here no idea what to get, I suggested the waitor to put in a bit of everything. When I got home and had my salad to my dissapointment I was only able to try the green beans, peppers and some Quinoa. I had seen at least 6 other salads (mainly the potatoes) that I was hoping to try. I also asked what he recommended for those meat and he suggested the roast beef. It was good, it came with a wasabi type sauce that was awesome. The other thing I purchased was a cheesecake. It tasted great and very filling howver I wonder about the sanitary about these products since they are left all out in the open with the queue building up right beside it.

This place has sold me on their salads alone, and the fact that my sister came here a bunch last time she was in town, made it seem good from the start. You can order food for takeway or sit down, which is what I did.
There’s a small white table down the stairs with community seating, I ordered the main dish with two side salads. I got the chicken, which had some delicious cumin and soy blend, as well as roasted cauliflower saffron salad and the aubergine with pomegranate and yogurt (so amazing). I will now have to contemplate how to make this everyday at home.
The pastries you cannot pass up either, the lemon cake with pistachios was so good I didn’t take a picture.
Be prepared to spend some money on salads here! Save your drinking money for salads :) or atleast some. It’s worth it.

Oh — My — God ! Best food I have had in a long time. We had the polenta and the seared tuna, as well as a mix of the different salads/​sides which were all absolutely excellent. We also had the fluffy pear cake (yum yum), followed by a very good espresso. Sure, the other customers there are a little snobbish, but who cares anyway, since the most important thing is the divine food. We didn’t wait for too long but I heard it gets really really packed around lunch time, and since there aren’t many spots, it’s probably better to arrive before or after lunch time.

Great takeaway lunch or dinner. Incredibly innovative and varied menu. Plenty of healthy picks. Not inexpensive.

The service is awful here and despite the fact that i love Ottolenghi’s creations, i seem to face always the same issue at his restaurants.
Sat down and was not attended by anyone. The waitress finally acknowledged me after few minutes with a «you know what you want?»
At that moment the only thing that i wanted is to leave that place straight away. And this is what i did.
Bye Ottolenghi Notting Hill, you won’t get my business anymore.

Dieu… Que de belles choses dans cette boutique/​restaurant. On a envie de tout tester et de tout acheter.
Il y la partie plats/​desserts avec une dizaine de propositions salées, comme des salades, taboulé, légumes rôtis, pizza, quiche… Pour les desserts il y a des mini cakes, des cheesecakes, biscuits et tout m’a fait envie !
Près de la caisse se trouve tout ce que vous pouvez offrir en cadeau ! Les livres de recettes, des petits sachets avec des gâteaux secs, des pots de confitures, crèmes salées et sucrées, paniers garnis, bref il y a du choix.
N’essayer pas de manger sur place à l’improviste. C’est tout petit et sans réservation, c’est foutu.
Du coup on a pris à emporter, des minis cakes sucrées, un au chocolat et à l’orange, un autre à la polenta et au glaçage citron, un autre aux fruits rouges et ils étaient tous à tomber ! Tendres, fondants, délicieux, croustillant à l’extérieur et tous riches en saveurs ! À retenter encore et encore.

Long long lunch queues await if you come here on the weekend. But it is all worth it once you get to sit down. The salads couldn’t be any better and the rubhurb and ginger cheesecake was divine. Not too sweet. Just perfect.
You do feel conscious that there are about ten people after you waiting to nab your table, so you don’t feel like you can linger too long with you tea. If only they would let you put your name down whilst you wait, so you can then go look at the beautiful local posh shops. Well maybe it’s better for your wallet that they don’t. Ottolenghi you are so thoughtful sometimes.

I was staying in Notting Hill over a vacation, and while we were looking for places to eat lunch, I came across this place on Unilocal.
I finally made it around one afternoon, and man was I glad I wondered the streets on my own. I came for lunch and was not at all disappointed. This place was AMAZING. I wish there was a place like this in the states (maybe Fadi’s?).
The menu changes daily, so all I can say is anything you get will be amazing. They use the freshest ingredients. All the dishes are different — spiced differently, different vegetables, etc.
For an American, I wasn’t filled with the portions, but I also got the smaller plate, so for the future, I would opt for the larger.
I even took home a few different seasonings to gift to my Mom as a souvenir.
The place was packed, and rightfully so. I took a meringue dessert to go, similar to a pavlova (it had a raspberry sauce on top), which was also good.
I want to make London, especially Notting Hill, and annual place I visit — mainly for the good food and shopping, as is readily available at Ottolenghi.

I am posting the same review for two locations because the food in both locations is equally excellent (see below). The only difference between the Knotting Hill and Islington locations is the seating areas. The Islington location has a larger, brighter and more spacious communal seating areas than Knotting Hill.
Every food items here is truly unique and true to an idea. The selections vary, there are choices of manny different types of salads and add on mains. But do not be fooled, a salad is not always what you think. The aubergine salad is a meal in itself. And the flavors are rich and varied. You can easily taste many choices with combination of three salads as part of your main.
Service is what you would expect in a communal eating experience, fine but not fast. You can always take away food (we prefer after we eat there first).
And do not forget to stop buy and grab various cookies and other amazing items (I am looking at you spiced nuts!) on the way out.
Recap: go there, go there now. It is what the essence of good, fresh food is all about, without any of the pretension and bs.

My mom and I have been huge fans of Ottolenghi’s cookbooks and frequently cook his recipes. leading us to buy strange ingredients like pomegranate molasses. Once we knew we were coming to London we knew we had to stop at his restaurant. The spread of dishes and desserts looks amazing when you walk in and it is very hard to make a decision. We decided to do 2 of the salad plates and each had 3 salads. We then shared the 2 plates so that we could each get a taste of almost every salad on offer. The most memorable being the white bean hummus, the roasted peppers with some sort of tahini sauce, and the roasted eggplant with almond yogurt. The broccolini and the butternut squash were also both good but not as memorable as the other three. The food was very delicious and fresh and we even went to a second Ottolenghi location 2 days later. The seating situation is a bit of a pain and it is hard to get seated if there are lots of people around, we were lucky enough to get seated straightaway since it wasn’t very busy. Sort of expensive for just vegetables but most definitely worth it. I would eat lunch from Ottolenghi everyday if I could.

All of the food looked so beautiful and delicious, and I was torn about what pastry or dessert to order to sample their menu until… I saw a fly buzzing around and landing on various morsels that previously I had been contemplating putting inside my mouth. There are few forces in this world that can calm my tempestuous appetite, but the thought of an indirect kiss with an insect is one of them. They don’t keep the desserts under any sort of protection (in a glass counter, under glass domes, under net domes, in saran wrap…) so I realized that whether I was there to witness the indiscretion or not, some steamy exoskeleton-​on-​pastry action is probably bound to be happening at some point during the day. If only I hadn’t seen it, I’m sure it wouldn’t have affected the taste. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss!

I was happy with this deli. It served mediterranean foods. I ordered twice cooked chicken –was tasty, but they tell me breakfast is best. Is very small space with lots of desserts– so hard to choose. I decided with coffee and pecan with Bailey’s cream pudding. The dessert display is spectacular and i must return to try them all! People are nice too.

LOL, upon entering this bistro/​bakery and seeing the amazing display of cakes, pies, desserts and platters of fantastically prepared Mediterranean appetisers (roast pumpkin, beetroot purée, grilled vegetables, hummus etc) I knew I was gonna spend a few hours there.
Right before ordering I told the waitress not to be shocked because we were hungry. She didn’t blink when we ordered everything :-D Guess we weren’t the first Ottolenghi enthusiasts.
The first impression was good, it was all delicious and I will definitely go back for much more. I was actually thinking to bring a tent and permanently camp in front of this bakery LOL
PS: the place is very very small, so it’s perfect for takeaway, not so great for a party of more than two people, as they only have one large table downstairs, which customers share. If you can, avoid lunch break and weekends as it can get pretty busy.

Beautiful pastries! Just looking at the tiered display of baked goods, I could have easily gone overboard by getting too many pastries. Good thing I still have some self-​control. We were there during off-​peak hours (about 4:30pm) but there was still a good number of people in there who were mostly getting items to go. Seems it was off-​peak hours, there wasn’t really a systematic line going on but the employees were pretty good in making sure they served who came in first.
The pistachio financier was extremely good. I liked that the cake had a very slight «grainy» texture which was probably from the pistachios. The mini almond bundt cake had the right amount of moist and wasn’t dense nor heavy. Another favorite was the pear galette which was baked in a whole rectangle pastry crust. It’s priced by weight according to the size of the slice.
I need to return to this place.

Went here about 2pm after a long saturday morning of biking on the old Boris bikes so had worked up quite an appetite. We really wanted to sit down but were told that the queue time was 45 mins and we needed food quick.
So we grabbed 2x of the large take out boxes. We had an amazing selection of salads beautifully presented in front of us and we were like kids in a candy shop. The highlight was the tuna and the beef that is kinda hidden in the lower area behind all the salad and till area. You cant see it when all bustling customers trying to fill there boxes. We only knew it was there as we caught a glimpse of someone eating it in the tiny outside eating area.
After going a bit crazy and filling our boxes we were hit with the bill… £48! yes we had gone overboard. I was quite shocked as nothing was weighed separately and they just seem to cram it in and weigh the whole box? I dunno but I was thinking if the box was full of broccoli then it would be a bit of a bum deal.
Needless to say everything tasted amazing and there was enough for my girlfriend and I to have a delicious lunch on the go and dinner when we got back home! (I wanted to try and make it last all week).
I wanted to try the amazing looking cakes but i think i’ll save that for next time I visit!

Still 5 stars, but special note to say:
THE SAVOURY MUFFINS ARE SOMETHING YOU WANT TO GET IN YOUR MOUTH ASAP. Basil, mozzarella, tomato and pine nuts? It is all kinds of perfect.
Also, for fast-​approaching holiday time: the shop has signed copies of Ottolenghi cookbooks (at market price).

Das Ottolenghi in Notting Hill ist einen Umweg wert!
Frische Küche in buffetform präsentiert.
Dazu eine schöné Auswahl an Kuchen und Kleingebäck.

Die Qualitaet der Kuchen kann mit den selbstgebackenen meiner Oma mithalten. Leider sind die Preise, besonders im Vergleich zu deutschen Konditoreien, doch sehr erschreckend. Die Filiale in Notting Hill bietet eine gemuetliche Sitzecke, fuer die man am Wochenende jedoch laenger warten muss — lohnt sich!