The Churchill Arms, Kensington W8, London

The Thai food at the Churchill Arms (in the Thai Kitchen) is normally served in a restaurant area at the back. It is priced very well, at around £6.50 for a meal. Every meal includes rice, and comes in generous portions. I have never walked out of this place still feeling hungry. The food tastes good too. It may not be gourmet, but it is tasty, and I have not felt those telltale MSG signs afterwards.

A word of warning though - the butterfly system they use to rate heat only goes from 0 to 3. A dish with 3 butterflies is only recommended for those who really like their food hot. Do not make the mistake of thinking it is out of 5!

There are also nice little portions of starters like prawn crackers and spring rolls. The food may take a short while to come out, but you will not be kept long, and the food is served hot and ready to eat. It is served in an individual plate per diner, with a knife and fork and not chopsticks - it is more common to eat with a spoon and fork than chopsticks in Thailand so this is reasonable.

I have not tried the deserts, mostly on account of being too full and satisfied after a meal to consider them. However, if they are as good as the other food, then I would expect not to be disappointed.

My personal favourite, for the record, is the Thai Red Curry with Duck. Amazingly, the duck dishes do not cost any more than the other dishes - all are priced the same. The Red Curry is presented with rice on the plate, and a bowl of the soupy curry. The curry has plenty of duck, and vegetables, and the soup is to die for - it is spicy for sure, but an absolutely beautiful taste.

The Churchill Arms is in two parts, a pub and a restaurant. When you are dining in the restaurant, the drinks are coming from the pub. I cannot be sure if there is a surcharge in ordering drinks at the table as opposed to at the bar, but because of the simple layout, there is nothing to prevent a diner ordering at the bar instead.

The drinks selection must start with a number of real ales, guest ales, stouts and bitters, many from the local Fullers Brewery. There are the usual mass produced lagers. It is let down by the ciders, which are a little dire with only Bulmers and Strongbow - no cloudy ciders (like Addlestons) here.

The orange juice (as I do enjoy orange juice lemonade) is reasonable quality, and has not be left to stand for days (as in some pubs).

The bar can be busy and difficult to get to, but I will talk more about that below.

They are also pretty reasonably priced, certainly cheaper than other pubs and bars in the same area.

A restaurant with many empty tables, or an empty pub is normally a pretty bad sign. However, a pub and restaurant often operating beyond capacity, with customers on a waiting list shows there is a pretty good reason for demand.

The pub area is rarely empty. If you are early, or on a quieter night like a Monday, you may get seats and a table, but generally the pub gets pretty busy most evenings, with the crowd spilling onto Kensington Church Street quite often. The bar can become difficult to get to due to the number of people here.

The restaurant is also clearly quite popular, with every table taken, and a waiting list that often means you are told to come back in 40 minutes or so. Tables can be booked, but it is rare they take bookings because they are so busy. The staff also remind you that tables are normally only available for one hour in the restaurant section. Because of how busy it is, food can always be taken to the tables in the bar too, the staff are fairly flexible about this.

Luckily, despite being so busy, the kitchen is well managed, and as mentioned above, the food comes out relatively quickly, and hot.

I would advise against going here if you know you need to be at a theatre or cinema later, as you may need to wait, but if you have a whole evening to enjoy, then then this a great place to stop for food while out.

The Churchill Arms is pretty well placed and easy to get to. It is of course slightly to the West of the City, but if you are around Notting Hill or Kensington, then this is ideal.

The nearest tube stations are Notting Hill Gate which is on the District (Green), Circle (Yellow) and Central (Red) Line, and High Street Kensington which is on the District (Green - Paddington/Edgeware Road branch) and Circle (Yellow) Line.

The pub itself is on Kensington Church Street, and among some interesting antique shops that seem to have clustered along this street. It is quite easily recognisable due to the amount of flowers adorning the front of it. Birds Eye View of The Churchill Arms.

From Notting Hill Gate Station, come up on the south exit, and walk east, you will pass a metallic sculpture and a bookshop. Take a right past the bookshop which will bring you onto Kensington Church Street, you then simply need to walk down until you see the pub with its flowers. It is on the corner of the 5th turning to the right coming in this direction, Bedford Gardens.

Coming up from High Street Kensington, you will need to turn right coming out of the station, and walk down a little. On the left you will pass a number of shops, and then see a large church opposite a pizza chain. This road is Church Street. You will need to walk a fair way along Church Street from this direction, past another church and a kink in this road, be sure not to end up on Vicarage Gate. Again, as above, you wont miss the floral decor.

It is worth mentioning that these are quite pleasant and interesting walks anyway. You could of course take a cab, but in my humble opinion you will miss out by doing so.

The address is:
The Churchill Arms
119 Kensington Church St
London, W8 7LN, United Kingdom

020 77274242

As you walk towards the Churchill Arms, it is pretty unmissable. The outside has been decorated with many flower baskets, and is well kept, immediately granting a welcome atmosphere.

Stepping inside, you will be greeted with an amazing collection of World War II memorabilia. The ceilings are hung with all sorts of items, and the atmosphere is immediately that of a local place with real character, not some soulless trendy bar. The floor is carpeted with quaintly creaking carpets, and all the decor fits. There are portraits and newspaper cuttings of Winston Churchill adorning the walls.

As you then step through to the restaurant, there is a room adorned with Wicker baskets, pinned butterflies and some assorted items. This room has the kitchen counter, and it is here you can speak to the staff to book a table.

Stepping further through you get to the main restaurant seating area - a bright conservatory hung with many, many plants including exotic ones, and with more pinned butterflies on the walls. The room is painted a bright white, which with so much green, and a lot of sunlight on a sunny day, makes for a really bright and comfortable space. There is a little water feature in the corner with fish circling in it. There are just many interesting things to look at while eating or drinking here.

Even the toilets are well decorated and have World War II propaganda posters on the doors and walls.

At the bar, it can be very busy. The bar staff are friendly, but will be pretty rushed. So far they have not got my drinks order wrong or short changed me. They are happy to take cards. In quieter times, they are more than happy to have a friendly chat.

The restaurant staff are very friendly. There is one matriarch, the landlords wife, who runs the kitchen, and come sometimes be stern yet fair. She will normally be taking the bookings, and will tell you when you will be able to get a table, as well as that you will probably only have the table for an hour. Sometimes they will be able to make room for you immediately. The serving staff are quite a cheerful bunch, but also rushed because of the busyness of the place. They are also happy to take cards here. I have never been turfed out of a table because of the one hour rule, so I suspect it is not a strict rule, but one to keep people moving.

Again, I have had a problem with getting the wrong order, although it is worth pointing out that English is often not the first language of the serving staff. The majority of the serving staff are oriental girls in their twenties.

It may seem an odd title, but when in a pub or restaurant, bad WC's can put a real downer on an experience, at least for me.

The Churchill has bright clean WC's that have recently been refurbished. If you have been a long time ago, it is worth noting that the male and female WC's have been swapped! They are well decorated, and the facilities modern.

They are well maintained, and not left to smell, or with the normal pub issues of broken seats etc.

The restaurant has always seemed pretty clean. The tables are cleaned between customers as long as you wait to be seated and do not jump the gun, in which case it will be cleaned as you are sat there.

The kitchen also appears clean and well maintained. Also the glasses in the bar are clean, I have not been served a dirty or soapy glass here. Good standards of cleanliness really do make a place attractive.

Overall, this is a really good pub, and you will not be embarrassed to entertain visitors here. If you are visiting London, and do not want to spend a fortune eating out, but not settle for a greasy spoon or burger chain, then this is the ideal place with plenty of character and pretty good quality food.

Lets go over the points then:

• Good Tasting, good quality Food.


• Cheap eat, often less than £10 per head including drinks.


• Food is served relatively quickly and hot.


• Cheap drinks.


• Amazing decor.


• Friendly and cheery staff.


• Popular.


• Satisfying decent portions.


• Clean and well maintained.


• Easy to get to from the West.


• Surrounding area is interesting and pleasant.

• Food can be very hot, so choose dishes with care!


• English not always the first language of staff, although I have never had too much trouble making myself understood.


• Cider selection very limited - which really matters to us West Country folk!


• Can be very busy, often packed, making it difficult to get to the bar, and you will probably have to wait for a table.


• The one hour thing - although I have never been turfed out or seen someone else turfed out.


• Pinned butterflies - I do not mind, but I suspect that there are some who would really not like that.

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