There are so many gastropubs around London so before heading off, I thought a leisurely lunch at one near Westbourne Grove would be a good place to catch up with some people. Ben and Michelle made a huge effort to come out, especially considering they’d been hit really hard with the flu that’s going around at the moment. Thanks to everyone else that came along on Sunday – it was a great lunch and awesome to see you all.

We arrived at The Fat Badger right before the rush hour. It’s found right up the far end of Portobello Road, right past where all the markets would normally be. Being a Sunday, it start getting quite busy after 1pm. We scored a couple of very comfy leather couches downstairs. Unfortunately the restaurant upstairs was booked out already although they serve most of the same foods downstairs where we picked a few from the main menu and, I think, almost went through most of their gastro bar snacks such as Quails Eggs with Celery Salt and Kentish Cobnuts. A few of us, including myself, had the smoked haddock served with a mussel and bacon chowder. It wasn’t as chowder-like as it could have been, though extremely tasty and filling.

The Fat Badger is found on 310 Portobello Road, W105TA and is open on Sunday from noon through to 10:30pm.