Gail’s

Great salads and amazing bread. Definitely worth popping in here for lunch. I find it a welcoming spot and fun for people watching.

Good food, nice staff, clean simple atmosphere, but prices seem a bit high for if you Sit In. Still, its a nice healthy change after all the heavy British fare we’ve eaten.
£6 Tuna Sandwich was tasty and I think was healthy too.
£2.50 Sausage Roll… very good! The fanciest sausage roll in all of London perhaps?
Seemed to be a real local place too filled with real Londoners. Unfortunately I didn’t see William Thacker or Spike.

Wonderful café. I’ve been here quite a few times and I’ve never been disappointed. The pastries are to die for and they are always adding different ones. It does get daily busy, so go in during off peak hours.

Walking down Portobello Rd, through the market, and we spotted this brunch eatery. Pretty crowded and there was a good 10 min wait or so, which wasn’t bad at all given it was a weekend. I loved the layout and ordering was simple. You walk down the line and make a (mental) note of the items you want. Food was great. Not sure if this is a current issue but when we went, their bathroom was out of order.

Great food, nice enough staff. Hot chocolate definitely not to my liking. Wayyyy too thick and chocolatey. Ended up only having 2 mouthfuls. Scones were lovely though.

Die Kommentare mit das unfreundliche personal kann ich absolut nicht nachvollziehen. Das Gebäck war köstlich und der Kaffee ein guter Standard. Abzug eines Punktes weil es nicht gerade günstig war.

We came here twice in one day, during the 6 hours we spent at Portobello Rd. Market. The food was so delicious. My favorite is the spinach and feta cheese roll, damn was that ever good, it had toasted fennel seeds on top of the roll too. We had several brioche rolls with different toppings like goat cheese and roasted pepper and mozzarella with cherry tomatoes. The pecan brownie was killer too. There is a young Spanish waiter who seems to be in charge, he was so sweet and helpful with a disarming smile that kept the crowds in order, he’s a great asset for their business.

Zum Frühstück trafen wir uns unter der Woche im Gail´s, einer traditionellen Bäckerei mit großzügigem Caféraum direkt an der Portobello Road, wo sich einem schon beim Eintreten die üppige Auswahl an Backwaren und süßen Teilchen offenbart.
Von Zimtschnecken, Croissants und Schokoladenteilchen, über Broiches, Tartlets, Financiers, Scones und Brownies, reicht das Angebot bis hin zu herzhaften Sandwiches– und Toast-​Variationen. Selbst Birchermüsli, Granola und Pancake-​Fans kommen hier nicht zu kurz und auf ihre Kosten.
Wir bestellten Blueberry-​Pancakes und Cornbread mit Spiegelei und Avocadosalsa und nahmen draussen Platz. Ziemlich zügig wurden Tee und Sojalatte gebracht, worauf die frisch zubereiteten Frühstücksspeisen alsbald folgten.
Mein Cornbread harmonierte prima mit seiner süßlichen Note zu dem Ei-​Avocado-​Ruccolatopping, nur die nicht erwarteten und angekündigten Zwiebeln trübten etwas das Geschmackserlebnis. Dagegen überzeugten die warmen Blaubeer-​Pancakes, welche mit Vanillajoghurt und Ahornsirup gereicht wurden.*

I have been at this place twice. And never ever again…
Such a bad service! All staff are really rude.
But great food, though.

Really nice bakery and coffee shop on Portobello Road. A refuge away from the hustle and bustle outside. As its on the corner, there’s loads of light from outside, giving this place a very airy and uplifting mood.
Service is quick, and as usual the range of baked goods is impressive.

The food here is great. My review is just based on the customer service.
I was visiting London for a month and stumbled upon this quaint bakery. I had never been in before so wasn’t aware of the drill. I. e you tell a staff member what items you’d like and they box it for you — when of course you can grab their attention.
Since the take out boxes and napkins are right next to the food, the most basic of minds would think its a ‘help your self’ thing. But no.
I grabbed a box and attempted to hygienic ally grab a pastry as to which some old witch who worked there ran over to me as if I’d just set the place on fire. She proceeded to scold me in front of all the other customers.
My review shouldn’t put you off this place or its food. I’m convinced her in question probably owned the place, so this is simply a way of me sharing my experience over a letter that would go unnoticed.

i’m obliged to stop every time i’m in London. best cappuccino in town

Great English breakfast. Ok coffee

Café/​bakery was mobbed for Sunday breakfast. Well-​heeled Notting Hill types stood in line besides tourists and families for fresh still-​warm pastries with a continental flair. I only ordered a scone, nut took a few extra moments in the queue to fantasize about how many pastries I would like to sample. From Sweet to savory, many different predilections could be satisfied. Good thing I did so much walking.

Why go to any other bakery?
I live across from Gail’s and have by now developed a passionate affair with their freshly baked dark rye bread. YUM! It stays fresh for days and is to die for. Their portobello mushroom and egg breakfast is also really really good. I know the coffee planet gets better reviews, but in my opinion Gail’s coffee is the best in west London.

Nice enough, the food was tasty and fresh (I had the breakfast mushroom option and my friend the pancakes). However I found this extremely expensive for what we received and the service was icy. They also didn’t bother listening to our order so charged us for 2 coffee’s. A nice laid back venue, but with no personality, I shall not be returning in a hurry!

We tried the breakfast and luckily because it was a bank holiday they continued to serve breakfast after 12pm. On normal days, they stop serving breakfast at 12pm. We tried the english muffin served with fried eggs, grilled tomato, bacon as well as the english muffin served with fried eggs, portobello mushroom, spinach and cheese. It was standard breakfast fare and cooked well. Nothing that blew your socks off but a good neighborhood joint. Their pastries and breads look really good. They have quite the variety of bread that I would like to come back to try.

Gail’s Bakery is busy and for a good reason. For good bread, cakes and coffee this is the place to go on Portobello Road.
It all comes at a price and portions aren’t huge but I would say it’s worth it. Their apple tart is my favourite but with the wide selection on offer I’m sure there is something to everyone’s taste. Everything at Gail’s is made fresh and you can certainly taste this (and smell it in the store). The trend of purist food is going on for some time now but Gail’s is in my opinion still on top of the game.
The biggest problem is perhaps trying to get a place to sit at some days when the market is on but to my own surprise I was last week even able to get tables for a larger group. Other downside is that Gail’s has no toilet. This may sound like an unimportant detail but for the type of place that it is with a full lunch offering I do consider this to be a shortcoming that needs to be fixed.

I was hoping to get to Books For Cooks during my recent holiday in London — sadly I failed to realize that they are closed on Mondays. But I had already nosed about the surrounding area online, and, struck with a bout of insomnia on Sunday night, headed out with my sweetheart at a little after six on Monday morning for breakfast at Gail’s. What can I say? I am charmed by bread purists and I love that they make their breads fresh every day with no preservatives. Plus I’d been up for four hours and was ravenous.
They open at seven but we were the only ones there, which was kind of nice and peaceful in the still of morning when they were still receiving deliveries.
My omnivorous sweetheart got the omelette sandwich («very good») and a soy latte («so-​so»); I got an English muffin with a bunch of fresh sliced tomato and a bonus surprise wee pot of strawberry jam and a soy mocha. The jam was very good and a most welcome and sweet surprise on a chilly morning.
I was surprised that the English muffins were twice as fat as English muffins in the states and with none of the vaunted nooks and crannies, but never fear, they are tasty. The staff was also super, super nice and didn’t mind making me something off-​menu*, but don’t assume they’ll necessarily do it for you as I am very charming and have a most winning smile. Be nice if you ask for something not listed!
My sweetheart and I wandered off down Portobello road — empty and delightful so early in the morning — with pleasantly full bellies, and headed back to our flat, to nap, perchance to dream of jam and cookbooks.
*vegetarian-​friendly but not vegan-​friendly unless you are very charming and have a most winning smile, too.

Wow … da waren mal locker sechs Bedienungen hinterm Tresen! Alle waren sehr freundlich und der Kuchen war schneller als wir selbst am Tisch.
Leider dauerte es aber sehr lange bis Draußen die Tische abgeräumt wurden, was dann halt die Tauben übernommen haben! Hm, draussen werde ich mich beim nächsten Mal also nicht hinsetzen.
Mein Applebread hat mir übrigens sehr gut geschmeckt nur vom Preis fand ich es etwas übertrieben, für das kleine Stück.

It’s such a busy restaurant in Portobello Market. We had to wait in the line to get a table. It’s a typical British lunch café. Most people ordered sandwich and soups here. So we ordered the same thing. The sandwich is so tasty with goat cheese and grilled vegetables. The cream broccoli soup is so rich. But the sandwich size is too small. I have never seen this small size of sandwich in my life. Maybe I’m getting used to US size.
The service is very fast.
The sandwich plus soup is around $ 20. It’s pricey for lunch per my standard. Maybe it’s a seasonal London price.
We asked for WIFI password. The waiter said their manager doesn’t allow to give their WIFI password out. I was so disappointed.

Pro: bright, top quartile British sandwiches. Deserts looked very tempting, but we ventured up the road to Charlie’s.
Cons: understaffed (though friendly).
I would come back.

Being fully prepared to spend a few pounds (after reading the Unilocal reviews), I came to Gail’s judging the breakfast joint solely on food and service. Both were excellent. My boyfriend and I split a breakfast sandwich complete with 2 eggs sunny-​side-​up, roasted tomato, herbed cottage cheese, and thickly-​cut bacon. We also shared a fresh-​fruit salad/​granola yogurt parfait that was equally scrumptious. This was washed down with a hot cappuccino that was heavenly. Although full, we couldn’t pass up trying the tasty-​looking pastries lining the counters. We took 2 to go (chocolate cookie and a pudding croissant), and never had a more delicious bus ride.

At last a coffee and sandwich shop where nothing comes in layers of plastic wrapping. This is a large airy coffee shop in Notting Hill’s Portobello market that unlike the many stalls outside offers tables and chairs to enjoy the cuisine. The food tastes fresh and warm, not like the refrigerated soggy sandwiches most busy Londoners are subjected to.
The coffee is really good and if you’re not a carb-​lover, the mango and mozzarella salad is delicious. It sounds risky but in the words on Pumbaa from The Lion King, it is Slimy but Satisfying. It’s worth noting, when you go in, head straight for the walkway on the right, it’s a one-​way restaurant and you don’t want to look like a first-​timer here, this is one very cool coffee shop.