Shannon’s Market Bar

When I was deciding whether to move to London, I spent a sunny afternoon drinking here, and it really helped me decide to do it. Great, friendly vibe but still a bit edgy (it was over 10 years ago!), a very mixed, diverse crowd, and good music. I’ve been back several times and it’s changed a bit, but I still like the place, and it’s still a destination whenever I travel from East London to Ladbroke Grove.

I was out at the weekend at the Market Thai, a small, bustly and always full Thai restaurant above Portobello Road’s gem of a drinking hole, the Market Bar. And one thing stood out after a break of several years since my last meal there. The service. It was just awful. We had a table booked for nine people, and upon arriving my friends were just left ignored at the entrance for almost ten minutes… the prawn crackers I ordered for while we waited for our meal took almost half an hour to arrive, and then after I had asked four or five times for them. Several of our party did not get their starters until after all the others had finished (and we did try to wait). The supreme irony came when we paid the bill (to be noted, it was a very reasonable 21 pounds per head), and the card reader did not let me enter «0» as the gratuity because of some sort of malfunction… I had to say to the waiter «please can you put in zero for the tip bit?» An ever-​awkward moment. The service is a real pity, because aside from it, the restaurant is an atmospheric (read loud and crowded) little room with adventurous wooden Asian decoration and decent food. I had the jungle curry, and, being a capsicum-​fiend, asked for as much extra chilli as they could fit into it. It still wasn’t quite spicy enough and the extra chilli I then ordered never arrived — recurrent theme again. And this brings me to my main critique about the food, that it feels a little tailored for western tastes. The green and red curries were good but very milky. I could have just ordered coconut milk on rice and got somewhere near the same effect. And the starters were rather small. But overall, by London standards, it’s decent Thai food, hidden away yet in the middle of Notting Hill, in a fun environment and for a good price. And, all-​in-​all, that saves the star rating.

With boudourish red walls, velvet curtains and large overflowing candles the interior of Market Bar on Portobello Road is more like something you would expect to find in a 1970s Hammer horror film than a reggae bar In Notting Hill.
Don’t let this fool you however. This is a soulful little pub where everybody seems to know everybody and the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. Market Bar is a great place to unwind and rest your feet after a busy day shopping in the nearby market and the Thai restaurant upstairs is excellent and so convenient if you don’t fancy walking far.

The Market Bar is as much part of Portobello market as the stalls and tourists. Night and day the pub is busy and people are often milling outside. Despite the location The Market Bar is a traditional pub, complete with TV showing sports and friendly staff. There are not many places in the area where you can still get change from a tenner for a couple of drinks. There is a also an amazing Thai restaurant Market Thai which serves delicious authentic food at very reasonable prices.

This place is fantastic for a cheap (and good!) Thai meal. It is spread over two floors: there is a bar area on the ground floor where they also show major football matches and upstairs is the restaurant area which has Thai décor and serves fantastic Pad Thai and other specialities like green curry. You can get away with paying a tenner each for a meal and a drink and it’s bank on Portobello Road which means it’s in a great location and very close to lots more bars to move onto afterwards. The closest tube is Ladbroke Grove and there are several buses which will take you there, the 52, the 7 and the 70 amongst others stop at a stone’s throw.

The Market Thai is hidden behind the Market bar. It is a fairly relaxed Thai restaurant. The décor is not over the top nor crying out ‘Thailand!’ It is well lit with candles, and not too big. The dishes are nice, however, they are very spicy so if you like it hot, then here is a good place to go. The waitresses and waiters are members of the same family and although hospitable I found that the way they served customers was as if they were right at home; in Thailand. Yet, in this charming restaurant the culture clash is forgivable. The food starts at £8, which isn’t too bad, but what I didn’t like was the chairs. They were made out of metal or some hard steel giving off some traditional and rustic vibe, which I didn’t approve of. I came here with a friend to catch up yet we ended up talking about the restaurant, more particularly their food. The placement of tables and chairs were quite close to other tables, which meant that it was hard to sustain a private chat and pretty easy to ease drop on other people’s conversations. Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend coming here if you’d like to have a private conversation. Otherwise, this place is great and even does take aways.

The typical Portobello crowd drink here: dealers, drunks, actors, market folk and an assortment of other residents. The vibe is pretty much relaxed all the time although sometimes it can be a bit fiery outside when there’s a full moon — but the same can be said for the whole of Portobello on this count. The staff are a good bunch and all the best sport will be shown, this is often the best way to meet the locals (who include Irish, Scousers, West Indians, Cockneys amongst others). There is also a Thai restaurant on top but I’d recommend going across the road (literally) and eating at the Thai opposite — the food and prices are better.

Nice pub on Portobello Road, the perfect place to slip into for a pint on a Saturday. It has a chilled out atmosphere, sometimes can be quite raucous. Check out the candles that must have been there for years with mountains of candle wax on them. Friendly bar staff, wooden floors, the usual boozer décor.

This is a great little Thai restuarant I discovered last year when I used to live near it, and, well, went there routinely. The food is good, I used to get this great dish with cashew nuts and coconut rice, cannot remember the name, but trust me, if you see that description on the menu, try it! Delicious.
Its got a great ambiance; the windows overlook Portobello road, which is fabulous for people watching. They also have these wonderful drippy candles everywhere, just a fun place to have dinner. And the service is good and cheerful. What more could you want?