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Detail Pages
The Good Oak, Westbourne Park, W2
W2
W2 5QL
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 3½ of 10) see review guidelines
Tris C left this review about The Good Oak
Situated in Westbourne Park and not in Notting Hill (let alone the 'heart'), the British Oak as was, dates from at least 1861 and is situated in a none-too-desirable location, along infamous Westbourne Park Road, opposite the Brunel estate and where – perhaps even today – of a late Friday or Saturday night, you could/can see women standing beneath lampposts, none waiting for an Uber; it has also been my fourth nearest pub for the last 15 years, visited by me for the first time the other night.
On entering, I was met by some sort of footloose Front of House; I hate the pretension associated with being greeted in pubs. The bar is at centre (see photo), then a scrubbed floor, scrubbed old school tables, each topped with a fancy electric lamp so you can more easily see the unattractive metal can filled with cutlery, napkins and upturned glass tumblers. There’s a part fawn vinyl and floral fabric upholstered peripheral banquette, punctuated with a few velvet scatter cushions; walls are magnolia with claret coloured window reveals and frames. There’s also an open kitchen with pizza oven on display, all to a loud ambient soundtrack.
Customers were understandably few early in the week, but come the week’s end and Saturday, the place is rammed with young people (none likely to be local), the place frequently used as a private hire venue, a bouncer armed with clipboard and guest list guarding the door.
David nails the mystery beer offerings fiasco, with two banks of six, tall, weathered copper founts with absolutely no descriptions. I quizzed the aforementioned hapless barman about his wares and was told that there was Guinness – of course there was – something fruity, then incoherent mutterings about something that was a sort of Pilsener, another that he tantalisingly described [not] as being ‘…our closest to Peroni’, then a form of pale ale and finally ‘…an apple flavoured cider.’; whatever next? Who’d have thought that someone would dream up a cider flavoured with apples of all things! I plumped for something discharged from the fount, second from right, £3.66 a half, chilled and utterly unmemorable.
With style firmly taking precedence over substance, there’s a reason why it’s taken me 15 years to venture in here…
On 13th October 2026
- rating: 3
[User has posted 2351 recommendations about 2289 pubs]
David Walton left this review about The Good Oak
Visited 29/10/25
No cask. Keg was Guinness, and a pilsner, pale ale and IPA. The taps weren't labelled and the hapless young lad behind the bad didn't understand the question of what Pilsner, pale ale and IPA meant so they remained nameless to me. Lottery win was that the Guinness was decent!
This is a small corner venue, bare boarded with an island bar in the centre of the room and tall stool seating at a couple of the sides. Banquette seating around the perimeter serving tightly packed square or rectangular tables with sturdy wooden chairs the other side thereof. There was a pizza oven in the front right-hand corner as looking from the door. No screens and classy music on, albeit a bit loud, but hardly a destination pub given the mystery around the beer offering and no cask.
On 4th April 2026
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2067 recommendations about 2020 pubs]