In a space that was once Leith’s and, more recently, Notting Hill Brasserie, the restaurant is housed in three Edwardian townhouses on a pleasant street in Notting Hill.

Pretty plant pots and glass lanterns line the exterior of the building with cute signs with the restaurant’s name dangling on either side of the door.

I loved the look of the space immediately – I’m a sucker for low lighting and it’s done very well here. You enter into the bar area, which is designed with interesting split-level circular tables, offering a great spot to enjoy the large variety of wines by the glass.

Notting Hill Kitchen specialises in the cuisine of Portugal with Spanish elements added to the mix, with a bar menu of pesticos (tapas) to enjoy alongside several excellent Douro wines.

Meandering towards the restaurant, beautiful bare wooden tables are arranged over several rooms with a number of nooks and crannies (including a lovely semi private dining area) – pick your favourite table and make yourself at home.

Starters are designed to be shared, but we also borrowed from the tapas bar menu. A plate of pata negra ham was small but delicious and a second round of the Jamon croquetas was ordered after the first bite.

Perhaps not quite sticking to the Portuguese influence, a sea bass ceviche with Peruvian aji amarillo chilli and lashings of lime was powerful and sharp, without losing the flavour of the fish.

From the mains that are split between ‘Land’ and ‘Sea’, I was guided towards the pink swordfish with creamed Carolino rice (pictured above) that looked beautiful and, although enjoyable, was a little too delicate and seemed to be without the advertised miso crumble.

The highlight, however, was the acorn fed pork neck with large slices of (not fatty) pork with a green lentil salad and red cabbage – a wonderfully satisfying and unexpected dish.

A rather small dessert menu offers lemon cheesecake, hot chocolate sauce and frozen walnut terrine and pastel de nata, a refined deconstructed custard tart, along with a selection of Iberian cheeses.

I really enjoyed dinner at Notting Hill Kitchen and loved that it felt grown up and proper while retaining a casual neighbourhood atmosphere.

If I lived nearby, I’d be popping in often for some tapas and robust red wines from Douro; I don’t, but it’s still worth crossing town for. And I’ll be back to try out that brunch menu.

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