Over Under opens at 7am, the V&A café sits in rooms from 1868 and the park cafés take cards only: 11 Kensington cafes with hours and hygiene ratings, Oct 2026.

The cafes most people in Kensington land on are the V&A café, in refreshment rooms the museum opened in 1868; Farm Girl on Portobello Road and Exhibition Road; the Holland Park Café in the park’s arches; and Sally Clarke’s shop and bakery off Kensington Church Street. Every entry was checked against the venue’s own site on 27 October 2026.

We have not visited these cafes for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry sets out what the cafe says about itself and what it publishes about hours, food and booking, with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) hygiene rating from the FSA register. For proper sit-down meals, see our Kensington restaurants guide.

South Kensington and the parks

V&A Café, Cromwell Road

The museum says the world’s first museum restaurant opened here. Its history of the refreshment rooms records a temporary room in 1856, then the Gamble, Poynter and Morris rooms, opened in 1868 and still in use. The café page lists sandwiches from £6.75, a deli plate with two salads at £17, a children’s box at £7 and drinks from £3.40. The Main Café is open 10am to 5pm, and to 9pm on Fridays. A Garden Café (11am to 4pm) and a patisserie by the Exhibition Road entrance also run. Highchairs, baby changing and step-free access are listed. Admission to the museum is free. The catering is run by Benugo, rated 5 for hygiene (FSA, 21 November 2025). Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL.

Farm Girl, Exhibition Road and Portobello Road

Farm Girl opened on Portobello Road in 2015, bringing “Australian healthy eating to Notting Hill”, Hot Dinners reported at the time. Its own site now lists two branches in the borough and says plainly: “we do not take bookings”. Both publish the same hours: 8.30am to 5pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm at weekends. Each has a children’s menu. The Notting Hill cafe is in St Peter’s Church Hall, 59a Portobello Road, W11 3DB, rated 5 (FSA, 7 May 2025). The South Kensington cafe is at 8 Exhibition Road, SW7 2HF, rated 4 (FSA, 3 December 2025). Our listings: Notting Hill, South Kensington.

Broad Walk Café, Kensington Gardens

The Royal Parks places it next to the Diana Memorial Playground, the Time Flies clocktower and the Elfin Oak, which makes it the obvious stop with children. It lists “locally roasted, single origin, speciality coffee”, cakes, sandwiches, stone-baked pizza, a children’s range and ice cream. It opens at 9am all year and closes 30 minutes before the park, which shuts at dusk. It takes cards only. It is run by the caterer Colicci, on 020 8640 1700. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 12 May 2025). The Broad Walk, Kensington Gardens, W2 4RU.

Italian Gardens Café, Kensington Gardens

Beside Queen Anne’s Alcove at the top of the Long Water, with indoor and outdoor seats looking over the Italian Gardens and a living roof, the Royal Parks says. It serves breakfast (poached eggs with avocado on sourdough, pastries, yoghurt), salads, sandwiches, cakes and a gluten-free range. It opens at 7.30am on weekdays and 8am at weekends. From October to March it stays open until at least 4pm. Cards only. The page gives two different answers for Christmas Day, so check before then. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 10 June 2026). North Walk, off Bayswater Road, W2 2UH.

Kensington and Holland Park

Holland Park Café by Daisy Green, Ilchester Place

Daisy Green took over the park’s cafe in 2024, Hot Dinners reported. Its own page describes “an all-day café and restaurant set within the grounds of Holland Park”, with a large terrace among “historic listed arches”, indoor seats and a Gelupo gelato hatch. The menu is brunch, small plates and picnic food to take away. It is open from 8am every day until 30 minutes before the park closes. It is “primarily walk-in”, and dogs are welcome outside. Hygiene rating 4 (FSA, 9 September 2026). Ilchester Place, W8 6LU. Call 020 3822 0324.

Sally Clarke shop and Clarke’s Corner Cafe, Campden Street

The shop and bakery of Sally Clarke, whose restaurant Clarke’s is across Kensington Church Street. The site promises “seasonal fresh produce, sweet & savoury pastries & great coffee”. It sells breads, pastries, cakes and tarts from its own bakery, which it says was set up in 1989. The opening times page lists the shop and Clarke’s Corner Cafe at 1 Campden Street, W8 7EP. It is open 8am to 4pm Monday to Wednesday and 8am to 6pm Thursday to Saturday, and closed on Sunday. The FSA register lists the shop at 121 Kensington Church Street, rated 5 (FSA, 16 October 2026). Call 020 7229 2190.

Muffin Man Tea Shop, Wrights Lane

A tea shop a minute off Kensington High Street. Its website lists cakes, salads, fresh pastries, a “Devon tea” of scones and flowering teas. It gives temporary hours of 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 6pm Friday to Sunday. We have not linked the site, because it is currently carrying unrelated advertising links. Hygiene rating 4 (FSA, 25 June 2025). 12 Wrights Lane, W8 6TA. Call 020 7937 6652. Our listing.

Over Under, Earl’s Court Road and Kensington High Street

Over Under calls itself “a brunch spot delivering exceptional coffee, food and service”. It focuses on coffee and small plates, with grab-and-go food from the cabinet. Its locations page lists two branches in the borough, both open 7am to 5pm on weekdays and 8am to 5pm at weekends. The first is at 181A Earl’s Court Road, SW5 9RD, rated 4 (FSA, 27 September 2024). The second, at 281 Kensington High Street, W8 6NA, is newer and still awaiting its first FSA inspection. Our listing.

Notting Hill and Westbourne Grove

Coffee Plant, Portobello Road

A coffee shop “in the heart of London’s Portobello Road market”, says its own site. It sells hot drinks, toasted sandwiches, snacks and smoothies, plus beans to take home. It says the coffee is roasted at its own factory in Wembley and delivered to the shop twice a week, and that its range is organic and fairtrade. It is open seven days from early: 6.30am to 6pm Monday to Thursday, 6.30am to 7pm on Friday, 6.30am to 8pm on Saturday (market day) and 8am to 7pm on Sunday. Hygiene rating 4 (FSA, 27 July 2026). 180 Portobello Road, W11 2EB. Call 020 7221 8137. Our listing.

Granger & Co, Westbourne Grove

The Notting Hill branch of the all-day cafe group founded by the late Bill Granger, who opened his first restaurant in Sydney in 1993, its about page says. The same page quotes the New York Times calling his “the best scrambled eggs in the world”. The Notting Hill page gives breakfast until 12pm, lunch until 5pm and dinner from 5pm. It opens at 7am Monday to Saturday, with last orders at 10.30pm, and at 8am on Sundays and bank holidays, with last orders at 9.30pm. Bookings are taken from 5pm, and it says it always has room for walk-ins. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 19 September 2025). 175 Westbourne Grove, W11 2SB. Call 020 7229 9111. Our listing.

Daylesford, Westbourne Grove and Brompton Cross

The London farmshops and cafes of the organic farm in the Cotswolds. In Daylesford’s words, they “bring a slice of the farm to the city”. The Notting Hill shop is at 208-212 Westbourne Grove, W11 2RH, rated 5 (FSA, 8 September 2025); call 020 7313 8050. The Chelsea branch is at Brompton Cross, 76-82 Sloane Avenue, SW3 3DZ, also rated 5 (FSA, 6 January 2026); call 020 3848 7100. Daylesford lists both as open 8am to 8pm.

How we chose

These are the cafes people in Kensington, Chelsea and Notting Hill search for, chosen for longevity, setting and a public reputation that can be checked, not for taste. Most are independents; Daylesford and Granger & Co are small groups, but the cafes are part of the life of Westbourne Grove. Every entry comes from the cafe’s own website, or for the park cafes the Royal Parks’ pages. Hygiene ratings come from the FSA register, and anything rated below 3 was left out. We left out cafes whose current hours we could not confirm from a page they run. That ruled out, for now, Lisboa Patisserie and Café O’Porto on Golborne Road, both rated by the FSA but with no working website we could check.

Run a cafe that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@thekensingtonpost.co.uk.

More in Kensington

Frequently asked questions

Which Kensington cafes open earliest?

Granger & Co on Westbourne Grove opens at 7am Monday to Saturday, and Over Under on Earl’s Court Road and Kensington High Street opens at 7am on weekdays. The Italian Gardens Café in Kensington Gardens opens at 7.30am on weekdays, and Daylesford in Notting Hill and Brompton Cross, the Holland Park Café and Sally Clarke’s shop all open at 8am.

Can I book a table at a Kensington cafe?

Mostly not. Farm Girl says it does not take bookings, the Holland Park Café says it is mainly walk-in, and Granger & Co in Notting Hill takes bookings only from 5pm. The park cafés in Kensington Gardens and the V&A café are walk-in.

Do the cafes in Kensington Gardens take cash?

No. The Royal Parks says both the Broad Walk Café and the Italian Gardens Café accept card payments only.