3rd time lucky…the Fat Badger is a quirky, gastro pub on the corner of Golborne and Portobello Road. It’s spread across 2 floors, with the restaurant on the top floor and the bar (with a DJ towards the latter part of the week) downstairs.
Very kindly, the Fat Badger hosted my birthday bash earlier on this year. The portions in the restaurant weren’t overly generous, but pleasant nevertheless. I enjoyed a beetroot salad for starters, duck and potatoes for the main and some kind of chocolate brownie with ice cream for dessert.
What really stuck me about the Fat Badger is the decor, large Victorian windows, and pink walls, adorned with art deco style murals. Also the buzzing and relaxed atmosphere in the heat, as drinkers gathered amasses outside the venue (Oh dear! Bozza won’t be too pleased…). Definitely a good one for a drink. Prices are pretty typical for the locality. Expect to pay £30:00 for a 3 course meal and drinks. For more info click onto http://www.thefatbadger.com

This pub is lovely- it is basically one huge room with scattered tables and bar stools. It has really high ceilings and a lovely cosy wooden décor. I think there is a floor upstairs which can be hired out but not 100% sure as I always sit on the ground floor normally. The food is really good and the chips are excellent!! Thin and crispy, just the way I like them!

The Fat Badger is hot at the moment. It is very strategically located, being at the corner of Portobello Road and Golborne. This is actually where the fun really begins on Portobello with the vibrant and colourful mix of Portuguese, North African, Caribbean and British cultures. It is quite funny actually to see how Ladbroke Grove is hyping up at the moment, with hords of people priced out of Notting Hill are moving North and discovering a new frontier of posh London. Anyway I am disgressing and in summary The Fat Badger did not cut it for me. The upstairs restaurant is very average for a gastro-pub, the food is so-so, the service makes an easyjet hostess look like she trained at Gordon Ramsey and the air is very VERY smoky. If you are young, single and local (and not hungry), The Fat Badger will work for you. Since I no longer fit all of these criterias I won't return for food but may do so for a beer with local friends or on a Saturday afternoon after the market.