Books For Cooks

It's always nice to come back to, whenever I'm in London, even if I no longer have to wait to make the trip in order to get my hands on a huge selection of cookbooks.

The first time I went, a year or so after Heidi Lascelles opened it, I found it by chance. I had no idea something like that existed, and lost my heart and spent quite a lot of money. Back then, before online bookstores, it was difficult to get a good variety of international cookbooks in Germany.

I've been back regularly ever since, just for the chance of looking at books before ordering/buying them. I like the shop and most people working there, but some can be quite annoying, especially if they can't be bothered to actually help with stuff that's a bit off the beaten path. If I'd want mainstream, I'd opt for a chain or for that big virtual one.

This place is adorable. Really lovely. I came here for an event a little while ago, and I like it. As the name might suggest, it's full of... cookbooks. Lots of them. Despite it being only little, they make the most of the space, and it's warm and friendly.

There's a little cafe at the back, with very tasty food. I'm not sure how often I'll come here (I'm a South East girl) but if I was in the area I would come in and spend too much money. I like it here. It's places like this that make me change my opinion about West London.

On the face of it this is a fantastic bookshop especially if you are a Chef, but whatever happened to Customer Service? Me and my partner (who is a chef) visited the shop and I decided to have a coffe and cake whilst I waited for him to finish browsing after I made my purchase. The cakes are wonderful, but the service was very slow considering all that is on offer is coffee/teas, cakes and soup. I was seated for over 10 minutes before anyone event took my order (there are less than 20 covers!!) and the staff act almost as if they are doing you a favour by serving you!

My partner purchased in excess of £250 of books which in this current climate is not to be sniffed at but again the service was poor / unfriendly. We are very much fans of keeping the smaller businesses going, which is why we drove up from Kent to visit this shop, instead of going to the chains or online such as Waterstones or Amazon. All I can say is that we will not be returning and will not be recommended to anyone, and will in fact now be using the Online Giants - if the customer experience had been good we would not be but we are of course going to vote with our feet - wise up shop owners and train your staff!

Admittedly, I haven’t eaten at Books for Cooks, nor have I taken one of their classes. Yet. But that’s only because the last time I was in the shop, I came dangerously close to buying too many books about food, cooking and chefs, three of my favourite subjects. Located on Blenheim Crescent, just opposite the Travel Bookshop of Notting Hill film fame and around the corner from Portobello Road, this place is a food lover’s library. I even found a couple of hard-to-locate titles here.If you love to cook and read recipes like others read novels, then this is a must-visit bookshop. I recommend entering with a budget in mind and come what may, sticking to it. Easier said than done…

A must visit in Notting Hill! Wide selection of books and nic-nacs and always something interesting going on amidst the hustle and bustle.
Can get extremely busy on the weekends so definitely worth trying to visit on a weekday if you can.
Wide range of courses on offer and staff that are so knowledgeable they make Heston B look like a know-nothing!
The great ambience and inspiration you’ll get from the staff makes it a definite must visit store

Blenheim Crescent is my favourite bit off Portobello, and “Books for Cooks” is an absolute highlight. It has become so successful that it is almost impossible to move on a Saturday. Still, I find it difficult to resist, just a quick browse …
Books for Cooks is not limited to selling books, they have also been running a very successful series of workshops. I am still cooking from my notes from years ago - highly recommended!
Not sure if Ursula Ferrigno still teaches here, she creates the most delicious vegetarian feasts.

This is one of my favourite places in Notting Hill…..whenever my mum comes to London this is where we go….she is a serious foodie, and also has an ridiculously HUGE cookery book collection, so this is like her version of heaven.

The little kitchen that has been mentioned is absolutely great, and they always have delicious food if you are able to get a table and eat! Also I am told that they do wine tasting evenings, once a month, so I shall be checking that out soon, and I will keep you posted on what it was like!

This is so useful, really great and has nearly any cooking idea you can think of!

As its name suggests, this bookshop is dedicated to the culinary art. And as there is only one step from theory to practice, a test kitchen was created at the back of the shop, where customers can taste recipes from the cookbooks on the shelves. You can also attend one of the shop's cookery workshops that takes place upstairs several day a week.
A little gem for all food lovers!

You will either love to cook, or know someone who loves to cook. And so, this shop is definitely worth a visit. Situated right in the heart of Notting Hill’s, off Portobello Road, Books for Cooks is (as you might guess) a bookshop specialising in cookery and food. They have something for everybody, and simply glancing over their shelves will inspire you to become a trainee master chef at home. The service is also pretty good here – I’ve emailed them with a description of the sort of book I was looking for, and they responded promptly with recommendations. Very helpful staff are the icing on the cake to what has to be one of my top ten shops in London. Check it out next time you are in the area.

This is a really nice bookshop for expert chefs as well as the amateur cooks. There is a huge variety of books for all varieties of taste buds. If you have a dinner party coming up and want to try something different, have a look in this shop, it will definitely give you some ideas.

If you have imagination then this is a really good way to utilise it especially if you want do things in a different manner. Let me point out to you that if you are going to eat there then you cannot book-you have to turn up really early before 12.30 pm because the food finishes very quickly here. All the six small tin tables are usually taken as is the allocated food quota-infact you could say it was rationed.

The set menu consists of three dishes-all made up with recipes from the shop's Cookery Books,although not a thoroughly new idea,it has been imaginatively put together and you can buy cooked food to try at home.
On our visit to the shop we had a spread of stuffed Peppers,Thai Fish-Cakes and a really divine selection of cakes made by the domestic goddesses who live in the area. Just to tempt you Classic Blackberry Tart, lovely rich Yoghurt Cake with Walnut were two of the recipes we tried and they were worth every penny. We paid thirteen pounds each for the meal and that included some very good coffees.

Books for cooks is as they say on their website, for "cookbook junkies" whatever that is. The have 8000 or so titles, from all over the world, from chocolate to peppercorns. In the back there is a little cookery school for Notting Hill yummy mummies and other cooking enthusiasts. A quirky place in a superb corner of this neighbourhood. The 2 lovely ladies running the shop have a great hand to pick and feature again and again interesting titles beyond the Books etc. and Waterstones selection.
You don’t want to visit this place on Saturday when it’s crammed with tourists from Portobello Market, but on weekdays a great experience.