The Anglesea Arms
This corner local opened its dining room in 1995, in the first wave of London gastropubs, and thirty years later a scored review still tells you to fight for a terrace table and order the vongole (The Anglesea Arms, The Infatuation).
Why go
London invented the gastropub and this is one of the rooms it was invented in. The Good Food Guide calls it one of London's first dining pubs in the 1990s
and still rates it Good on every measure it publishes, while being straight that it may have a lower profile these days
(The Good Food Guide). The building is an 1866 corner pub in Brackenbury Village that went upmarket after a 1996 refurbishment, with the eating area at the back of the bar (CAMRA). The cooking leans Mediterranean: ham croquetas, pappardelle with beef ragu, fritto misto with spiced aioli, sea bream with datterini tomatoes. Harden's survey diners have been saying the same thing about it for four editions, that the food is done very well with no fuss
and that it's hard to believe they can turn out such consistent brilliance from such a tiny kitchen
. The pub has changed hands twice since 1995 and is run by Orange Giraffe on a Stonegate lease.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the spaghetti alle vongole,
excellent, garlic soiree
, outside if the weather allows (The Infatuation). Chargrilled bone marrow and the glazed meats are what the kitchen is built around. Ham croquetas first, panna cotta with poached rhubarb last. Sunday runs from 12:30 straight through and the roast is why the room fills. - Avoid: planning a weekday lunch. The kitchen serves evenings only Monday to Thursday and opens at lunch on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (CAMRA). Do not come for the beer.
What locals & experts say
- Heidi Lauth Beasley, The Infatuation, 28 March 2025, scored 7.9:
The Anglesea Arms is a pub blessed with a royal blue facade and a Waitrose mentality. The scotch eggs are of the quail variety, magnums of Chianti are shared by people who've known each other since birth or boarding school, and it very well might be home to the highest concentration of cockapoos this side of the Cotswolds.
1 - The Good Food Guide, rating it Good on uniqueness, deliciousness, warmth and strength of recommendation:
One of London's first 'dining pubs' in the 1990s, the Anglesea Arms may have a lower profile these days.
2 - Harden's survey diners, across four editions: it
has long been in contention as 'the best gastropub in West London' and it just 'keeps on getting it right', but mercifully without any ostentatious foodie hoopla.
An earlier edition:It still feels like a pub and not a restaurant, but the cooking is better than practically any other pub and most restaurants.
3 - CAMRA's West London branch, surveyed October 2024, on what the pub became:
Corner local in Brackenbury Village dating from 1866 and which headed upmarket after a 1996 refurbishment. It is still a local but now much more food-led.
4
Good to know
- Which Anglesea Arms: 35 Wingate Road W6 0UR, in Brackenbury Village near Ravenscourt Park. Two other London pubs carry the name, in South Kensington and Woolwich, and they are unrelated businesses. Nothing written here comes from a review of either.
- Timing: kitchen evenings only Monday to Thursday, 6pm to 10pm. Friday and Saturday add 12:30 to 3pm. Sunday runs 12:30 to 10pm.
- Booking: by telephone or email rather than an app, which is worth knowing before you turn up at 8pm on a Saturday.
- The beer: three handpumps with generally two pouring, Timothy Taylor Landlord as the regular and something like Fuller's London Pride or Otter Bitter alongside. Cask Marque accredited for beer and cellar hygiene. Good cask keeping, no craft range.
- Rules of the house: dogs welcome, real fire, garden. No pushchairs inside or on the front terrace.
- Money: wine from around 10 pounds a bottle, bread 3 pounds, service 12.5 percent.
- Hygiene: FSA rating 5, inspected 19 March 2026.6
Verdict
should-visit — This is one of the pubs that invented the format, and it is still cooking. The Anglesea opened as a food pub in 1995, in the first wave after The Eagle, and the Good Food Guide still lists it as Good on every measure it uses while noting it 'may have a lower profile these days'. The Infatuation scored it 7.9 in March 2025 and told you what to order: the garlic-heavy spaghetti alle vongole at a terrace table. Harden's diners have called it the best gastropub in west London across four editions and keep using the same word, consistent. The cooking is Mediterranean-leaning and unfussy, ham croquetas and beef ragu and chargrilled bone marrow out of a kitchen the survey calls tiny. Weigh the drink honestly: three handpumps with two on, Landlord and London Pride, Cask Marque certified and nothing more. So this is a food send in a room that is still a proper corner local, worth crossing town for if the gastropub as a London invention interests you, and not the place to go looking for beer.