Best restaurants in Shepherd's Bush

This year Patio celebrated its 30th birthday and – judging by a packed Friday night – there’s no sign the appetite is waning for its budget-priced Polish cooking. The appeal lies in the convivial atmosphere and chirpy owners, and while the food might be rather stodgy, £16.50 buys you three generous courses and a shot of vodka. Cherry-picking the lighter dishes from the starters is wise: perhaps pickled herrings with apple salad, or fish soup. It’s nigh-on impossible to avoid heavy sauces during the main course, whether it’s veal in a wild-mushroom sauce or cod in dill sauce. If you make it to dessert, expect cakes and Polish puddings, best accompanied by yet more vodka.

With its shimmering blue-tiled frontage and brickwork that matches the surrounding housing, The Havelock Tavern recalls the golden age of British pubs. Times have changed, but the good folk here in Masbro Road have the best of both worlds – a proper pub and somewhere to eat first-rate grub with a modern rustic spin. The interior is opened up and suitably bare (with rough wooden tables and mismatched chairs); the bar is stocked with beers from the likes of Battersea’s Sambrook’s Brewery and Truman’s of east London. Everything, from the bread to the ice cream, is made in-house and the menu crosses international borders with impunity: mussels infused with South-East Asian flavours, Greek lamb rump, and roasted fillet of cod dished up with a white bean and smoked bacon casserole. Then it’s back home for treacle tart with double cream. Outside, the patio garden is a fair-weather friend: another asset of this gem of a pub.

Housed in the Dorsett Hotel, Shikumen’s flagship restaurant has a spacious, stylish dining room set alongside a hand-carved wooden bar where tea, cocktails and saké are served. At lunchtime, try the handmade dim sum as an alternative to the main menu and set lunches. We enjoyed fried golden seafood rolls with mango sauce, prawn and bean curd-skin cheung fun, and colourful xiao long bao dumplings filled with spicy pork or lobster with black truffle. Signature dishes include authentic Peking duck, carved at table and presented as two servings: first stuffed into pancakes and pillowy bao buns (the crisp, savoury skin dipped in icing sugar), followed by a clear, comforting duck-bone broth. Dishes such as meltingly tender Wagyu beef, stone-grilled tableside and served with earthy black truffle oil, add a touch of luxury, while a beautifully presented dragon fruit platter makes a refreshing dessert. An elegant destination for authentic dim sum.

Anyone familiar with The Oak in Westbourne Grove will recognise the style at its sibling – a converted, one-time boozer not far from Olympia. Despite its pubby name, The Bird in Hand is essentially a “buzzy” neighbourhood eatery specialising in rustic regional Italian flavours. On offer, you’re likely to find a range of imaginative small plates divided into ‘garden’, ‘sea’, ‘land’ and ‘heaven’ – think wild mushroom arancini with chilli jam, cod croquettes with lime aïoli, lamb rump with black olive, parsley and caper salad or caramel nut tart with pear and praline ice cream. The highly popular, 12-strong line-up of pizzas also “deserves a special mention” (they’re “delicious” says a fan), while the wine list has some robust Italian bottles in addition to decent stuff from elsewhere in Europe. Italian aperitifs, cocktails and proper Italian coffee are also available at the “lovely” bar.