The Good Oak

An absolute must for a girls night!! A dimly lit setting, top quality Italian bites and pizza, along with excellent vino makes for a very special evening! Very good value for money and for the area for sure. Only thing I’d say is it was very very loud and squishy inside and hard to hear your own voice at times, and the waiters seemed to want to rush us out to fit another booking in.

We were curious to review The Good Oak after their renovation and hoping the pizza did not change! They did not disappoint 🍕🍕 This is our weekly pizza appointment and it’s always the best ! Also desserts are top notch

We went for a Sunday evening dinner with 4 friends. The service was very good, not only fast, but also very friendly. I really loved the pizza’s! We also had the lemon chicken, which was very nice. It had a cozy atmosphere. Exactly the vibe we were looking for that evening. Will definitely come back!

Shockingly poor management and disrespectful door staff! I have never experienced such a complete failure of management and basic customer service. 10 days before my birthday I came to the bar and met with the manager Lucia in person to arrange space for around 16 people for my birthday. I was clearly told that the bar area does not take reservations and to just simply turn up. The only reservation option was a private room with a £1300 minimum spend she said. We followed these instructions exactly. When we arrived the exact area in the bar I discussed with her was reserved, inspite of being told there were no reservations at the bar area. To make matters worse she completely denied that she had said this to me, and said the people who reserved that bar area had a £1300 minimum spend arrangement (not the private room) and four of my guests were denied entry at the door because venue was ‘at capacity’ by an unnecessarily rude and aggressive doorman named Fritz, speaking to us with hostility rather than professionalism. A corner spot was arranged for us but it was small and cramped and not ideal. We ordered a few bottles of proseccos, drinks, pizzas and some starters which all weren’t great and cold. I do want to mention one member of staff by the name of Ricardo who was kind and genuinely tried to help where possible, and the only person who showed any empathy and professionalism towards the situation. He was a gem and definitely deserves to be working in a much better establishment! When my friends were being turned away we left and went to ‘Trailer Happiness’ on Portobello Road who were incredibly courteous, professional and welcoming and we had a great time there. Save your money and go elsewhere, there are much better places to go to in the area!

Had a great dinner at The Good Oak in Notting Hill this past Saturday. Tyler was very polite and professional and managed to accommodate our last-minute reservation. All the staff were welcoming, and the food was excellent — genuinely some of the best pizza in London. The manager (Angelica, hope I got her name correct!) is an impeccable professional and host. Will definitely be back!

Quite a surprising experience. Arrive at our lunch booking and instead of getting us to rush in an order, we were told that we couldn’t order mains for two hours and pizzas for one hour… sorry, what? Order drinks which come 30 mins later after chasing. Very little service unless you chase the staff which is a shame as you are constantly trying to get attention of the busy staff. The starters were lovely, really lovely. Gutted that we couldn’t order mains as the chef must be fantastic. We order some pizzas and they came quickly … after the hour wait. Unfortunately the pizzas were a bit disappointing - it didn’t feel like it had anyone special making them - they lacked shape and taste (bland)… the structure was decent. I had to leave half of mine as it wasn’t worth the calories tbh Throughout all this we were sat near a banging speaker which hasn’t been installed well so there was constant rattling. The staff turned it down after we requested but it hardly made a difference - I simply couldn’t talk to my friends throughout dinner without shouting my lungs out. The bar upstairs is awesome and so it’s a cool spot for a drink but I won’t return for dinner - except some of those tasty starters… Much better food and service in many other Italian restaurants which are half the price. Go if you want to go tho the bar and have a night out!

I rarely leave negative reviews, but last night’s experience at The Good Oak was poor enough that I think it’s worth sharing. I had been to The Oak in the past and always enjoyed it, so I booked dinner for a small group of girlfriends to try the renovated "Good Oak" version. We waited 40 minutes past our booking time to be seated, with no meaningful apology or attempt to manage the delay. The food was genuinely disappointing. It tasted processed and overly covered in sauces, with very little freshness or care. For the prices charged, it felt low quality. The music in the restaurant was also uncomfortably loud. If the aim was to create atmosphere, it missed the mark. It felt forced and cheap, and we had to raise our voices all evening just to have a conversation. Our waiter was polite, but the situation escalated when his manager told us we had to leave because our “slot was over”. Given that we were seated 40 minutes late, we asked not to be rushed and simply to finish the bottle of wine we had just ordered. We were told to take our drinks upstairs to the bar. Security initially refused us entry, saying it was at capacity. After some discussion, they let us in, and it was clearly nowhere near full. To make matters worse, the same manager then bumped into me while I was holding a glass of red wine, staining my shirt (photo attached). She did not apologise. She shrugged and walked away. It’s a shame, as the space itself has potential. But between the poor food, chaotic management, excessive noise and lack of basic courtesy, the overall experience felt careless.

Food was good, service was great. But! The music was ridiculously loud, and that’s the main restaurant area (not even the bar upstairs) I’m talking about. I literally measured it - 90+ decibels, just when you’re trying to enjoy food and conversation with friends. Everyone had to shout at the top of their lungs to be heard. Quite an unbearable experience. So before I would invite my friends or recommend this restaurant for dinner, unfortunately not anymore.