The Holland

Is The Holland worth booking for dinner; or is lunch the smarter visit?

The short answer: both work, but for different reasons. The Holland, on Earls Court Road in Kensington, is a Michelin Plate-recognised pub (2024 and 2025) that earns its stripes as a genuine neighbourhood local; not a gastropub straining to be a restaurant. At ££, it sits in a comfortable middle ground: serious enough to reward a deliberate visit, relaxed enough that you will not feel out of place if you are just after a pint and something hearty. Whether you arrive at noon or eight in the evening, the cooking is consistent and the staff warm. But the two experiences are meaningfully different, knowing which suits you matters before you book.

The Holland: A Venue Portrait

Walk into The Holland and the first thing that orients you is the smell of a kitchen doing simple things well: roasting meat, something baked, the faint trace of a wood or gas range running at full tilt. It is not the scent of a fine-dining kitchen performing for you, it is a working pub kitchen, confident in its output. That distinction matters. Michelin does not award a Plate to venues that are merely comfortable; it marks places where the cooking clears a meaningful technical bar. At The Holland, that bar is cleared with a seasonal menu that changes with purpose rather than novelty.

The Michelin notes single out the pork collar as a dish worth ordering, flag the almond tart as something to take if it is on the menu that day. These are not flashy, complex constructions, they are well-executed British dishes that rely on quality sourcing and sound technique. That is the house register: hearty, satisfying, thoughtfully put together. For an explorer who wants to understand what a properly run London pub kitchen looks like in 2025, The Holland is a clear reference point.

The crowd reflects the venue: local drinkers with dogs, families eating out, friends catching up. The atmosphere is not curated. It is comfortable because the staff make it so, not because the interior has been designed to perform cosiness.

Lunch vs Dinner at The Holland

Lunch here is the better value proposition if you are visiting primarily to eat. The room is quieter, the pace unhurried, the seasonal menu reads well in daylight. A midday visit also gives you a clearer read on the kitchen, you can see what is selling, what the daily specials are, the staff have more bandwidth to talk you through the options. For a food-focused traveller or a local who wants to assess the cooking without the weekend dinner buzz, the lunch sitting is the move.

Dinner shifts the register. The pub fills with its neighbourhood crowd, the bar becomes a destination in itself, the energy is closer to a lively local than a restaurant with incidental drinking. That is not a criticism, it is what makes The Holland work as a proper pub rather than a restaurant with pub furniture. But if you are booking specifically to eat and want to give the food your full attention, a quieter weekday dinner or a lunch visit will serve you better than a Friday or Saturday evening.

Booking is direct at this price point and format. Walk-ins are part of the pub's identity, but if you are visiting to eat rather than drink, a reservation gives you the table and the time without having to compete with the bar crowd. Logistics are simple: the address is 25 Earls Court Road, W8 6EB, the venue is easily reachable on the District or Circle line to Earls Court or High Street Kensington. The ££ pricing means a full meal with drinks will not test your budget, this is a pub, priced accordingly, that is part of its appeal.

For context on where The Holland sits in the broader London pub dining picture, it belongs alongside venues like Marksman in Hackney, which holds its own Michelin recognition and shares the same philosophy of pub-first, food-serious. Llewelyn's in Herne Hill is another useful comparison: neighbourhood-rooted, seasonally driven, priced to match the local crowd rather than the destination-dining market. If you are working through London's Michelin Plate-level pub kitchens, The Holland belongs on that list.

If your appetite extends beyond London to the broader British pub dining canon, the reference points shift upward in ambition: Hand and Flowers in Marlow is the most cited benchmark for what a pub kitchen can achieve at the leading end, while Pipe and Glass in South Dalton and hide and fox in Saltwood demonstrate what regional operators are doing with the same format. The Holland is not reaching for that tier, it does not need to. It is doing something more useful for most visitors: delivering dependable, Michelin-noted cooking in a room that feels like a real pub, at prices that reflect that reality.

For anyone planning a broader London trip, our full London restaurants guide, London bars guide, and London hotels guide are worth bookmarking alongside this. The Holland works well as part of a Kensington or West London day, pair it with a visit to the area rather than treating it as a standalone destination dining trip. It rewards proximity and repeat visits far more than a single pilgrimage from across the city.

The Verdict

Book The Holland if you want a Michelin-recognised pub kitchen at pub prices, in a room that has not been sanitised for tourists. Go for lunch if the food is your primary reason for being there. Go for dinner if you want the full neighbourhood pub experience alongside a decent meal. Either way, if the almond tart is on the menu, order it.

How It Compares

Explore More in London

• 45 Jermyn St
• Bob Bob Ricard Soho
• Goodbye Horses
• Llewelyn's
• Marksman
• Our full London restaurants guide
• Our full London experiences guide
• Our full London wineries guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Is The Holland good for a special occasion?

• Yes, with the right expectations. The Holland holds a Michelin Plate (2025), which means the cooking clears a genuine quality bar. At ££, it is an affordable special occasion, a birthday dinner with friends or a relaxed anniversary lunch fits the room well. Do not book it expecting fine-dining formality; book it because you want a warm, well-run pub with food that delivers. For a more formal occasion, CORE by Clare Smyth or The Ledbury will better match the moment.

What should a first-timer know about The Holland?

• It is a functioning pub first, restaurant second, that is the point. The seasonal menu is the main draw, with Michelin noting the pork collar and almond tart as dishes to prioritise. At ££ on Earls Court Road, W8 6EB, it is easy to reach from Earls Court or High Street Kensington stations. Walk-ins are part of the culture, but a reservation is sensible if you are coming specifically to eat.

What are alternatives to The Holland in London?

• Marksman in Hackney is the closest comparator: Michelin-recognised, pub-format, food-serious, priced similarly. Llewelyn's in Herne Hill runs a comparable neighbourhood-first register. If you want to step up in formality and price, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal covers Traditional British cooking at ££££ with full restaurant infrastructure. For a broader sweep, see our full London restaurants guide.

Is the tasting menu worth it at The Holland?

• The Holland does not operate a tasting menu format, it is a pub with a seasonal a la carte menu. If a set tasting experience is what you are after, this is not the right venue. Consider CORE by Clare Smyth or Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library for that format in London.

Is The Holland worth the price?

• At ££, yes, clearly. You are not paying for ceremony or a lengthy tasting sequence; you are paying for well-sourced, hearty British cooking in a room that does not take itself too seriously. That is good value by any measure in London.

What should I wear to The Holland?

• No dress code applies. It is a neighbourhood pub, the crowd reflects that: casual is the norm. Locals arrive with dogs, families come for Sunday dinner, no one is dressing for the occasion. Smart casual is fine if you are coming from elsewhere in the city, but there is no pressure to change out of whatever you are wearing.

Can I eat at the bar at The Holland?

• The venue operates as a pub, so bar seating is part of the experience, though specific bar-dining arrangements are not confirmed in available data. If eating at the bar matters to you, call ahead or arrive early and ask. The relaxed format of the venue makes it likely that the bar is a viable option for a casual meal, particularly at lunch.