Maida Vale: shops, restaurants, schools and the cinema

Maida Vale Underground station (Image: Archant)

Welcome to Maida Vale

Residents here love the quiet, wide and green streets that make it an oasis of calm close to central London.

The area gets its name from the Hero of Maida pub in what is now Maida Hill, named for Major-General Sir John Stuart, who led a British victory against the French in 1806 on the plain of Maida in Italy. Later in the 19th century a large Jewish community settled in the area, accounting for around a fifth of its population at its peak. The Lauderdale Road Synagogue was built in 1896 to serve the increasing number of Jews who were settling nearby and is still in operation today.

The BBC’s Maida Vale studios are based on Delaware Road. As well as hosting big name acts including The Beatles, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, the building was also the home of alternative, underground and undiscovered music during the decades when the John Peel Sessions were broadcast from here.

Day True (Image: Archant)

Shops

Maida Vale is pretty residential, but the smattering of shops are of a suitably high calibre. Interiors fanatics should head to the Day True Interiors showroom, another driving force behind the Shirland Village campaign.

Best for kidswear… For children’s clothes head to family owned boutique Joujou and Lucy, who also stock sweet wooden and knitted toys.

Avalon Flowers (Image: Archant)

Best for organic food… Sheepdrove Organic Farm Butchers offers organic, grass-fed, free-range meat all raised on their family farm in Berkshire, as well as organic jams and chutneys, olive oil, flour and organic, free-range eggs.

Cafes, restaurants and bars

Unlike neighbouring St John’s Wood, Maida Vale has managed to hang on to a range of independent cafes, bars and restaurants. Locals love Le Cochonnet, which has been running in various guises for the past 30 years and now operates as an Italian restaurant, serving good value pizza and pasta, weekend brunch and Sunday roasts. La Piccola Deli is always popular with locals, and is well stocked with delicious deli goods and fresh, homemade food.

La Piccola Deli (Image: Archant)

Best for a beverage… The Elgin pub is popular as much for its coffee and bar snacks as for its beverage selection, while The Warrington Pub and Dining Room is another restored Victorian gastropub, which also offers five hotel rooms.

Goldschmidt and Howland tip... The Waterway pub is perfect for the summer

Best for sushi… Ibuki Sushi on Lauderdale Road serves fresh, modern Japanese food daily from Tuesday to Saturday. New sushi place Murasaki at 12 Lauderdale Road is a new addition serving rice and soy sauce imported from Japan.

Best for Thai… Despite its American diner style appearance, Thai Rice serves tasty and traditional Thai cuisine and is perfectly situated for a meal before catching a movie at the Everyman.

Elgin Avenue (Image: Archant)

Goldschmidt and Howland tip... Café Leville has a great view overlooking the canal

Things to do

The biggest park in Westminster, Paddington Recreation Ground has been open since 1860. Free facilities include an outdoor gym, running track, basketball court and fitness trail, while tennis courts, hockey and football pitches, cricket nets and bowls green are available for hire. Courses, exercise classes and personal training are also available in the gym and there is a café and children’s playground on hand for relaxation.

Elgin Avenue, Lauderdale Road junction (Image: Archant)

For those who are slightly more serious about team sports, Hampstead and Westminster Hockey Club hosts competitive teams at various levels up to international standard.

Best for film fanatics... The Everyman Cinema has two screens where locals can watch the latest release from the comfort of a sofa with full bar service and fancy snacks.

Things to do with children

Elgin Court (Image: Archant)

The Maida Vale Mums Facebook page is a community and social hub for local families. They run a weekly coffee morning for parents. St Mark’s Church Hall hosts Monkey Music pre-school music sessions teaching littl’uns about music through dancing, singing and play.

Best for active tots… The Bluebirds Ballet School offers dance classes for children aged 18 months and above, as well as school holiday workshops.

Best for clever cookies… Maida Vale library runs regular events for children during term time, ranging from a French music group to a weekly Code Club for kids.

Goldschmidt and Howland tip... Kids will love cycling along the canal

Widley Road (Image: Archant)

Primary & secondary schools

St Saviour’s CofE Primary School on Shirland Road is a voluntary aided school which received an Outstanding Ofsted rating at its most recent inspection. Nearby Essendine Primary is a larger community school with 454 pupils. It received a Good rating as did St Joseph’s RC Primary.

For secondary education, mixed gender Christian Paddington Academy is rated Outstanding by Ofsted as are St George’s Catholic School, a mixed gender academy converter and St Augustine’s CofE High School, a mixed gender voluntary aided school.

Maida Vale Underground station (Image: Archant)

Transport

Locals love the transport links, remarkable for a neighbourhood that is walking distance from Oxford Street and giving an insight into the demographic that calls the area home. The nearest London Underground station is Maida Vale in zone 2 on the Bakerloo line. It is one of the only stations above ground on this stretch of the line and the building dates from 1915. Plentiful buses travel to destinations in north, central and west London.

Maida Vale Underground station (Image: Archant)

Property guide

Postcode

Maida Vale sits in the W9 postcode district and the City of Westminster. It is in the Westminster North parliamentary constituency. The smallest properties in Band A would expect to receive a Council Tax bill of £458.76while the average Band D property would expect to pay £688.14. The most expensive properties in Band H would receive a total bill for £1,376.28.

Housing stock

Cobbled mews nestle behind the main roads while detached villas line the leafy boulevards of the cosmopolitan area, with average house prices of £840,058.

Red brick mansion flats are priced at an average of £761,961 and along with elegant Georgian terraces with average prices of £1,250,538, form the bulk of property in Maida Vale.

Best streets

Bloomfield road

Randoph Avenue

Clifton gardens

Goldschmidt and Howland tip... Bloomfield road has stunning views of the canal

In Partnership with Goldschmidt and Howland

Goldschmidt and Howland, Little Venice

47-49 Maida Vale, W9 1SD

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