Trailer Happiness Tiki Bar, Notting Hill: £16 Flaming Zombie

Trailer Happiness, at 177 Portobello Road, W11 2DY, has been pouring rum since 2003, which makes it one of the longest-running tiki rooms in the capital. The bar describes itself as a retro-tropical cocktail lounge in a low-lit basement with mid-century charm, and that is exactly what you find at the bottom of the stairs: wood panelling, kitsch prints, soft lamps and a backbar that is almost all rum. World's 50 Best once called it London's most toothsome tiki lounge and a breeding ground for great bartenders, and the drinks still justify the trip west.

The bar sits on the northern stretch of Portobello Road, closer to Ladbroke Grove station than to Notting Hill Gate, so the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines are the easiest way in. Notting Hill Gate is still walkable if you want to stroll past the pastel terraces and antique arcades first. From the street the entrance is easy to miss because the room is below ground. Look for the doorway and the stairs going down rather than a big frontage. Once inside, the space feels like a 1960s suburban living room that someone filled with rum bottles, with booths and low tables rather than a long standing bar.

Above the basement there is a separate restaurant with a sharing-style menu that nods to Caribbean and Japanese barbecue. Many people book dinner upstairs and then move downstairs for cocktails, which is a sensible way to turn one booking into a full evening without leaving the building.

Trailer Happiness keeps long hours every day of the week. It opens Monday to Wednesday 5 pm to midnight, Thursday 5 pm to 12:30 am, Friday 5 pm to 1 am, Saturday 4 pm to 1 am and Sunday 4 pm to midnight. The website promises DJs every weekend, so Friday and Saturday nights get loud and full after about ten, with music rather than conversation setting the tone.

If you want a booth and time to talk to the bartenders about rum, go early on a weekday. Monday to Wednesday at opening is the calmest window, and the weekend afternoon starts at 4 pm suit anyone who is coming straight from the Saturday market. Walk-ins are possible on quiet nights, but a table booking is the safer plan for a group or a birthday.

The 2026 menu is built around tiki classics done properly. The Zombie costs £16 and is the one to order if you only have one drink here. It blends Don Q 7, Wray & Nephew, Chairman's Reserve Legacy and Pusser's Gunpowder rums with falernum, passionfruit, maraschino, grenadine, cinnamon, citrus, absinthe and Angostura, and it arrives flamed with Wray & Nephew. With four rums plus an overproof float, it is the strongest drink on the card, so pace yourself before ordering a second round.

The Mai Tai is £14 and keeps to the classic two-rum formula: Chairman's Reserve Legacy and Appleton Estate 12-year rums, orgeat, Grand Marnier, lime and demerara syrup. For something sharper, the Nuclear Daiquiri at £16 uses Rum-Bar overproof, J.D. Taylor's falernum, green Chartreuse and lime, and it tastes as green and electric as it sounds. The Espresso Martiki at £14 swaps vodka for Foursquare spiced rum with falernum, Trailer Park coffee and coffee liqueur, while the Jungle Fizz is the lightest pour on the list at £12.

Downstairs, the Trailer Bites menu is short and designed to soak up rum. The jerk chicken burger is £15 and is the most filling choice. Plantain crisps with a sweet potato dip cost £5 and are the obvious thing to share while you read the cocktail list. Mac and cheese balls at £9 come in a portion that suits two people between rounds. The menu notes that all prices include VAT and that a discretionary 12.5% service charge is added to the bill, so factor that in when you split the tab.

Beyond the bar itself, Trailer Happiness runs rum and cocktail masterclasses where guests learn to mix iconic drinks with a tiki twist. They are a good option for a hen party or team night because the group gets the room's attention instead of competing with the weekend DJ. Book these ahead through the website rather than turning up and asking on the night.

The bar is small, so bring patience at peak times and keep your party compact. Large groups are better off booking a specific table and arriving together, because the basement layout makes it hard to squeeze extra chairs in later. If the Zombie sounds like too much, the Jungle Fizz or a Mai Tai is the gentler way to start.

The best way to arrive is on foot along Portobello Road itself. On Saturdays the antiques market runs down the southern end of the street, and the stalls give way to fruit, vintage clothing and street food as you walk north. By late afternoon the crowds thin out, which is the right moment to drop into the bar when it opens at 4 pm.

On a weekday, the Museum of Brands near Lancaster Road is a short detour and an entertaining hour of old packaging and advertising, a fitting warm-up for a bar so fond of retro design. Afterwards, walk back towards Ladbroke Grove under the Westway, where the murals and the weekend market stalls are part of the neighbourhood's character. From there it is only a few minutes back up Portobello Road to the basement steps.

Address: Trailer Happiness, 177 Portobello Road, London W11 2DY. Nearest Tube: Ladbroke Grove on the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines, with Notting Hill Gate as an alternative. Hours: Monday to Wednesday 5 pm to midnight, Thursday 5 pm to 12:30 am, Friday 5 pm to 1 am, Saturday 4 pm to 1 am, Sunday 4 pm to midnight. Bookings: online through the website or by email to the reservations team. Prices to know: Mai Tai £14, Zombie £16, Nuclear Daiquiri £16, Jungle Fizz £12, plantain crisps £5. A 12.5% discretionary service charge is added to every bill.

If you are planning a wider night out in West London, ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for a dinner spot nearby or a late bar to finish the evening.