Mau Mau Bar

Mau Mau Bar sat at 265 Portobello Road, a low-lit room in the heart of Notting Hill that ran on live music rather than bottle service. For years it was the kind of neighbourhood spot where the sofas were well worn and the band was close enough to touch. Its reputation rested on one thing above all, the weekly jazz:refreshed residency.

That residency ran every Thursday for 16 years and seven months, which is a near impossible run for any independent music venue. The Vinyl Factory reported that hundreds of bands passed through, including Kokoroko and Nubya Garcia, before the bar was sold and closed in 2020. This page is here so the name still resolves, and so anyone looking for it lands somewhere useful rather than a dead link.

The space was small and informal, a Portobello Road bar with sofas, a compact stage, and a crowd that came for the music first. Sunday afternoons ran chilled, with local talents jamming into the evening, per long-running listings on All In London. Thursday belonged to jazz:refreshed and the new London jazz wave it helped launch.

The jazz:refreshed crew framed Mau Mau as the place where it all started, and the scene that grew out of those Thursday nights now fills far bigger rooms across the city. The residency itself continued after the closure, moving to new homes rather than ending. The bar is gone, but its influence on London live music outlived the lease.

If you searched for Mau Mau hoping to catch a set, the night you want still exists, just not on Portobello Road. Use the links below to find a live room that is open.

Plan a night around what is open now. Read our guide to the best live music bars in London, or stay in the area with our best bars in Notting Hill. For the full category, see our live music bars hub.