Favorite/Best Italian Restaurants in London

[Gavin Convery]

Wanting to try a different theme other than french for my eating out I'm looking for some recommendations for Italian restaurants in London.

Already rang Locanda Locatelli and booked up until july!

Been to Zafferano's several times, so don't want to go there.

Any other ideas that I stand half a chance of getting in somewhere in central London (not Barnes or Putney etc.)

[Simon Majumdar]

Shame about Locanda.  I kinda loved it.

Still, not at that level but my two faves are

1)Passione - Charlotte St

2) Vasco & Pierres Pavillion - Poland St

Both reasonable and very good

S

[magnolia]

"Already rang Locanda Locatelli and booked up until july!"

What a sign of the times that Locanda is booked solid for three months...but you can still get a res. at Le Gavroche for this weekend !

For Italian: Enoteca on Putney High Street is really, really good - interesting, well priced and well-executed dishes and a great wine list; Del Bongustaio (nearby, on Putney Bridge Road) used to be good - I haven't been there in about a year and a half.

I hear good things about The Phoenix (also in Putney, funnily enough) now has Italo-leanings...

[cabrales]

Gavin -- While locanda is popular, being booked through the specified date sounds extreme. As discussed earlier on the board by other members, locanda has a general tendency to want to portray itself as being super-busy (e.g., not accepting the times requested by callers, what many believe are artifical busy signals). Do you think another call, perhaps on another night or this one, asking about last-minute cancelled reservations (incl. later dining) might result in a table?

I'm not surprised Le Gavroche has a table. I called Rhodes in the Square (yes, Simon's lobster dish to be sampled for the first time as part of a Pounds 36.50 prix fixe menu) just now, and they had a table for me.  

[Thomas Secor]

I also am a fan of Passione.  The menu is not particularly long but I often think that plays out in a higher quality of ingredients which, at least in this case, seems to bear out.  The wild mushroom appetizer is particularly special, with a nice balance of the mushroom flavors blending together in the sauce (or should I just say butter), while the mushrooms themselves retained their own individual characteristics.  Other big hits are the rack of lamb and the rabbit.

I have not been to Isola but many have recommended it to me, and I have a few friends who think that La Famiglia in Chelsea is very good (although I have a prejudice against that name for some reason).

[Tonyfinch]

The most underrated Italian in London WAS Tentazione,behind Shad Thames in Mill St SEI. Jonathan Meades  raved about it and I had several superb meals there around 1999/2000. I haven't been recently but a friend sang its praises a few months ago.

[Steve Plotnicki]

No one mentioned Assagi. Though I haven't been, to a person my London friends tell me it is the best place to eat Italian in London. As for the others that have been recommended, I vote thumbs down for La Famigilia. There really isn't anything special about that place. In fact my meal was far from enjoyable. Nice garden in the back though. But if you are going to eat in that category, better off with Basilico in Ladbroke Grove. In general I find London's Italian restaurants wanting. Considering its proximity to Italy, I find that odd.

[Gavin Convery]

I went to Tentazione about 18 months ago and wasn't that excited by it, nowhere as good as Zafferano.

[circeplum]

cecconi's in mayfair (burlington gardens, i think) is pretty hot.  very glamorous surroundings and clientele, dimly lit, gently gleaming furnishings; attractive, solicitous staff; decent cocktails - i had a perfect ginger cosmopolitan.  and the food, with a menu originally devised by the now stellar giorgio locatelli, really delivers.  

a risotto made with barbera (and with a spoon containing the wine balance on top) was creamy, al dente, flawless.  fluffy, slightly gooey truffle gnocchi were great (they've appeared again in locanda locatelli - clearly a success) and a tender, rosy pink canon on lamb on roasted sweet peppers was much better than main courses in italian restaurants often are.

not even as expensive as you'd think from the locale/surroundings.

[Gavin Convery]

Anybody tried Aperitivo in Soho, I've heard mixed reports but Time Out liked it and it is run by the Assaggi crowd for what that's worth

[J Acord]

Hello everyone.

Knowing what a knowledgeable bunch you lot are, I want to pick your brains on good italian restaurants in central London. I don't really want to spend mega-bucks on a meal, just looking for a place where you can get a nice meal when shopping up in town (hence the need for central). The boyfriend and I always end up doing chinese or thai but would love to find alternatives.

Also, if anyone knows of any good Vietnamese restaurants (and I realise we may have to travel a bit further afield for that) I would also appreciate any information on that.

Thanks!

J

[Suzi Edwards]

I've been going to MetroGusto in Islington recently. There is thread on this board about it. But being one step above a luddite i can't point you to it.

There are plenty of shops in Islington, and there's a small farmers market on a Sunday morning.

[nicola]

I like Aperitivo in Beak Street (off Regent Street) - Italian food served tapas style for sharing.

[thom]

If you are looking for a shoppers dinner/lunch then I think Rocket (Lancashire court, of Brook St and New Bond St) is not bad and is very convinient.

I go for decent, good sized pizzas which are very good value (£7-8) but the salads and pasta look ok to.

I think you'd be well full for a tenner, and the only downside is the viewless upper floor location.

Hardens say 'attractive', reasonably priced for the area' and good for 'a break from shopping'.

Cheers

Thom

[thom]

Or...

How about Passione on Charlotte St (Just off Oxford St).

I have really liked the food on the occasions I have eaten there, though the setting can be a bit noisy and look a bit stark in the cold light of day.

The owner Gennaro Contaldo is a lovely guy, and was Jamie Olivers father-figure in the early days of his career (not sure if everybody sees that as a positive. Simon). He's ex-Carluccios, so if you imagine a fairly authentic Italian menu with influences of Jamie and Antonio then you are there.

His new cookbook is good too.

Glowing review in Hardens, (marked 1,1,2 - out of 5 for Food, Service and Atmosphere respectively) featuring phrases like 'blossoming in its second year'.

Cheers

Thom

[Thomas Secor]

Not sure what mega-bucks means to you, but Passione is hands down the best for value Italian I have been to in London. Probably more of a splash out, but you can eat there, with a bottle of moderately priced wine, for 80 pounds for two. You should reserve ahead as they are almost always booked.

Every place I have been to in Soho is abominable and has given me heartburn.

Sardos and Paulo's (also in Fitzrovia) were both favorites of mine for a while, but their prices are pretty close to Passione's at this point and the quality of food and service is not comparable.

Giardinetto's which is quite good has a current special on Toptable at the moment. But it does require you to get the set menu so that could be hit or miss.

I think the pizza at Spiga on Wardour street is quite good (note: I dont view "pizza" and "italian" in the same category, as so often a place which is good at one is not good at the other; and at the risk of sounding like Peter Pumkino, in Italy, you would almost never order a pasta at a place that was known for its pizza), but, as the previous parenthetical implies, I have not been impressed with the other menu items.

If you want to do an italian picnic, there is a pretty good salumeria right off of Berwick street, at the top of the market. Cant remember the name at the moment.

Of course there is always the much overrated and overpriced, but still quite good, Carluccio's in Covent Garden. They have very tasty take away items.

[rjs1]

Passione is hands down the best for value Italian I have been to in London.  Probably more of a splash out, but you can eat there, with a bottle of moderately priced wine, for 80 pounds for two.

Sardos and Paulo's (also in Fitzrovia) were both favorites of mine for a while, but their prices are pretty close to Passione's at this point and the quality of food and service is not comparable.

If you want to do an italian picnic, there is a pretty good salumeria right off of Berwick street, at the top of the market.  Cant remember the name at the moment.

Have to disagree. In my experience Sardo and Paolo are both better for service and food than Passione. Also, if it matters to you, while the food at Passione isn't bad, the room is very full of cigarette smoke.

Is the deli you are refering to Lina Stores on Brewer St? Excellent, as is Camisa on Old Compton Street.

[J Acord]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

It's always nice to have a place recommended, especially by discerning e-gulleteers, as it save me the hit and miss approach (which, while sometimes turning up gems, more often just turns up rubbish!)

J

[mogsob]

Have to disagree.  In my experience Sardo and Paolo are both better for service and food than Passione.  Also, if it matters to you, while the food at Passione isn't bad, the room is very full of cigarette smoke.

Must be all the Italians who eat there.

I like Passione quite a bit. I like Al Duca better. Il Vicolo (sp?) in Crown Passage, St. James's is very reasonable.

[marlena spieler]

Does anyone have any suggestions for excellent italian restaurants in london? i've got a chamger of commerce from italy coming to london wanting to stage an event in several different italian restaurants, pasta events of course! they are going to be doing similar events throughout europe.

i want to be able to suggest to them good restaurants that they can work with. gennaro contaldo is a very nice guy with a lovely soul and palate, so i thought of his place, passione. river cafe is always good but i was hoping for something more italian. carluccio neal street might be a possibility. ditto georgio locatelli.

but i just know there are other places out there, and YOU EGULLETEERS, will know about them.

Thanks in advance,

Marlena

[Winot]

Sardo

[MobyP]

You know, even at the best places it almost doesn't matter. I never met an Italian who was happy eating their own regional cuisine cooked by someone they were unfamiliar with. If it's not la mamma, it better be cousin giuseppe. Everyone else gets a sniff of mild opprobrium, even if the food is fantastic.

That said - is Carluccio in Neal Street much better than his other cafes? I found them (sniff) not very good at all.

[Scott]

I've always enjoyed Scalini.

a lot.

[Pizza Napoletana]

Donna Margherita in Lavander Hill, Clapham Junction

[marlena spieler]

Grazie, mille, tutti!

thank you so much for your suggestions!

marlena