Best Italian restaurants in London
Sometimes, I wish I lived right bang in the middle of Naples, among the thousands of vespas contorting through the streets, eating arancini and drinking wine from a plastic cup outside my favourite pizzeria while I wait for a seat.
Food has a huge focus in Italian culture, it brings people together with a sprinkle of laidback magic and a dusting of parm.
In London, there are molti posti bringing tastes of the Riviera to the capital, and these are our faves.
Flour and Grape
Sat on Bermondsey Street, you watch the fresh pasta being prepared through the window of Flour and Grape. Stood in awe as they twist and turn pasta into pappardelle, gigli or ravioli.
The best tip for this spot is to grab as many mates as possible to then order equally as many plates of pasta. Forks will be diving into the spinach, mascarpone, nutmeg and parmesan fazzoletti, fighting for a bite of the roasted pork shoulder with sage butter tortelloni. These are the types of dishes where the sauce needs mopping up with bread before the plates are cleared away.
Bermondsey, SE1 | flourandgrape.com
Forza Win
Starting as a supper club over 10 years ago, Forza Win is the sister site of Peckham’s Forza Wine and serves “Italian-ish” food that is sumptuous.
Following the traditional five courses served at dinners in Italy, this is a feasting event.
Current menu highlights include the parmesan beans and sage for antipasti, sausage ragu pappardelle in primi, grilled bass and pickle fennel for secondi – feeling full yet? Contorni, or side dishes, sees the most special deep-fried spuds with a herby yoghurt. And for dolci, the only option is the tiramisu.
Camberwell, SE5 | forzawin.com
Manteca
Manteca focuses on nose-to-tail, whole-animal butchery, hand-rolled pasta, and wood-fired breads, and has its own in-house salumeria – this means you have to get a salami selection when visiting.
Grazing through multiple courses is a way of eating Manteca encourages, as is the Italian way. From the brown crab cacio e pepe tonnarelli and fried olives to ‘nduja steamed mussels and braciola tomato-braised brisket, expect decadent dining from this Shoreditch location.
Shoreditch, EC2A | mantecarestaurant.co.uk
Bardo
Italian food with “Dolce Vita” live music? Si, mamma. Bardo at St. James’s crafts a well-rounded dining experience, bringing you authentic dishes inspired by Rome.
Specialising in pinsa, a Roman culinary flatbread, you can enjoy hearty flavour combinations such as fior di latte, passata and spicy Calabrian salame, or try the black truffle purée, fior di latte and truffle oil pinsa.
Bardo also offers a tasting menu, strictly for the whole table, but it’s a feast for hungry eyes. Taking you through the best of the Bardo, course by course, you’ll taste a bit of everything from creamy polenta to lobster tagliatelle and finish with a spumone al cioccolato caldo (choco brownie).
St. James’s, SW1Y | bardostjames.com
Legare
Down the cobbled streets of Shad Thames, in a romantically lit Legare, I had one of the most delicious meals of my life. I was surprised by a plate of smoked eel with seared gem lettuce and Caesar dressing, but the entire evening had these innovative touches to the classics, an exemplar of what Legare does best.
The Michelin-guide restaurant serves dishes that have an Italian-led focus, made with British produce and updated as the seasons change. But the focaccia is always a menu staple, and it’s so fluffy I wouldn’t be mad if all my pillows turned to this specific bread.
Shad Thames, SE1 | legarelondon.com
Yard Sale Pizza
Slowly but surely, this neighbourhood pizza brand has expanded across North, East and now South London. Yard Sale has been doing simple pizzas well for a decade, and keeps that local feel intact by handmaking each order and delivering them directly to you. No Uber Eats-ing for these.
Most locations are delivery and collection only, meaning you can bring the good stuff home, but a few have places for you to take a pew in-store, too.
Go large and order one of Yard Sale’s 18 inchers. And if you’ve never tried tenderstem broccoli on a pizza, it’ll change your life.
Various locations in London | yardsalepizza.com
Noci
Noci means walnut in Italian, and I’m pretty nutty about this Islington spot. It serves fresh, silken pasta, Sicilian street food-inspired snacks and cocktails on tap.
Enjoy an Aperol Spritz that can transport you to the Amalfi Coast while sitting in North London. Noci also has spots in Battersea, Shoreditch and Richmond, similar to the pasta list, where flavours are inspired by different regions of Italy.
My favourite pasta shape is a strozzapreti – twisted shapes that grab the sauce, normally from Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany. Noci dresses this pasta with a vegan sauce of tomato, taggiasca olives, fried aubergine and superstraccia. Bellissima.
Islington, N1 | nocirestaurant.co.uk
Ida
Another important thing in Italian culture, la famiglia. And this Queen’s Park location is family-run, aiming to bring you the same feeling of dining at your favourite aunt’s house.
Chefs may make tweaks to the menu, to recognise seasonality, but the Ida pasta and gnocchi are always made in-house and the ragù is always prepared the Marchigiano way, including gizzards and hearts.
Menu delights include the molinata, a Puglian broad bean and spinach dip served with buckwheat-starter sourdough bread for dipping, and orecchiette “little ear” pasta with three different kinds of cheese, a 50-day aged Gorgonzola Dolce DOP, smear-ripened Taleggio DOP and 24-month aged Grana Padano DOP.
Queen’s Park, W10 | idarestaurant.co.uk
World Famous Gordos
Located at Netil Market, World Famous Gordos slings slabs of pizza with interesting flavours. Bringing you inventive chef specials, like pizza topped with vodka tomato sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, scamorza, ziti and topped with some “posh af” oregano.
They also recently took up residency at Peckham’s Brick Brewery, bringing those huge slices down south. We can only be thankful.
London Fields, E8 | World Famous Gordos Instagram
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