Bankside, Italian Restaurant Guide

2019 Review: “Don’t be put off by the rows of olive oil and Italian delicacies that line the walls of this family-run bistro, just across the road from Tate Modern.” “If you’re in the vicinity, it serves good, simple Italian food in a small but pleasant location.”

“Exceptionally fine beef” from the Italian Fassone breed in the valleys north of Genoa is theatrically presented – as if in a butcher’s shop – at Roberto Costa’s growing group of steakhouses, where the “superb cuts are butchered in front of you”. “I finally went to try out what looked like magnificent beef, from the haunches in the window. I wasn’t disappointed – it delivered magnificently.” The South Ken branch in Old Brompton Road remains the most popular. There are others in Fitzrovia, Exmouth Market, Union Street and Battersea. (The latest to open in summer 2021, in the West End’s Theatreland, is called Il Teatro del Carne – see also).

2021 Review: Gordon Ramsay’s “Italian-leaning” warehouse conversion in Southwark, with an indoor ‘olive grove’ complete with trees, pleases some with its “giant portions of great food” and “fantastic cocktails”. Far too many reporters this year, though, complain of a “sterile” aspect to its “industrial” decor, and dismiss the fare as mightily “uninspired”.

2018 Review: “Really interesting and different Italian food” and “knowledgeable staff” win praise for this “friendly, buzzing and modern” deli/café “on the borders of Borough Market” (the first outside Italy for a Puglian-based group).

This 55-year-old City trattoria is a popular, lunchtime rendezvous spot on account of its “huge” helpings of classic dishes; its terrace by Bow churchyard for al fresco eating; and its good regional list of Italian wines.

“Every time we go to Padella, we’re just bowled over by the splendid simplicity of their dishes, packed with flavour, and at the most ridiculous value prices!” – Tim Siadatan and Jordan Frieda’s Borough Market staple added a stylish Shoreditch sibling, in early 2020 (just before Covid-19 struck) and in EC2 in particular they are absolutely crushing it as one of the capital’s best options on a budget. Indeed, “it’s hard to comprehend how they can serve such a quality meal at the price”. The formula is deceptively simple: “no reservations, no frills”: just “superlative, freshly made pasta” (“it is lovely to see the dough being rolled by hand every morning on my way to the office”) from a “compact menu”. “Arrive ultra-early to dodge the worst of the perma-queues”, although “the line moves relatively quickly, and their beeper system means you can go for a drink and come back to get your table”. “Portion sizes are definitely not large, but it’s definitely worth the wait”. “Knock back a perfectly great Negroni, tuck away three dishes and a glass of wine, and walk out less than £30 lighter!”

The Fitzrovia charcuterie bar and restaurant is arriving in Borough in 2022 serving its blend of Spanish and Italian small plates; exact opening date unknown.

“Small plates but big flavours” from “a lovely short menu of top-quality antipasti and pasta dishes” win numerous “cheap ’n’ cheerful” nominations for this small chain, which consists of the “busy, lovely but very crammed” Soho original (for 75 years a deli, but since 2018 and its relaunch by Private Equity firm White Rabbit, in this new guise) and a newer, bigger but less commented-on King’s Cross spin-off. “We need more branches of this great restaurant” plead fans… whose prayers are soon to be answered with a 90-seater outlet in Marylebone (in Wigmore Street, on the former Sourced Market site) plus in Bloomberg Arcade and Clapham, as well as one in Tokyo!