Meriden, Italian Restaurant Guide

A real “neighbourhood gem”, this “fun” and “quirky” 16th-century pub in Mill Hill serves “what must be some of the best pub food in North London”. It’s presided over in fine style by brothers Luca and Matteo Delnevo, presenting a modern, British-Italian menu.

For 40 years, this local landmark in Golders Green has inhabited the railway arch by the tube. Its simple pizza and pasta formula still wins recommendations for its “cheap ’n’ cheerful” possibilities – especially with kids in tow – but it also gives rise to the odd report of a “very poor and disappointing” experience.

This “great local no-frills and no-nonsense Italian” in Child’s Hill is a family-run operation of four decades’ standing, and a haven for home-cooked classics including ‘pasta di casa’.

“So much more than just a tapas bar” – this basement hideaway at the foot of a handsome Georgian terrace, near picturesquely located St John-in-Hampstead church, boasts a serious and eclectic wine list and a focused menu of Spanish and Italian small and sharing plates.

With its starched white tablecloths, this “comfortable” stalwart Italian, down a picturesque alley, has been a feature of central Hampstead since the 1980s. It has the strengths and weaknesses that can come with such territory, which includes “a real old-school Mediterranean menu” and professional service (which “can be a bit snotty”). But by and large it’s “maintained its quality”.

In the underserved environs of Abbey Road, this modern Italian bar/café is worth remembering for its “really tasty Italian tapas-type dishes and some excellent Grappa!”

This “neighbourhood gem” near Archway (named in tribute to the tiny Fiat 500) is a “truly brilliant family-run Italian” with an “ambience that takes you back in time”. Opened in 2007 by chef Mario Magli, it’s “still a go-to for a top-notch Italian meal”, with “imaginative food and the feeling that the owner really cares”. Its fan club is more-than-local, and numerous best meals of the year are reported here.

“Combining the best of French and Italian gastronomy” – Emily Roux and her husband Diego Ferrari continue to put in an assured performance at their “lovely neighbourhood restaurant” in Notting Hill. The cuisine is of “excellent quality”, yet not particularly striving for its own sake: aptly described in one report as “enjoyable fine dining, comfort dishes”. You can either opt for à la carte – three courses for £92 per person – or go for a five-course ‘Build Your Own Tasting Menu’ option at £120 per person. “Simply divine: expensive but worth it!”

Well into its third decade as a Notting Hill stalwart, this “buzzy neighbourhood Italian” provides “a friendly welcome” and “reliably consistent” if pretty “standard” cooking from a wide menu that incorporates a broad selection of pasta dishes as well as more substantial meaty and fishy options. It has two stablemates on the same street, Essenza and Osteria Basilico.

This “old-school” Notting Hill Italian has been “a great crowd-pleaser for the whole family” for more than 30 years. According to one local: “you will not have a great meal but on the other hand I’ve never had a bad one” – as a result it can be “extremely busy, but the service is great” and keeps on top of things. Essenza and Mediterraneo in the same street (see also) are its younger stablemates.

This “brilliant neighbourhood restaurant” in Finsbury Park has plied regulars and blow-ins alike with “great pizza, pasta and cocktails” for more than a quarter of a century – “we’re always welcomed back like long-lost family members!”. “North London has no shortage of excellent pizza places, but this one wins by a crispy crust”.

This Kentish Town fixture from Calabrian-born, Moroccan-heritage chef Mustapha Mouflih has achieved cult status over the past decade for its “mostly great” Italian cooking served in modest premises at very good prices – the bills held in check by “brilliant BYOB for corkage”. Ratings have dropped this year, though, with several reporters “disappointed after reading good reviews”.

“Thin and crispy pizza with coarse semolina in the base” is the main focus at this smart Notting Hill pub conversion, where “the tapas-style starters and excellent pizzas are rather more interesting than the main-course choices”. The Oak W12 near Ravenscourt Park and the Bird in Hand at Brook Green operate on similar lines.

This “amazing little neighbourhood gem” is a Finsbury Park fixture, serving “100% authentic southern Italian cooking”. “The surroundings may not be glamorous but the food is very well prepared and authentic”, and service under owner Paola is “always friendly”.

“A perennial favourite” – Nino Sassu’s quirky first-floor venue above a Bayswater pub is now in its 30th year serving “very well executed Italian food (fish is particularly good)”. If it no longer excites the fooderati as it once did, reporters still extol the “warm welcome” of an “airy room with no music, just the pleasant murmur of fellow diners enjoying their food and conversation”.

“If you like fresh fish, pasta with truffles and a good choice of other Sardinian specials, this is the place for you” – is the enthusiastic verdict on this Holland Park fixture that has just celebrated its 20th anniversary. “Family-run” and “very popular with locals”, it’s perfect before opera in the park.

It’s the large leafy courtyard out front that catches the eye at the Bianchi Bandinelli family’s slightly quirky venue. Drawing on five centuries of tradition from an estate near Siena, the aim to import a slice of Tuscan living to London would not seem out of place in, say, Chelsea, but seems a little offbeat on this rather trafficky stretch of the Chiswick High Road (although having the famous Metropolis recording studios next door doubtless helps provide custom). Fans say it’s a “special” place – “quite expensive, but some of the best Italian around”.

“Very good pizzas” are the pick of the broad Italian menu (also with seafood on display) at this Notting Hill Gate fixture, where the best seats in summer are on the large outside terrace. With a “great family atmosphere”, it’s “very much a local restaurant, and all the better for that!”.

Worth knowing about near Hammersmith Broadway, this well-appointed pub is “highly recommended” for its convenient location a few minutes’ walk from the station, its characterful interior, cute outside terrace and – not least – its very decent Italian-leaning menu. “Dog-friendly” is another plus for some.