West Brompton, Italian Restaurant Guide

A “reliable local” fixture for more than 25 years almost opposite Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, this “good-value”, “buzzy” café serves “very good Italian food in a relaxed setting”. It’s “nothing fancy, but the sort of place you can take your children or your grandparents and everyone will feel very much at home”.

Regulars still adore this Chelsea haunt with origins in the Swinging Sixties – “not the best food in town” and “at Chelsea prices”; but “an old-established family-run Italian restaurant with a lovely atmosphere, an old-fashioned dessert trolley, spotlessly clean and full of character”. In particular, local parents say it’s “lovely for families for Sunday lunch”. Founded by Tuscany-born Alvaro Maccione, who fed everyone from Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor to Michael Caine and Princess Margaret back in the day, it’s still “very popular with loyal Chelsea supporters (and some players...)”, while Simon Cowell was also spotted here last year.