Rickmansworth, Italian Restaurant Guide

This “great local” has had an up-and-down time of it of late, with the Gerrards Cross branch under new management, and The Grocer at 91, which had pivoted to being a food shop in the pandemic, now closed. On the plus side, this “very busy” outpost is still going strong with its “reliable” (if pricey) sandwiches, salads and toasties, and they also recently opened a new Amersham venue, The Grocer at 2 (Whielden St), spanning a grocery store and café.

2022 Review: Set in a “lovely building” with tables under a 200-year-old olive tree, this restaurant – one of eight in a local chain – is frequently packed with regulars, who come back for its “good honest Italian fare at a reasonable price”. There’s “something for everyone on the menu”.

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.

2021 Review: From its Finsbury Park base (next to the Park Theatre), this “cheerful” group of “good neighbourhood pasta-stops” subsequently expanded to Ealing and then onto Wembley branch (there’s also an outlet in Westfield Stratford); all deliver “well-cooked”, affordable pasta.

2021 Review: From its Finsbury Park base (next to the Park Theatre), this “cheerful” group of “good neighbourhood pasta-stops” subsequently expanded to Ealing and then onto Wembley branch (there’s also an outlet in Westfield Stratford); all deliver “well-cooked”, affordable pasta.

2023 Review: “Top Neapolitan pizza” (with a very wide range of choices and featuring ingredients shipped from Italy weekly) helps inspire fans of this casual, brick-walled Kilburn independent.

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’.

2021 Review: “What a find!” – In a fairly obscure part of town, near the Queen’s Park Estate, “a really cosy, neighbourhood Italian, serving a top selection of cheap ’n’ cheerful dishes, but also more pricey ones, all freshly made and of great quality” (in particular the hand-rolled pasta). Service from husband-and-wife team Simonetta and Avi “is very professional but lively, and there’s a real sense of community at play (e.g. the staff were handing out little pieces of paper with a guest’s name on it, asking us to sing along for his birthday!)”

2022 Review: A “lovely local” near Turnham Green, this “family-owned Italian” is “tiny but with terrific food and atmosphere”. There’s a good range of pizzas but the Puglian dishes are what makes it special.

“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.

“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.

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”.

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”.

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!”

Tipped as a “top venue for a pre-theatre meal (Richmond Theatre and Orange Tree nearby)”, this longstanding Italian restaurant near the station combines “well-cooked food, kindly service” and a “very good wine list, at reasonable prices”.

This “lovely local Italian” near Ravenscourt Park tube is getting back into its stride after “a dreadful time with lockdown followed by a flood at the premises”. Ex-Zafferano chef Andy Needham and his team offer a “really warm welcome and a beautifully executed short menu”. Top Menu Tip – “excellent pasta and specials”.

2021 Review: “Fun and lively, with a management who make you feel extremely welcome” – this simple, ‘Italian kitchen’ in Swiss Cottage serves pizza and pasta plus somewhat more ambitious dishes: it’s all “delicious and good value for money”.