This legend’s note-perfect, well-priced pastas are as raved-about now as they were the week it opened. Like tripping over massive suitcases on the tube at rush hour, standing in the ever-present queue is an irritating fact of London life. But there are things you can do to make it less of a drag. Get there very early (11am on a Sunday), very late (9pm on a Monday) or – like one hero Time Out spotted – bring a folding chair. Once you’re inside go classic with pappardelle and beef shin ragù.
In 2016 London reached a junction in its relationship with pasta. Restaurant Padella opened in Borough Market and queues started to snake outside for its simple, affordable pasta small plates. Since then London's become a city of pasta-fiends, lusting after linguine and Instagramming anelli. More and more hip Italian restaurants have opened across the capital serving up stylish, saucy, cheesy and downright-delicious strands of dough. Meanwhile Londoners have started wising up on the more unusual pasta shapes. We're stocking up on perfect fresh pasta from delis like Lina Stores and are racing to pasta-making classes across the city. It was when Gloria – the most made-for-Instagram trattoria you'll ever see – opened in Shoreditch in 2019 that we knew we'd reached peak pasta. The spot serves up double-portion carbonara from a giant cheese wheel as well as oozing slabs of ten-layer lasagne. Now – after a year-and-a-bit break we can all return to our pasta addiction in force. Here are 12 London experiences that pasta-obsessives shouldn't miss.