London’s best Italian restaurants

What’s the vibe? This honest-to-goodness Italian is just about the most perfect local restaurant you can imagine: smart but low-key; cool without being pretentious and brilliant value despite its sky-high quality.

Why go? For a concise, market-led chalkboard menu that offers constantly changing seasonal dishes such as crispy ox tongue, roasted sprouts with homemade ricotta and hazelnuts and leg of lamb with bagna cauda, borlotti beans and kale.

Price? £25-£35 per person.

What’s the vibe? The buzz is as important as the food at Jacob Kenedy’s enduringly popular Soho Italian. Dine at the bar and you’re in for a fun time – especially if you sit by the window, watching celebs swan into the clamorous dining room. 

Why go? The ever-changing menu celebrates the best of artisan regional cooking in diverse ways, while enticing cocktails and impressive all-Italian wines also make an impact. We’re big fans of the Sicilian Worker’s Lunch deal: £12.50 for starter, main and salad plus £10 for dessert, a glass of red or white wine and coffee, available daily until 6pm.

Price? £35-£45 per person.

What’s the vibe? What Franco Manca did for pizza, Emilia’s cute-as-a-button pasta specialist is doing for Italy’s other carb of choice.

Why go? The seven-dish selection lets the quality of the ingredients speak for itself: the pasta is handmade on site each morning and dressed with, say, salmon carbonara, proper pesto or slow-cooked, béchamel-laced ragù. Antipasti, dolci and wallet-friendly wines complete the picture. There’s a second branch in Aldgate and a third in Canary Wharf.

Price? £10-£25 per person.

What’s the vibe? A window showcasing trays of homemade ravioli lures passers-by into this Bermondsey pasta specialist. The menu’s short and affordable (around eight dishes), the pasta is commendably al dente and the flavours sing out.

Why go? For tortelloni with roasted pork shoulder and sage butter, linguine with monkfish, tomato, garlic and chilli, or taglierini with preserved truffle, butter emulsion and parmesan. F&G doesn’t take bookings and there’s a strict 90-minute time slot, but the queues just keep coming.

Price? £10-£25 per person.

What’s the vibe? Hackney locals love Lardo for its pared-back style, friendly staff and excellent Italian small plates. Fittingly for a restaurant named after the cured back fat of a pig, charcuterie is a speciality: try the delicious, paper-thin, fennel-pollen salami.

Why go? Crisp-based pizzas with leftfield artisan toppings are also a highlight, along with vegetable plates and homemade pasta. Sit at the bar and watch the chefs preparing your order.

Price? £25-£30 per person.

What’s the vibe? One of London’s most highly regarded Italian chefs, Giorgio Locatelli, displays his profound connection to his country’s food and drink at this labour-of-love flagship restaurant. 

Why go? Although the setting’s polished and the food is Michelin-starred, it avoids pomp – instead, expect a joyful gallop through the styles, regions and ingredients that make Italian cuisine such a pleasure. Our tip: don’t stint on the luscious desserts.

Price? £80-£100 per person.

What’s the vibe? From the creators of Shoreditch’s Clove Club, this upscale venture channels the Riviera-style glamour and primi-secondi decadence of Italian restaurants that are a world away from ‘Lady and the Tramp’ trattoria set-pieces.

Why go? Luca is billed as a ‘Britalian’ eatery, so expect Italian dishes using UK ingredients – as in Scottish halibut with sweetcorn, tarragon, girolles and white balsamic vinegar. Pricy but worth it – try the prix fixe for £75.

Price? £75-£100 per person.

What's the vibe? From former Sager + Wilde head chef Chris Leach and Smokestak founder David Carter comes this classy 'nose-to-tail' Italian restaurant, with elegant hand-rolled pasta and a sustainable cooking ethic. 

Why go? For the mindblowing menu, which includes ’nduja-steamed mussels with cream and parsley, fazzoletti with duck ragù and duck-fat pangrattato, and Tamworth pork chop with grilled peaches.

Price? £50-£60 per person.

What’s the vibe? The owners of Peckham’s hit Italian Artusi (see above) have applied the magic formula to its Deptford sibling Marcella, where you’ll find the same sleek, simple approach and the same friendly staff.

Why go? Dishes change throughout the week and come chock-full of homemade elements (pasta is one of the stars), but everything is counterpointed with market-fresh ingredients and even the simplest ideas reveal surprising depths. Pro tip: on Sundays between noon and 8pm there’s a three-course set menu for £20. Beats a roast, right?

Price? £20-£40 per person.

What’s the vibe? A south London sibling of Trullo, this sleek, speedy pasta joint serves up dishes that are small enough and cheap enough to let you overindulge horribly.

Why go? The daily menu might run from tagliarini with crab, lemon and chilli, to fettuccine with Scottish girolles, although pappardelle with eight-hour beef-shin ragù is a fixture. 

Price? £7-£25 per person. 

What’s the vibe? Set back from the Thames Path, this legendary Michelin-starred destination is not only a riverside icon but also one of the flag-bearers for provenance-led seasonal Italian cooking.

Why go? Warm, buzzy and uber-expensive (in an artfully casual way), RC is dedicated to serving unfussy yet stunning regional food based on top-drawer ingredients – salads, pasta and wood-roasted specialities are the headliners, all backed by fabulously expensive Italian wines.

Price? £100 per person.

What’s the vibe? Highbury’s star Italian has been combining irresistible food with spot-on service and some of London’s best pasta since 2010.

Why go? For the pappardelle with slow-cooked beef-shin ragù (a silky delight) and brilliant stuff from the charcoal grill, like whole Cornish mackerel with panzanella. The menu changes twice daily and the comprehensive all-Italian wine list only serves to emphasise Trullo’s calibre.

Price? £45-£60 per person.