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[title]There’s no place like E Pellicci. Stepping through the doors of the iconic Bethnal Green caff is like stepping through a portal into the past. Not because it’s dated or fusty, but because sitting down with a well-brewed cup of builder’s at Pellicci’s feels like a throwback to simpler times. It’s as if E Pellicci has been preserved in amber, sitting stubbornly and wonderfully unchanged on 332 Bethnal Green Road since it opened. Considering how long it’s been in business (it’s literally as old as the British Labour Party), that’s nothing short of a miracle.
Established in 1900, E Pellicci has been around for 125 years. Other notable events from that year include the Second Boer War and the death of Oscar Wilde. It has survived the Blitz, the seemingly never-ending wave of Pret A Mangers and the global pandemic. In 1999, there was a close call when a fire almost consumed the caff, but it was saved by a concerned passerby who saw the flames and called the fire brigade. In 2022, Harry Styles filmed part of a music video there, and it survived that, too.
All that history has seeped into the building’s bones. Starry patrons include everyone from Anthony Bourdain and Rick Stein to the Kray twins and, for reasons I assume are related to contractual obligations, just about every cast member of EastEnders, ever. If only walls could talk.
Pellicci’s was awarded Grade-II listed status in 2005 for its Art Deco-style panelled wooden décor, described by inspectors as ‘an increasingly rare example of the stylish Italian cafe that flourished in London in the inter-war years’. It’s one of only two twentieth-century cafes to be given the protection – the other was Alfredo’s in Islington which is now an Argentinian steak restaurant called Meat People. The décor was carved by regular customer and carpenter Achille Capocci in 1946, and it’s difficult to imagine what E Pellicci looked like without it. Its primrose-yellow Vitrolite façade out front is as iconic as the interior, the eye-catching colour chosen to brighten up the gloom of the post-war years.
But as much as people like to talk about the aesthetic and atmosphere of Pellicci’s, if the food wasn’t good, no one would have stepped through the doors in the first place.
They do the simple stuff, but they do it well. Be it the hand-cut, twice-cooked chips and free-range eggs, or the namesake penne Pellicci made with homemade pesto. Even the pastry for the pies is made from scratch. Open from eight in the morning until three-thirty (every day apart from Sunday), E Pellicci specialises in everything from smoky meat-laden mixed grills to hefty ciabatta sandwiches stuffed with crispy chicken escalopes, melted mozzarella and hot meat ragù. You can grab a speedy £3 bacon roll to-go or sit down and tuck into a mammoth fry-up for £13.80 – there’s a little something for everyone, and it’s easy to see why people are willing to queue around the corner for a table.
We’re living in the golden age of food hype, and London remains at its epicentre. But before you decide whether E Pellicci is worth the wait, let’s go back to where its reputation started.
First impressions
Priamo Pellicci began working in the cafe in 1900, and it was there that his wife, Elide, brought up their seven children while running the business after her husband’s death in 1931. Elide is the ‘E’ in the E Pellicci. Her son, Nevio Senior, who was born upstairs, ran the caff until he passed away in 2008. Nev’s wife, Maria, is the head of the family business today. At 84 years old, she’s been cooking there every day since 1966 while her son, Nevio Junior, daughter, Anna Sereno, and nephew Toni make up the rest of the brood. Anna and Nev Jr. man the room today, flinging out compliments, insults, and plates of spaghetti bolognese in equal measure while Anna’s in the kitchen working her magic.
Suresh Singh (author, architect and punk drummer): ‘I attended Daneford Boys’ Secondary School in Bethnal Green from 1973 to 1978. Every Friday we took the Central Line to Fairlop for sports. On our way back from Bethnal Green station, we would stop by and Mr Pellicci would give us a chip butty: part of a loaf of bread with the dough scraped out and filled with chips, always made with love. Mr Pellicci never asked for money, he knew we were poor. I miss him and his beautiful ties and elegance.’
Dara Klein (head chef and founder of London trattoria Tiella): ‘I first came across E Pellicci when researching Italian history in London. When I moved here in 2018, I lived on Bethnal Green Road, just down the street. The first time I went in, Nev and I started gasbagging straight away and it wasn’t long before we were chatting in Italian. I ate ham, egg and chips and drank a cappuccino – rogue choice, I know – but they remind me of the kind you get from bars back in Italy.’
Anna Sereno (co-owner of E Pellicci): ‘Myself, my brother, and my sister lived around the corner and before school, we’d go for our breakfasts. We’d sit there and get to know the customers. And then after school, when we would close, mum would cook at the caff. A lovely memory I’ve always had of my nan, who used to live upstairs, was her making a lovely chicken broth, but instead of putting pasta in it, she’d use dried bread with loads of Parmigiano. I especially remember eating it before school, sitting there with the customers. It was a little ritual every morning. I’d have warm milk and some toast or bread, and dip it in. That was lovely.’
It really is like eating around the family dinner table
Hak Baker (singer and rapper): ‘I was coming back from a rave in Old Street around 2007 at silly o’clock – probably about six or seven in the morning. We were looking for something to eat, and my mate was like, ‘‘Ah, let’s go in here, it’s wicked in here. I used to come with my mum all the time’’. I’d never been before. I’m from Isle of Dogs, a couple of miles down the road. We went in there, and I’m cockney, so the geezer, Nev, just started speaking violent East End vernacular to me. Instantly, I was like: ‘‘Oh, I like it in here’’. They used to do this meal where you’d get a lamb chop, a burger, a sausage, bacon – everything. I remember tucking into it, drunk out of my face, thinking: ‘‘Corr, this place is wicked’’. We’d come back every time we went out – and I was a raveaholic back then.’
Jgrrey (singer): ‘I first experienced E Pellicci back in 2017. I’d seen it and heard about it, yet I’d never wandered in – often due to the queues outside – but I knew there was something magical happening beyond those doors. I remember first walking in and feeling like I’d been cast back in time and travelled to Italy. The wooden panels instantly make you feel a sense of nostalgia, and the smiles as soon as you enter are something you just can’t put a price on.’
What’s on the menu?
Like the Pellicci family itself, the restaurant’s menu is a mix of English and Italian. The best-sellers are the fry-up, the homemade steak pie, and the béchamel-rich lasagne. Their full English is loaded with bacon, sausage, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, egg, a fried slice, black pudding, and – somewhat controversially – a hash brown. The steak pie arrives as a Desperate Dan-sized slice next to a mountain of homemade chips and grass-green peas. In 2008, Time Out voted Pellicci’s splashed vinegar chips as the ‘top smell in London’. It still feels like a good call. And as for the lasagne? It’s a soupy, creamy, ugly-delicious thing of beauty. Getting served pasta in the same obscene quantity you’d serve for yourself at home after a bad day of emails is rare, but Pellicci’s doesn’t skimp on portions. It really is like eating around the family dinner table.
Anna Sereno: ‘We're not trying to change too much with this fashion or that fashion – smashburgers, thisburgers, thatburgers. We’re just going to keep doing what we do and do it well. People’s tastes have changed, and you can introduce a few new things as long as you do it with love. We get people coming from all over the world to our little place, and we appreciate every single one. There are twenty-odd thousand places in London to go and eat, and they’ll get off the plane from New York and come to our little caff. So that's wonderful. And most importantly, they go out with a full belly and a smile on their face.’
Professor Rebecca Earle (historian of food at The University of Warwick): ‘Italian restaurants have been a feature of the London scene since at least the nineteenth century, and Italian food far longer. Seventeenth-century Londoners were eating parmesan cheese, and stewing beef ‘‘in the Italian fashion’’.’
Dara Klein: ‘Usually I go for the chicken escalope ciabatta with mozzarella and a side of chips, or sometimes the pesto, mozzarella and tomato ciabatta, toasted. Otherwise, I really enjoy a breakfast of sausage, egg, bacon, beans, mushroom, tomato, hash browns and black pudding. Mamma Maria sent me home last time with some of her roly-poly cake and a crostata, delicious. Their generosity knows no bounds.’
Hak Baker: ‘I get the mashed potato with grilled chicken, and then Nev fries me up a special bit of kidney on the side. Then I get sausage, greens, and a big pot of gravy. And then I’ll get the roly-poly after. Or Nev will tell me if he’s got a nice bit of steak or something. I don’t really have to talk when I go in there – they just know what I want.’
A family affair
The East End has a storied history as somewhere people go when they feel as if they don’t belong anywhere else. Groups like the Huguenots flocked there when they were fleeing religious persecution in France as early as the 17th century. Later, large numbers of Jewish immigrants arrived, seeking refuge from pogroms in Eastern Europe between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Other immigrant communities – including Bangladeshis as well as Vietnamese and Somali refugees – have established bases and shaped the area’s cultural landscape over the years. The East End has always been generous to people from all walks of life. And Pellicci’s is one of the last proper East Enders in the area – you can feel the hospitality as soon as you walk through the door.
Hak Baker: ‘You’re immediately treated like they know you. Sometimes they’ll take the piss out of you like they’ve known you forever and it comforts you. I think it’s an East End trait. I love it and I think I’ll go there until I die.’
You’re immediately treated like they know you – I think it’s an East End trait
Dara Klein: ‘It’s akin to seeing long-lost relatives. They shout at you a little, pinch your cheeks, ask lots of questions, and you feel seen. I love the insight it gives me into Italian-British history, it’s an incredibly unique place. I usually go in on my own and get seated with another diner, who I inevitably end up talking to. I leave feeling a bit more connected to what's around me.’
Suresh Singh: ‘Mr Pellicci showed me so much love and now his family do the same – they’ve kept it all going with kindness and the joy of serving.’
Anna Sereno: ‘We grew up in Pellicci’s, so it’s a big part of who we are. The customers and the caff almost became a part of our house; a part of our living room. It was our home from home, one we shared with the customers. We’ve grown up there, working on Saturdays as kids and during the school holidays. We’re incredibly lucky to have had it passed down to us, but it’s also a responsibility to carry forward. To honour all the hard work that our mum and dad and grandparents have put in.’
Jgrrey: ‘What is home without a family? What is home-cooked food without this family? You can’t replicate replicate the feeling of a brother and sister bickering hilariously while they serve up delicious home-cooked food that’s in their DNA and their lineage. In a city of try-hards and posers, E Pellicci is the real deal.’
Worth the wait
That’s not to say it hasn’t changed at all. Small concessions have been made over time to cater to the changing clientele and shifting demographic of the area. There’s oat milk on the menu now, and they’ve even – in true London fashion – launched a podcast (Down The Caff) with guests including Ray Winstone, Gemma Collins and Maverick Sabre.
One of the most recent changes is its popularity. E Pellicci has always been a popular spot, but now, thanks to the advent of TikTok and foodie content creators like TopJaw and EatingWithTod (as well as the fact that anything half-good in London must be swamped at all times), there’s often a queue snaking outside of Pellicci’s during peak hours. On Saturday morning, the wait can be up to an hour and a half. That might sound like an ordeal, but Anna regularly comes out to hand out chips and snacks to everyone waiting patiently in line to keep the energy up. The communal anticipation for an excellent feed, like being in line for a DJ set you’ve been amped to see for months with your drugs stashed somewhere intimate, is part of the experience.
Anna Sereno: ‘I often wonder what the first item on the menu would have been – after all, the caff went through two world wars in the East End of London, the poorest part of the city. I remember my dad telling me that, back then, they used to sell cigarettes and tea. Obviously, our clientele has changed – the demographic of the area has changed immeasurably. We had a massive Jewish community years ago. A few are still knocking about, but there aren't many left. We’ve got a big Bangladeshi community now, and we've also got a lot of young trendies.’
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Jesse Burgess, TopJaw: ‘Caff aesthetic appreciation is driven by our lust for nostalgia, exacerbated by economic turmoil and political madness. Caffs have a comforting quality; with many having been around for decades, they feel almost resistant to the terrifying ebbs and flows of the cost of living. It’s a sanctuary from the ever-changing hospitality landscape, restaurants opening and closing within two years. E Pellicci, having been there for 125 years and still in the same family, is just excellent. That place has life and personality oozing from every crevice. The Mum’s jam tart drenched in custard would probably be my death row dessert. It makes me feel like I’m back in the womb.’
Hak Baker: ‘I don’t line up! I’m sorry, I will use my East End privilege. They appreciate the locals and the old-school people who have been coming there for years. Old-school blokes just go in, and everyone understands that. A lot of the people that are in there now are tourists – their custom is appreciated, but Nev and Anna look after their own. Being a regular matters there.’
That place has life and personality oozing from every crevice
Dara Klein: ‘E Pellicci’s are a bastion against ever-increasing homogeneity, brought on by economic instability. So to see a tiny family-run business continuing to operate in the way they always have, it’s a beautiful thing.’
Isaac Rangaswami (writer, runs @caffs_not_cafes Instagram): ‘Today, Anna and Nev’s TikToks do what their ostentatious decor was designed to do all those years ago: make E Pellicci stand out. But it’s been an institution for decades now, so the Pelliccis could really have just rested on their laurels in recent years. Instead, they chose to double-down, hosting celebs, turning every day into a party and giving customers what they really want: chips with everything and escalopes covered in bolognese.’
Anna Sereno: ‘I remember in the late ’80s and ’90s, because it was so cheap compared to other parts of London, you’d get a lot of people like Fiona Banner, Bob and Roberta Smith, Gavin Turk – all these young struggling artists moved into the area because it was cheap. Subsequently, they made the area cool. That’s why you’ve got all the young trendies who live there now, but it’s a real eclectic mix. You get people off the TV sitting next to Joe Bloggs from around the corner, and everyone gets on. Everyone matters just the same.’
Unlike some of London’s larger, pricier attractions, a meal at Pellicci’s is more than worth the wait – and a genuine way to get a taste of what the city is all about. If I were a Leica-toting tourist, I’d rather get stuck into a fry-up at Pellicci’s than gawp at a wax figure of Ed Sheeran at Madame Tussauds any day of the week. Despite how the area around it changes, Pellicci’s remains a community space. A bolthole where you’ll always be made to feel welcome, something which is becoming depressingly hard to find as the capital gets swallowed up by self-service checkouts and Blank Street Coffees.
Food trends come and go, waxing and waning like the moon, but true hospitality will last forever. It’s not just the generous portions of Britalian classics, but the warmth of the service and the convivial, tea-stained atmosphere which has kept people coming back to Pellicci’s for more than a century. There’s no place like E Pellicci. There’s no place like home.