Disclosure: Luxury.it’s publisher has a commercial relationship with the four restaurants in this guide.
Ask an Italian in London where to eat, and the answer depends on the region they call home. So this guide to authentic Italian restaurants in London is built the Italian way, by region and by craving. We have chosen four addresses: Santo Mare for Italian seafood in Marylebone, Osteria Romana for the Roman pastas in Knightsbridge, Osteria Napoletana for Neapolitan home cooking in Notting Hill and Osteria Fiorentina for Florence in Chelsea. They are picks, not a ranking. For each one we give the address, what the kitchen cooks and the nearest landmark, followed by a glossary of menu words and the questions that come up most often in searches.
Santo Mare, Marylebone: Italian seafood on George Street
Santo Mare is the seafood address of the four, at 87-89 George Street in Marylebone, and the catch of the day sits on crushed ice at the counter. Start there. In Italy, a fish dinner usually runs in order, with something raw first, then a pasta, then a fish for the table, cooked simply so that the fish carries the dish. The London menu lists polpette di spigola, sea bass shaped into polpette, the small round balls Italians usually make with meat. Santo Mare is open every day from noon, nine minutes’ walk from Bond Street station by its own count, and it hosts private parties. The menu is on santomare.com.
Osteria Romana, Knightsbridge: carbonara, cacio e pepe and the Roman Sunday near Harrods
Osteria Romana cooks Rome on Park Close, a quiet side street off Knightsbridge, two minutes’ walk from Harrods and one from Hyde Park by the restaurant’s count. Romans count four classic pastas, and all four are on the menu. Spaghetti alla carbonara comes with pork cheek and pecorino, then there are spaghetti cacio e pepe, bucatini all’amatriciana and rigatoni alla gricia, served here with artichokes. A fifth plate plays on the second. Tonnarelli al tartufo are finished cacio e pepe style in a wheel of pecorino, with black truffle. The restaurant says its pasta is made by hand.
The rest of the menu reads like a Roman Sunday lunch. Saltimbocca alla romana, veal with prosciutto and sage, comes with roast potatoes. Coda alla vaccinara is oxtail cooked slowly in its sauce, and trippa alla romana is tripe with mint and pecorino. To start, there is porchetta from Ariccia, sliced by hand, and cicoria alla romana, chicory on bread with broad beans and pecorino. The pinsa, Rome’s oval flatbread, comes three ways: with mortadella and pistachio, with truffle and porchetta, or with artichokes. A maritozzo closes the meal. Osteria Romana is open every day from noon to 11pm, at 3-4 Park Close, London SW1X 7PQ, and the menu is on osteriaromana.co.uk.
Osteria Napoletana, Notting Hill: Neapolitan cooking beyond pizza, near Portobello Road
Osteria Napoletana, at 186 Kensington Park Road, has no pizza section on its menu and cooks what Neapolitans eat at home and in the street instead. Several antipasti come from the friggitoria, the Naples fry shop: fried bucatini with sausage and friarielli, fried tiny pizzas with tomato, basil and parmesan, and a fried calzone with ricotta and salame. A giant Battipaglia mozzarella is served for two. Baby octopus arrives in “Luciana” tomato sauce, and squid with potatoes. The restaurant says its ingredients are imported directly from Campania, and its pasta is made by hand.
The pasta list is a Neapolitan family table. Pasta mista con patate e provola cooks mixed pasta shapes with potatoes and provola. Linguine alla Nerano come with fried courgettes, provolone, basil and mint, after the village on the Sorrento coast that gave the dish its name. Then come ziti with a white meat ragù, pappardelle with a tomato ragù, scialatielli with seafood, spaghetti with clams and linguine with lobster. Salsicce e friarielli, sausages with the bitter greens of Naples, and zucchine a scapece, fried courgettes with basil and mint, are the classics among the mains and sides. For dessert, the babà is a leavened cake soaked in rum, and the pastiera a Neapolitan ricotta tart. Osteria Napoletana is open every day from noon, three minutes’ walk from Portobello Road Market and five from Ladbroke Grove station by its own count, and the menu is on osterianapoletana.co.uk.
Osteria Fiorentina, Chelsea: Florentine cooking on Park Walk
Osteria Fiorentina brings Florence to Chelsea, at 11 Park Walk, off the Fulham Road. The restaurant describes its cooking as modern Tuscan: traditional Florentine recipes with a contemporary touch, from handmade pasta to Tuscan cuts of meat. In Florence, an osteria dinner often starts with crostini and cured meats, moves on to a soup or a pasta, and ends at the grill. Bread, beans, olive oil and fire carry the whole cuisine. Osteria Fiorentina is open every day from noon and lists a private room, and the menu is on osteriafiorentina.co.uk.
Menu words: a short glossary from Rome, Naples, Florence and the coast
These are regional classics, useful on any Italian menu. Each restaurant’s website has its current dishes.
Rome
Guanciale is cured pork cheek, the fat that flavours three of the four Roman pastas. Carbonara binds it with egg, pecorino and black pepper. Cacio e pepe is pecorino and black pepper worked into the starchy cooking water until it turns into a sauce. Amatriciana adds tomato to guanciale and pecorino, and takes its name from Amatrice, a mountain town north-east of Rome. Gricia is the same dish without tomato. Romans often call it the older of the two. Coda alla vaccinara is named after the vaccinari, the slaughterhouse workers of old Rome. A maritozzo is a soft sweet bun filled with whipped cream.
Naples
Friarielli are the leafy shoots of broccoli rabe as Naples cooks them, with garlic and chilli, and Osteria Napoletana’s menu translates them as turnip greens. A friggitoria is a Neapolitan fry shop, the home of fried pasta and fried pizza. Alla Nerano means with fried courgettes and cheese. Scapece is a vinegar marinade for fried vegetables or fish, which Naples makes with garlic and mint. The babà is a yeast cake soaked in rum syrup, and the pastiera an Easter tart of ricotta and cooked wheat.
Florence
Bistecca alla fiorentina is a T-bone steak cut thick, traditionally from Chianina cattle, grilled over embers and served rare, with salt added at the end. It is sold by weight. It is meant for sharing. Ribollita, literally reboiled, is a thick soup of bread, beans and cavolo nero. Pappa al pomodoro is bread and tomato cooked down with basil and olive oil. Pappardelle are wide egg ribbons, served in Tuscany with game ragùs such as wild boar. Cantucci are almond biscuits, made for dipping in vin santo.
The coast
Crudo is raw fish and shellfish, dressed at most with olive oil and citrus. Frittura, or fritto misto, is mixed fried seafood. All’acqua pazza means poached in a light broth of tomato, garlic and herbs, and al sale means baked whole in a salt crust. Vongole are clams, astice is lobster and scampi are langoustines, while gamberi rossi are the deep red prawns of the Mediterranean, the best known of them from Mazara del Vallo in Sicily.
The Luxury.it perspective
Italians tend to eat by region, even far from home, and London makes it easy. A Roman lunch near Hyde Park, a Neapolitan supper after a Saturday on Portobello Road, a Florentine dinner in Chelsea and a fish dinner in Marylebone are four different meals. Each of these restaurants keeps to one Italian tradition. Order the regional dishes first. For a group, Osteria Romana has a private area, while Santo Mare and Osteria Fiorentina list a private room. All four open daily at noon. When a menu word is new, the glossary above has it.
FAQ: authentic Italian restaurants in London
What is the best Italian restaurant in London?
There is no single answer: it depends on the craving. Our four picks, which are not a ranking, are Santo Mare for Italian seafood in Marylebone, Osteria Romana for Roman cooking in Knightsbridge, Osteria Napoletana for Neapolitan cooking in Notting Hill and Osteria Fiorentina for Florentine cooking in Chelsea.
Where can I eat Roman carbonara and cacio e pepe in London?
Osteria Romana, at 3-4 Park Close in Knightsbridge, has all four Roman pastas on its menu: carbonara, cacio e pepe, amatriciana and gricia. It is open every day from noon to 11pm.
What is amatriciana in English?
Amatriciana is a pasta sauce of tomato, guanciale, which is cured pork cheek, and pecorino. It is named after the town of Amatrice, north-east of Rome. In London, Osteria Romana serves it with bucatini.
Is there an authentic Italian restaurant near Harrods?
Osteria Romana is on Park Close, a side street two minutes’ walk from Harrods by the restaurant’s count, and a minute from Hyde Park. It serves Roman cooking every day from noon.
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