PASTA RESTAURANTS
London is blessed with many great Italian restaurants but over the past couple of years, an offshoot of pasta-focused places have opened and it seems we just can’t get enough.
Padella, which serves up hand rolled pasta dishes in Borough Market and has had queues down the street since the day it opened, probably kickstarted the whole trend, and with plates of quality pasta coming in at under a tenner, it’s not hard to see why. Our fave dish is the pappardelle with 8-hour Dexter beef shin ragu – rich tomato sauce, super soft beef shin and fresh pasta…mamma mia. It’s great value grub made with love, and defo worth a visit.
Bancone is one of the best places to get fresh pasta in London, and considering it’s in central London, prices aren’t too bad either. Padella may have kicked off the trend, but Bancone is right up there in terms of quality and also takes reservations, meaning no waiting in line like at Padella. Bancone’s head chef Louis Korovilas worked at Michelin-starred Locanda Locatelli for five years so it’s no surprise that the dishes such as silk handkerchiefs covered in walnut butter and an egg yolk; the cacio e pepe; and the ravioli filled with beef shin ‘ossobuco’ and covered in saffron butter are all knock-out good.
Lina Stores, which has been supplying Londoners with the best Italian ingredients for over 75 years, is a Soho institution, and now it has a pasta restaurant on Greek Street just around the corner from the Brewer Street deli. Pasta is the star of the show here – it’s all handmade daily in the deli, just like it has been since 1944, and head chef Masha Rener has created a menu that features Lina Stores classics as well as regional Italian specialities.
Bancone is one of the best places to get fresh pasta in London, and the prices aren’t too bad either (considering it’s in central London). Padella may have kicked off the trend, but Bancone is right up there in terms of quality and also takes reservations, meaning no waiting in line like at Padella. Bancone’s Exec chef Ben Waugh guides the team in creating seasonal dishes such as silk handkerchiefs covered in walnut butter and an egg yolk; cacio e pepe; and ravioli filled with beef shin ‘ossobuco’ and covered in saffron butter. They’re all knock-out good.
NOTTO PASTA BAR
Phil Howard launched pasta delivery brand Notto with business partner Julian Dyer when we were going in and out of lockdowns, and now he’s turned it into a bricks-and-mortar restaurant on Piccadilly, with Executive Chef Louis Korovilas (who’s opened Bancone and Noci) heading it up. There’s an open kitchen running down one side of the restaurant, so you can see all the pasta making in action, with wood features, olive green tiles and rattan shades bringing the Italian trattoria vibes. There’s a short selection of snacks and starters but the pasta really is the star of the show here – you can tell that the team have spent a lot of this from their delivery days. You can comfortably do three pastas between two but they’re so good we reckon the best way to eat here is to skip the starters (except for the moreish parmesan butter biscuits) and go for at least four of the eight pasta dishes on the menu, with the gnocchetti with smashed sausage, white wine, fennel & chilli and rigatoni cacio e pepe being particular standouts. If you’re looking for a great plate of food in tourist-trap central that won’t break the bank, Notto is one to have in your back pocket.
Padella serves up hand rolled pasta dishes in Borough Market and Shoreditch. The casual spot has a small menu, but it definitely delivers – all the pastas, from pici cacio e pepe to ricotta raviola with butter & sage to THAT pappardelle with 8-hour Dexter beef shin ragu, are absolute dreams and a dinner here won’t break the bank either. All in all Padella is great value grub, made with love.
NOCI
Having worked at Locanda Locatelli and opened Bancone, Louis Korovilas certainly knows a thing or two about pasta and he’s showing it off at his new spot Noci (owned by the peeps behind Tavolino) in Islington. The menu takes inspo from Louis’ travels across Italy and the country’s regional specialties, starting with a short selection of small plates including fluffy foccacia with datterini tomato and caramelised onion, saffron & nduja arancini, and bresaola with star anise-dressed celeriac. Pasta is the star of the show though and there’s plenty of variety from veal & pork Genovese ragu with paccheri to wild mushroom silk handkerchiefs with confit egg yolk. Not only is the food at Noci genuinely great, it’s reasonably priced too – the house peach spritz is a fiver, negronis are six quid and the pasta plates are affordable, (they even offer ziti with pesto, tomato or parmesan & butter sauce for £7.50).
Jay Patel (former Barrafina and Koya City GM) and chef Matt Beardmore (ex-Trullo) are the dynamic duo behind Legare in Shad Thames, which is all about seasonal produce, fresh pasta and low-intervention wine. It’s a simple understated space with white walls, an open kitchen and plain wooden furniture and benches. Keeping it simple is the order of the day in the kitchen too – think stracciatella with sobrasada, gnocco fritto, orecchiette with fennel sausage & cavolo nero ragu, and stracci with crab, chilli & pangrattato. All of this is complemented by a tight wine list of natural and low intervention bottles, mainly coming from Italy.
Workshop and restaurant Officina 00 run by Elia Sebregondi (formerly of Bone Daddies and Kiln) and Enzo Mirto (formerly of Ella Canta), is industrially styled, with a green-tiled open kitchen and counter on one side, a white-tiled pasta making station on the other and wooden tables in the middle. The menu roams around regions of Italy when it comes to the shape of the pasta but the kitchen puts its own twist on the sauces. The spaghetti with datterini tomatoes and basil is a great version of a classic, and the cappellacci with zucchini, mint and zucchini flowers is another excellent veggie option, especially for courgette fans, as the stuffed parcels come sat on a courgette puree. The linguine with egg yolk, lemon and clams iss the restaurant’s version of a carbonara, swapping the pancetta for shellfish, and we also love the corzetti (small discs of pasta, a new shape to us) mixed into a creamy sauce of wild mushroom, fennel sausage and parsley.
THEO RANDALL
Top chef Theo Randall has been at The InterContinental Park Lane since it opened in 2006, having spent the majority of his career at The River Cafe with the legendary Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray MBE, as well as a stint at The Berkeley, California. Theo’s cooking is deeply rooted in rustic Italian food and has been given numerous nods from notable critics. The pappardelle con ragú di manzo, fresh pasta with slow cooked beef in Chianti and San Marzano tomatoes, is exceptional, as is the risotto di mare with clams, seabass, mussels, prawns, tomatoes, chilli and parsley. When Italian food is this impressive it’s a meal you will be talking about for a while.
Not content with turning out some of the best pastries in town, Pophams in Hackney flips into a pasta restaurant come the evening. Makes sense when you consider working with pastry and bread dough isn’t miles away from rolling out pasta. It’s a short, regularly changing menu that features dishes like pig cheek tortellini, nduja scarpinocc, and taleggio cappelletti with grapes, and because the plates are small, you can easily order the whole menu. Make it a real carb fest with a wedge of their sourdough and insane balsamic butter.
Emilia’s Crafted Pasta has recently opened up its doors in Aldgate. This is their second London site to open and follows in the footsteps of the original restaurant in St Katharine Docks by showcasing the best of Italian food, including making all the pasta in-house. We recommend starting with the burrata, which is served with warm ciabatta and lashings of extra virgin oil, followed by the salmon carbonara, a delish twist on the classic. Top food paired with a relaxed atmosphere makes Emilia’s the ideal place to get your pasta fix.
Located on Holloway Road, newly opened pasta restaurant Berto is the latest site from pizzeria Zia Lucia, which is right next door. The restaurant serves a selection of fresh pasta which is made on site daily. Dishes include Gnocchi with nduja and melted stracciatella, and wholewheat fettuccine with zuchini and tomatoes, all served in traditional yet very Instagrammable crockery. The pasta at Berto is not only fres and tasty but won’t do damage to your bank account either, with big portions ranging from £8-13 – buon appetito!
Lina Stores, which has been supplying Londoners with the best Italian ingredients for over 75 years, is a Soho institution, has a pasta restaurant on Greek Street just around the corner from the Brewer Street deli, as well as a site in Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross. The restaurant has the same mint green exterior, with counter dining on the ground floor and tables in the basement. Pasta is the star of the show here – it’s all handmade daily in the deli, just like it has been since 1944, and head chef Masha Rener has created a menu that features Lina Stores classics as well as regional Italian specialities. The pici with porcini and Umbrian sausage is a standout with the gnocchi with new season peas and salted ricotta running it a close second though. Thankfully the portion sizes allow for you to try a few and, yes, you will be wanting all of them.
In the heart of Fitzrovia, you will find a rather understated eatery named Al Dente, which also happens to be a pasta lab and wine shop. Known in Italy as pastifici, these are places where fresh pasta is made daily and it’s where you can get a quick, fresh meal as well as buy ingredients to use at home. All the pasta,including thetonnarelli cacio e pepe with pecorino, parmesan and black pepper; spaghettoni alla carbonara and paccheri al ragù with minced beef and tomato sauce us super fresh. Small, cosy and perfect for a quick bite (or takeaway) Al Dente is super tasty and very affordable, with their most expensive dish rocking in at £8.95.
With Palatino also on his books it’s clear that Stevie Parle knows what Italian food is all about and he’s nailed it here at Pastaio too. The dishes are simple and comforting, prepared with good ingredients by chefs that know how to treat them well. The pasta is made in-house and as the head chef is from Rome there are a few regional specialities to choose from, like the cacio e pepe, which is an absolute must for all the cheese fiends out there. The wild boar, rabbit and pork angoli is alsoa winner though, the parcels are generously packed with rich shredded meat and drenched in a sage butter sauce. DELISH.
FLOUR & GRAPE
If you want your pasta fast-a and can’t wait in the queue for Padella, say hello to Flour & Grape, located not too far away on Bermondsey Street. There’s nine pasta dishes on offer and a handful of starters and desserts, with the most expensive dish topping out at £14.50. The tortelloni packed with roast pork shoulder and sage butter kicks ass and there’s also a decent pappardelle with beef shin and a cacio e pepe bucatini.
This laid back pasta place has a fairly simple menu serving only pasta and a handful of snacks. The pasta, however, is anything but basic with interesting flavour combos and serves. The tortello carbonara is their spin on a classic carbonara only it’s presented as pasta parcels filled with percorino, crispy cured pork cheek and zabaione, so each one is an explosion of flavour. The homemade cannolo is worth staying around for too!