Belgravia, Italian Restaurant Guide

“Superb” cooking from a “precise seafood menu” means Mauro Sanno’s “busy” Sardinian spot is, to its many fans, “just perfect” – “you can go for business and pleasure”. “My favourite affordable Italian restaurant” may be the claim of a regular used to Belgravia prices, but “the house wine can’t be faulted at £25 a bottle”. “People criticise the decor, the table spacing and noise levels but I like the vibe, and it’s always busy!”

The Mayfair original of this small group is celebrating its tenth year, with a Belgravia sibling and café-style offshoots in similarly chichi Chelsea and Kensington. It channels a retro ‘dolce vita’ vibe, with an Italian menu that “delivers on the brief if nothing more”. The latest addition is an all-day café, which opened in December 2023 next door to the Dover Street flagship.

This chic Belgravia Italian hosted the likes of Frank Sinatra and Bill Clinton in its 20th-century heyday under founder Gino Santini, and is now run by his daughter Laura. Ratings have been up-and-down over many years, though, and these days a common reaction is that “it’s fine, but...” “pretty unexciting”, while the prices are steep – “hard to believe people are paying for themselves: feels like the expense account is taking the pain”.

After 35 years, Mauro Sanna’s “buzzy local haunt” in Belgravia “continues to deliver excellent traditional Italian/Sardinian cuisine” to an often “packed house”. For all the “high gastronomic standards and buzzy atmosphere” though, even some of its most ardent fans recognise that “it is rather expensive” (even allowing for the well-heeled nature of the locality).

“Inspirational Sardinian food” and “wonderful pizza” (with 21 different toppings) are on the menu at Mauro Sanna’s smart Belgravia haunt (formerly occupied by its stablemate Olivocarne), which has a distinctive and chic (chilly?) monochrome design. There’s an all-Italian wine list showcasing small producers from Sardinia.

2022 Review: “Fairly modern in style”, this Belgravia Italian of over 20 years’ standing has a “pleasant” ambience and typically provides a civilised safe haven within striking distance of Victoria. We have rated it on the basis of its consistent pre-pandemic performance and the assumption that it will reopen: as we go to press in September 2021, it remains ‘temporarily closed’.

This “old reliable favourite” in Belgravia celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, as ever serving “beautiful (if very expensive) Italian food” in a “fantastic ambience”. A dazzling gastronomic phenomenon in its early days under founding chef Giorgio Locatelli, it’s “not as busy as it used to be, but still worth a visit”.

2021 Review: Emptied your wallet at Harrods and need to recover over a bowl of pasta and glass of fizz? – Richard Caring’s “fun” and “nicely buzzing” Italian brasserie, near the store’s rear entrance, can be just the job. Now two years old, its fanbase primarily seems to extend to shoppers and other miscellaneous Knightsbridge types, as it elicits limited survey feedback; but all reports praise its “great consistency in a fun setting with attentive and engaging staff”.

The “buzzy” original in a Victoria hotel occupies “a great space” (modelled on Continental grand cafés); while its younger sibling in the new Battersea art’otel is agreeably modernistic in style. Both can provide “a decent dining experience”, but even fans sometimes noted “service issues” this year, which holds back a more wholehearted recommendation.

2021 Review: Now over ten years old, this Venetian/Mediterranean chain has suffered a drip-feed of branch closures, with only two now trading: Soho and Chelsea. And in August 2020 it parted ways with its co-founder Russell Norman. Fans do still applaud the duo’s “very convivial and fun” formula, but the groups woes have stemmed from Venetian small plates that are often “no better than fine”, and at worst “uncared for” or “very mediocre”. Perhaps it will now finally turn a corner?

“Brilliant” Italian dishes “cooked to perfection” inspire rave reviews for chef Theo Randall’s well-known HQ, by Hyde Park Corner. For many diners, “the fact that it’s a large, bare, windowless hotel restaurant is completely irrelevant” – “there is good space between the tables”; “the kind staff all try really hard”; and “it always feels like a treat (that’s not as expensive as some other places)”. The odd meal doesn’t go well, at which time the “soulless” space seems more significant, but bad trips here are quite rare. Top Menu Tips – “at weekend lunchtime, Theo Randall does an excellent buffet antipasti followed by a set lunch with bottomless prosecco or Aperol spritz. The restaurant always has a buzz when these meals are on with lots of large families. And the business three-course set lunch at £33 is amazing value!”

The Mayfair original of this small group is celebrating its tenth year, with a Belgravia sibling and café-style offshoots in similarly chichi Chelsea and Kensington. It channels a retro ‘dolce vita’ vibe, with an Italian menu that “delivers on the brief if nothing more”. The latest addition is an all-day café, which opened in December 2023 next door to the Dover Street flagship.

Florence, Vienna, Zurich, Monaco… and, since April 2023, Belgravia now boast outposts of this Tuscan wine dynasty’s empire – run by the 26th generation of a family whose brand-extension into the restaurant trade started in 1957. Despite a relatively prominent location – a side street off Sloane Street – it has attracted no feedback in our annual diners’ poll in its first year of operation. It’s also been largely ignored by the press, although in April 2024, The Evening Standard’s Joanna Taylor reported “excellent” food even if a meal here “may set you back more than flights to Pisa”.