Meriden, Italian Restaurant Guide

A real “neighbourhood gem”, this “fun” and “quirky” 16th-century pub in Mill Hill serves “what must be some of the best pub food in North London”. It’s presided over in fine style by brothers Luca and Matteo Delnevo, presenting a modern, British-Italian menu.

2021 Review: From its Finsbury Park base (next to the Park Theatre), this “cheerful” group of “good neighbourhood pasta-stops” subsequently expanded to Ealing and then onto Wembley branch (there’s also an outlet in Westfield Stratford); all deliver “well-cooked”, affordable pasta.

2022 Review: Set in a “lovely building” with tables under a 200-year-old olive tree, this restaurant – one of eight in a local chain – is frequently packed with regulars, who come back for its “good honest Italian fare at a reasonable price”. There’s “something for everyone on the menu”.

This “great local” has had an up-and-down time of it of late, with the Gerrards Cross branch under new management, and The Grocer at 91, which had pivoted to being a food shop in the pandemic, now closed. On the plus side, this “very busy” outpost is still going strong with its “reliable” (if pricey) sandwiches, salads and toasties, and they also recently opened a new Amersham venue, The Grocer at 2 (Whielden St), spanning a grocery store and café.

For 40 years, this local landmark in Golders Green has inhabited the railway arch by the tube. Its simple pizza and pasta formula still wins recommendations for its “cheap ’n’ cheerful” possibilities – especially with kids in tow – but it also gives rise to the odd report of a “very poor and disappointing” experience.

2023 Review: “Top Neapolitan pizza” (with a very wide range of choices and featuring ingredients shipped from Italy weekly) helps inspire fans of this casual, brick-walled Kilburn independent.

This “great local no-frills and no-nonsense Italian” in Child’s Hill is a family-run operation of four decades’ standing, and a haven for home-cooked classics including ‘pasta di casa’.

2021 Review: From its Finsbury Park base (next to the Park Theatre), this “cheerful” group of “good neighbourhood pasta-stops” subsequently expanded to Ealing and then onto Wembley branch (there’s also an outlet in Westfield Stratford); all deliver “well-cooked”, affordable pasta.

“So much more than just a tapas bar” – this basement hideaway at the foot of a handsome Georgian terrace, near picturesquely located St John-in-Hampstead church, boasts a serious and eclectic wine list and a focused menu of Spanish and Italian small and sharing plates.

With its starched white tablecloths, this “comfortable” stalwart Italian, down a picturesque alley, has been a feature of central Hampstead since the 1980s. It has the strengths and weaknesses that can come with such territory, which includes “a real old-school Mediterranean menu” and professional service (which “can be a bit snotty”). But by and large it’s “maintained its quality”.

2021 Review: “What a find!” – In a fairly obscure part of town, near the Queen’s Park Estate, “a really cosy, neighbourhood Italian, serving a top selection of cheap ’n’ cheerful dishes, but also more pricey ones, all freshly made and of great quality” (in particular the hand-rolled pasta). Service from husband-and-wife team Simonetta and Avi “is very professional but lively, and there’s a real sense of community at play (e.g. the staff were handing out little pieces of paper with a guest’s name on it, asking us to sing along for his birthday!)”

2021 Review: “Fun and lively, with a management who make you feel extremely welcome” – this simple, ‘Italian kitchen’ in Swiss Cottage serves pizza and pasta plus somewhat more ambitious dishes: it’s all “delicious and good value for money”.

In the underserved environs of Abbey Road, this modern Italian bar/café is worth remembering for its “really tasty Italian tapas-type dishes and some excellent Grappa!”

This “neighbourhood gem” near Archway (named in tribute to the tiny Fiat 500) is a “truly brilliant family-run Italian” with an “ambience that takes you back in time”. Opened in 2007 by chef Mario Magli, it’s “still a go-to for a top-notch Italian meal”, with “imaginative food and the feeling that the owner really cares”. Its fan club is more-than-local, and numerous best meals of the year are reported here.

“Owner/front-of-house Giuseppe is Sicilian, chef Antonio is Sardinian, and the cuisine is a mix of the two” at this cute Primrose Hill corner-site, praised for its “fabulous cooking and charming service”. An impressive wine list explores biodynamic bottles from the two islands.

2021 Review: “A top local” – this small, basic-looking three-year-old between Wood Green and Tottenham is worth remembering for its “great pizzas along with superb pastas”.

“Combining the best of French and Italian gastronomy” – Emily Roux and her husband Diego Ferrari continue to put in an assured performance at their “lovely neighbourhood restaurant” in Notting Hill. The cuisine is of “excellent quality”, yet not particularly striving for its own sake: aptly described in one report as “enjoyable fine dining, comfort dishes”. You can either opt for à la carte – three courses for £92 per person – or go for a five-course ‘Build Your Own Tasting Menu’ option at £120 per person. “Simply divine: expensive but worth it!”

Well into its third decade as a Notting Hill stalwart, this “buzzy neighbourhood Italian” provides “a friendly welcome” and “reliably consistent” if pretty “standard” cooking from a wide menu that incorporates a broad selection of pasta dishes as well as more substantial meaty and fishy options. It has two stablemates on the same street, Essenza and Osteria Basilico.

This “old-school” Notting Hill Italian has been “a great crowd-pleaser for the whole family” for more than 30 years. According to one local: “you will not have a great meal but on the other hand I’ve never had a bad one” – as a result it can be “extremely busy, but the service is great” and keeps on top of things. Essenza and Mediterraneo in the same street (see also) are its younger stablemates.