Stoke Poges, Italian Restaurant Guide

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.

2022 Review: This ultra-stylish boutique hotel reopened in late 2016 after a multi-million-pound, two-year renovation. Its “lovely food choices” run the whole gamut from Japanese dishes through to sourdough pizzas, and a large garden contributes to what's “an ideal spot on the way to Henley”.

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.

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.

“Very good food” – but “no pizzas!”, the menu is more ambitious – has been served for more than 20 years at this “friendly local Italian” near Richmond Bridge in St Margaret’s – the last five under owner Tom Rowlandson, who trained with Skye Gyngell at Petersham Nurseries and has pushed standards ever higher.

Tipped as a “top venue for a pre-theatre meal (Richmond Theatre and Orange Tree nearby)”, this longstanding Italian restaurant near the station combines “well-cooked food, kindly service” and a “very good wine list, at reasonable prices”.

“My favourite restaurant of all time!” say fans of this Richmond stalwart – “a unique and authentic Italian experience”. Patron Riccardo Grigolo hosts a no-choice, multi-course Venetian wedding feast over three or four hours, that makes you “feel like you are a guest in an Italian home” and with “an outstanding quality of food, ambience and staff”. Arrive hungry!

This romantic, high-end dining room has brought a slice of Italy to Henley’s waterside since the mid-1990s; “the space is not large, but the extensive use of mirrors makes it feel airy” while the crowd-pleasing menu is always “reliably good”. Given its popularity, it can get “very noisy” – particularly during the local Regatta, which lends its name to one of their many specials (the latter “significantly more expensive than the standard menu offerings”, which are a bargain).

2022 Review: A “lovely local” near Turnham Green, this “family-owned Italian” is “tiny but with terrific food and atmosphere”. There’s a good range of pizzas but the Puglian dishes are what makes it special.

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”.

It’s the large leafy courtyard out front that catches the eye at the Bianchi Bandinelli family’s slightly quirky venue. Drawing on five centuries of tradition from an estate near Siena, the aim to import a slice of Tuscan living to London would not seem out of place in, say, Chelsea, but seems a little offbeat on this rather trafficky stretch of the Chiswick High Road (although having the famous Metropolis recording studios next door doubtless helps provide custom). Fans say it’s a “special” place – “quite expensive, but some of the best Italian around”.

2022 Review: Having opened high street hit Osso Buco[s] in 2011, owner Elena Vahedi and her husband ventured into more trendy, casual eating territory in the same location with this equally popular Italian, born in 2018. “Top pizza” of the wood-fired variety (and wonderful pasta too) has earned it a real local following.

“Lovely fresh seafood” and “excellent pasta dishes” – everything “brimming with flavour” – have won an enthusiastic welcome for this “new Italian run by a very experienced team” in Turnham Green. Founders Ben and Michael have worked together for more than 20 years, running an independent restaurant in Italy and in five-star hotels.