Chertsey, Italian Restaurant Guide

“Wonderful family-run neighbourhood Italian restaurant serving out-of-the-ordinary sophisticated cooking”, near Richmond Bridge in St Margaret’s (close enough to Twickenham to offer special lunches on Six Nations days). Chef Tom Rowlandson and his wife Jade have been at the helm since 2019. Top Tip – “try to get a window table”.

There’s just one option at this Richmond stalwart from chef patron Riccardo Grigolo – a full-on blow out! – as he guides his guests through a multi-course Venetian wedding feast. It’s “the best place I know for a family celebration”, “just lovely, with good food and an exceptional ambience”… a view shared by US actor and fan Stanley Tucci, who lives nearby.

“A favourite in Richmond” – this “always very friendly stalwart” offers “efficient service” and a “fairly standard Italian menu” – which makes it “a useful pre-theatre choice, next door to the Orange Tree Theatre and a less than five minutes’ walk from Richmond Theatre”.

This modern Italian in Wimbledon Village wins consistent – if consistently middling – ratings and is, say fans, the “ideal local”, with home-made pasta and thin-crust pizza topping the bill.

“The ever-present staff have been there forever and are delightful”, say devotees of Andreas Riva’s Barnes veteran, which – since it opened in 1990 – has won an incredibly loyal clientele, including a surprising number of A-list regulars and food celebs (including Nigella Lawson and the late AA Gill). Set in a parade of shops at the south of Castelnau, critics note that “the interior is in need of refurbishment” although it has forever been low key and extremely unflashy. Ratings in recent years have been somewhat up-and-down, with regular complaints that its “heyday has long since passed”. That’s not the view of most diners this year, though, who feel its “simple and perfectly cooked northern Italian food” fully lives up to its longstanding renown as one of London’s top destinations for Italian cuisine: “returned here after a long absence and pleasantly surprised by the improvements in quality…”; “still fantastic after many years” and “it’s not unusual to end up sitting on the table next to David Beckham!”

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.

This “classy operation”, set unexpectedly on the Chiswick High Road, is “the closest thing to going on holiday in an Italian vineyard that’s available in W4”, with “proper professional Italian waiters, a solid wine list and a lovely atmosphere” – “step into the gorgeous interior with its white linen tablecloths to start a romantic evening of simple dishes using high-quality ingredients”. It’s the UK outlet of an actual Villa Di Geggiano, on a 500-year-old wine estate just outside Siena in the Chianti-producing Tuscan hills. Top Tip – “don’t miss out on a drink in the Lounge before your meal, it’s possibly even more stunning than the main dining room”.

2024 Review: This “lovely local Italian” near Ravenscourt Park tube is getting back into its stride after “a dreadful time with lockdown followed by a flood at the premises”. Ex-Zafferano chef Andy Needham and his team offer a “really warm welcome and a beautifully executed short menu”. Top Menu Tip – “excellent pasta and specials”.

This smartly converted pub in Ravenscourt Park offers a full menu of Italian starters and mains, but the highlight for most reporters is the “thin and crispy Roman-style pizza – so good”. (The Bird in Hand at Brook Green is a sibling on similar lines, while the Oak in Notting Hill was relaunched in July 2025 as The Good Oak under new owners).

“So good… so expensive…” – that, in a nutshell, is the conundrum always posed by this “iconic” Thames-side café in an obscure Hammersmith sidestreet, founded in 1987 by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers in the office canteen of the architectural practice of the latter’s famous late husband, Richard Rogers (more correctly, Baron Rogers of Riverside). The underpinnings of its world fame remain in place and, at night, chauffeurs congregate in the road outside, waiting to run ‘the great and the good’ back into central London. “The ingredients and cooking are of the highest quality” (“everything tastes brilliantly and perfectly of itself”); the cramped and “noisy” interior may be “nostalgically dated”, “but somehow it’s also a timeless classic”; and on a sunny day its Thames-side terrace feels “magic”. However, the unbalanced value equation of price vs quality here means it has now topped our annual diners’ poll vote as the ‘Most Overpriced’ meal for many years. The traditional explanation has been that “it’s crazy expensive – but folks have all been saying that for ages, and still we all go”. But the pushback is growing, ratings are flagging, and – strikingly – whereas 1/3 of diners used to say it’s just not worth it, nowadays it’s up to 2/3: not helped by “amateur” service that’s seems “increasingly snooty”. (“I always used to tell people off for complaining about the River Café prices, but sadly bills are now on the wrong side of exploitative…”; “it really is top drawer, but the prices are simply incomprehensible…”; “insanely expensive and living off past glories”; “hadn’t been for ages but the food was awful and the price is ludicrous. Not going again!”).

Even those who say this lively pub near Hammersmith Broadway is “not special” foodwise rate its Mediterranean food as “good”. Other feedback is more enthusiastic however, and this sibling to Earl’s Court’s Atlas remains a good destination for those wishing to escape the crush of nearby King Street. Top Tip – cute terrace for the summer.

This “cute and small neighbourhood Italian” near Parsons Green – complete with tasteful neutral decor, proper tablecloths and large pepper grinders – continues to thrive on its “good-quality cooking and friendly service”.

“I love it here!” – “Michele’s cooking is always great; Heidi is always welcoming” at this “really delightful neighborhood Italian restaurant” lost in the backstreets between Brook Green and Olympia. The cuisine is uncomplicated, but honest, full of flavour and very fairly priced, and there’s a thoughtful small wine list to accompany it.

Nowadays a veteran among ‘modern’ Italian restaurants – Gino Taddei & Sally Eidlitz’s timeless and high-quality dining room tucked away between Kensington and Olympia no longer generates the buzz it did in its 1990s heyday, but for many regulars who go out of their way to visit, it remains a “lovely local restaurant… wish it was nearer me”.

For well-heeled locals, this smart Sardinian on busy Holland Park Avenue is the ideal quality neighbourhood Italian. “All elements combine, after more than 20 years, to make it a favourite” – there’s “great food and wine”, and, especially if they know you, “Alberto, Franco and Roberto ensure it’s always a fun affair”.

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.

This quartet of modern pasta joints offer “high-quality ingredients” and staff who “make you feel very welcome”. But the cooking divides opinion sharply, with some reporters praising “good, unpretentious” cooking “at a fair price” and others complaining of “tiny, overpriced helpings – avoid!”. A more nuanced judgement: “good but could be so much better – menu had some great options but everything seemed overpowered with butter/oil”.

“Creative Italian pasta and fish dishes are beautifully prepared and served in a charming atmosphere just off Chiswick High Road”, in the former premises of Michael Nadra (RIP). This little pasta bar is “a relatively recent addition – but with L’Amorosa gone from down the road, the area needed a new high-quality local Italian… and now it’s here!”.

2024 Review: “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.