West Brompton, Italian Restaurant Guide

“You’d think you were in a capable restaurant in Italy” at this “totally reliable neighbourhood favourite” almost opposite Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, where you’ll find “comforting and quality home cooking”, “excellent, welcoming service”, and “good prices for the area”. It’s a “cheap ’n’ cheerful” set-up though: “the interior is not fancy and it can get very noisy”. Top Menu Tip – “fabulous zabaglione – even better than usually found in Italy!”.

2022 Review: This Fulham Road newcomer on ‘The Beach’ opened mid-lockdowns with a contemporary Italian offering. It’s the brainchild of Leandro Longo (La Caricatura) and chef Ignacio Fuggiero (The Met). You can opt for an eight-course tasting menu (as well as two-course, three-course and à la carte options) but the approach has strong, traditional Italian roots.

2023 Review: This “treasured Chelsea local, tucked away in a cosy basement off the Fulham Road ‘beach’”, inspires a devoted following from its regulars, looking after them with “classy and delicious” Italian dishes and an impressive wine list. Tourists and casual passers-by are unlikely even to notice the all-but-hidden entrance, adding to the clubbish appeal.

Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, this “old-fashioned, elegant Italian” in a sidestreet off a stretch of the King’s Road near World’s End “still feels family-run after all these years” and is beloved of well-heeled parents from SW3 and beyond for a “perfect Sunday Sunday lunch en famille” thanks to its “lovely atmosphere”, especially in summer in the charming garden. Its wider fanbase are struggling, though, and the days when it was a magnet for stars from Jack Nicholson to Liz Taylor are largely in the past. It doesn’t help that it can increasingly appear “incredibly expensive for what it offers”, with several reporters noting that it has “gone downhill recently” (“good things have disappeared from the menu…”; “they seem to have stuffed in more tables…”; “revisited after several years… heart-broken at the decline”).