World Pasta Day 2021: The best pasta restaurants in London, from Padella to Lina Stores

Never has pasta been bigger in London. Perhaps it speaks to the relative simplicity of getting a pasta place off the ground — it doesn’t require much in the way of pricey kitchen gear, neither does it involve convincing customers to broach unfamiliar— but new spots dedicated to what can be done with flour and water (and, sometimes, egg) seem to be flourishing.

It could be because pasta offers up a simple kind of comfort, whether it is a 10-minute whip up of pasta e burro — nothing more than butter emulsified with water and stirred with parmesan — or the seven-hour sweat of the Genovese ragu, the Neapolitan favourite. Or because it can be light — try linguine ai gamberi (with prawns) — when it needs must.

Either way, the days of carbonara with a great pour of double cream seem to mostly be gone for good. From the city’s favourite cacio e pepe to a longstanding hit from Angela Hartnett, below are London’s finest pasta merchants.

Padella

It is impossible to talk about pasta, or at least the London revival of it, without mentioning Padella. This diminutive pasta bar in London Bridge was opened by Tim Siadatan and the team behind hit Highbury restaurant Trullo in 2016 – and its seen near constant queues at its door ever since. A second incarnation opened later in Shoreditch and getting a seat still takes dedication (bookings are extremely limited), but the patient are well rewarded. Prices for pasta start at just £4 and rarely tip the £15 mark. At either, the signature dish of cacio e pepe has been a victim of its own success, now costing £10 where just a couple of years ago it was £6.50. Still, consisting of thick, wiggling strands coated generously in a shimmering sauce made with parmesan and black pepper, the thing is sublime. One of London’s musts.

SE1, EC2, padella.co

Lina Stores

For 74 years, Lina Stores in Soho was a deli – a much-loved, very good deli, but nothing more. Then the family-run store took a leap and opened a second site on Greek Street: a restaurant that would serve the homemade pasta it had produced for decades on-site. Chef Masha Rener took the reigns and the result was a superb antipasti and pasta bar that quickly became made a name for itself amid the hefty competition in Soho. Delicate, perfectly cooked pasta is assembled in front of diners at the counter. The menu changes with the seasons, but a frequent flyer is the ricotta and herb-stuffed gnudi dumplings, finished with a brown butter sauce and sage. Its new digs have proved so successful that a considerably larger site opened in King’s Cross in 2019, with another opening in Bloomberg Arcade this month. For us, the original remains the best: the cosiness of the place is hard to beat. Grab a seat at the counter, a glass of white wine, and get stuck in.

W1, N1, linastores.co.uk

Bocca di Lupo

This restaurant was filling the bellies of London theatregoers with proper pasta for long before the bucatini boom. Jacob Kenedy and Victor Hugo’s Soho spot beckons in diners with its bright but cheery dining room, before serving up innovative, al dente pasta dishes alongside secondi piatti, crispy fritti and sumptuous salumi. Head here for something a little different, like the rigatoni con la pajata, with offers a sauce of tomato, pecorino and pajata — milk-fed calf’s intestines with the mother’s milk still left inside. The counter is the spot to sit at for the kitchen theatre, smells and all, while the dining space to the back manages to conjure the clattering comfort of a busy, hidden spot somewhere lost down an Italian backstreet.

12 Archer Street, W1, boccadilupo.com

Bancone

This West End hit, which opened in 2018, earned itself a Bib Gourmand just over a year later — an award given out by Michelin for restaurants that offer good value for money – and followed its early success with a second site in Soho’s Golden Square. Bancone’s most famous dish is as gratifying as it is Instagrammable — its “silk handkerchiefs” dish sees sheets of pasta fold their way around a sauce made with butter and finely chopped walnuts. At the centre of this nest is a brilliant orange confit egg yolk, that oozes satisfyingly about the plate when split — little surprise former head chef Louis Korovilas took them to his new place, Tower Bridge spot Tavolino. While the hype surrounding this place has been somewhat muted recently, its still somewhere to seek out, especially as landing a table is so much easier than it once was.

WC2, W1, bancone.co.uk

Cafe Murano

Angela Hartnett’s Murano — an ode to her family’s native north Italy — has earned itself a Michelin star for its contemporary Italian food. But if you fancy enviable pasta in relaxed settings, heading to one of her Cafe Murano restaurants is a more pocket-friendly undertaking. Pumpkin tortelli made with fragrant amaretti and sage is a winner, while spaghetti pomodoro with basil proves the merits of keeping it simple. You’ll find a slightly larger menu selection at the St James location and east Londoner’s should go local at the Bermondsey site, but a trip to Covent Garden means you can nip next door to the restaurant’s Pastificio deli, and pick up a box of the very same fresh pasta to cook at home.

WC2, SW1, SE1, cafemurano.co.uk

Pophams Hackney

Once upon a time, Londoners would associate Pophams with a whole different form of delicious carbohydrate. But with the opening of their second location, the pastry purveyors famed for their picture perfect croissants and viennoiserie took on pasta as a second course. Pophams Hackney serves pasta made by the same bakers who intricately fold their baked treats, with unusual shapes aplenty – there aren’t too many London restaurants offering triangolotti, casonsei and scarpinocc. Highlights include the taleggio-filled cappelletti, which are served with macerated grapes and walnuts in a cheese and thyme sauce.

197 Richmond Road, pophamsbakery.com

Pastaio

For spaghetti in particularly stylish surroundings, Carnaby’s Pastaio serves pasta with aesthetic perks. Between the postmodern mural and tables topped with terrazzo, however, it’s all about pasta. It’s rigatoni in slow-cooked tomato sauce with marjoram and parmesan is a hit all year round, while its six-hour cooked beef shin reginette with gremolata is a sure-fire hit whenever it’s on the menu. A second site is open in Westfield London.

W1, W12, pastaio.co.uk

Emilia’s Crafted Pasta

Head past the City and towards Tower Bridge and you’ll find Emilia’s Crafted Pasta nestled in the increasingly foodie St Katharine Docks. This small restaurant has a second site in Aldgate, but pasta consumed overlooking a boat or two is difficult to beat. Pasta is either fresh or dried here, but always made in house, and served with the likes of casarecce with walnut sauce and chestnut mushrooms, or a four-hour bechamel bologneses, tossed with pappardelle and grated parmesan. A new site is set to open in Canary Wharf this winter.

Two locations in E1, emiliaspasta.com