Piazza Italiana - Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in London

I’m not sure what to think about this place. This was a catch up dinner with 2 very good friends who I had not seen in a while. They are both DJs, and they were playing at a panoramic restaurant close by, hence the choice of this place, a few minutes walk from the venue they were going to later on. The place is very beautiful, very grand and very corporate, aiming for big numbers and big city spenders. The menu looked great, with slots me of our favourite dishes, from vitello tonnato to spaghetti alle vongole to carbonara, fritto misto etc. we order some bread that came on a beautiful assiette normally used for oysters, with 3 dips, some grissini, and some sort of pane carasau, the Sardinian wafer thin bread. All of it was delicious. The fritto misto and the vitello tonnato were very good and we shared them. As a main we ordered 2 spaghetti alle vongole and 1 cotoletta milanese ( this was made with chicken, so it was not the classic dish that you find in Milan or in Italy ). The very nice waitress told us that there was only 1 spaghetti alle vongole, so the other 2 guests both ordered this dish). The spaghetti alle vongole came, and, to my disappointment, it was not the classic recipe of spaghetti alle vongole, as it was made with clams, yes, and there was an addition of bottarga, which I was happy to add to it, but the taste was so far removed from the classic Italian spaghetti alle vongole, that I really resented ordering it. I have no problem with reinventing it updating a traditional dish such as this, but I wish it was specified on the menu that this was with added lobster stock, or a bisque, or whatever it was that completely changed the taste of the dish that I was looking forward to eating. We had a very good Villa Matilde Greco Di tufo, some spinach as side dish, and we shared a tiramisu. The tiramisu was good, heavy with mascarpone, lacking in coffee dosage, a key ingredient that is essential for a good tiramisu. The service is very good, in fact it was excellent, and the waitress who served us, together with everybody else, was very kind and helpful. We were also kindly offered 3 limoncello at the end. The prices are reassuringly expensive, the wine list has some prices that are astronomical, as the lowest priced bottles start at around £65-70 or more. Our bill for 3 came to £288 in total . The atmosphere is quiet, calm, there is no buzz on a Friday evening, the clientele is probably city boys with guests or family members, or tourists that go to an Italian restaurant because their hotel or holiday apartment is nearby. The decor is amazing, the toilets squeaky clean, and, as the pic shows, they accept crypto currency for payment ! I leave you with this information, make of that...

We had a lovely experience at Piazza Italiana, it was the perfect venue for a belated Christmas and New Year catch up with my good friend.

The venue was nicely very quiet, surprisingly so for a Saturday lunchtime. Only a handful of other tables were occupied during our time in the restaurant. As we went in traditional Italian music was playing and later moved on to a good selection of more upbeat, popular contemporary tracks.

Our waitress was very attentive during the whole meal and was knowledgeable about the dishes on the Bottomless Italian Brunch menu. For £35 you can enjoy an hour and a half of bottomless pizza and pasta, alongside a starter and the dessert of the day. For £59 you can include bottomless Aperol Spritz, Prosecco and Bellinis as well, which works out better value if you are having two or more of these drinks. My friend had a Winter Berry Negroni to drink, which we were impressed had the restaurant’s logo shaped into the giant ice cube inside.

The truffle and mozzarella arancini were very nice for my starter, as were the pasta dishes and pizza for our main course, with a good selection of dishes on the menu. My friend tried the vanilla cheesecake with cranberry sauce for dessert which looked very nice and well presented.

The only ways in which this menu could be improved would be to have a slightly larger portion of pasta and speed up the time taken between ordering and when you receive the food, as you are on a time limit of 1.5 hours. Alternatively the time limit could be increased to two hours which would work well.

The only slight downside of our meal was the steep service charge that was added to our bill (£14), though this is to be expected for London. This always frustrates me as I believe that tipping should be left to the diner’s discretion and not expected by the restaurant. I had my half of the service charge removed, though annoyingly the waitress questioned this and asked if her service hadn’t been good. I gave a £3 tip as it would have been mean not to, especially as my friend had paid theirs.

The other noteworthy part of this restaurant was the bathroom with rather unique lavatories in them. There were flannels to dry hands with in the bathroom which was a nice touch.

I would definitely recommend visiting this restaurant if you enjoy Italian dining and are looking for somewhere a little posh. The décor of the restaurant was really nice as well, with comfortable armchairs, columns and a high painted ceiling.

The restaurant is situated in an impressive Grade II listed building and is the former home of the British Linen Bank. The menu is designed by Sicilian-born culinary maestro...

2/5 - Not for us, I guess.

Came here with my family last night (July 2025) for dinner while visiting London from Canada because we saw it in the search results as we were craving for some Italian food.

Some positives: The building and atmosphere was beautiful. And the space was clean and well maintained. Definitely felt fancy just sitting there.

Now for everything else. The food was pretty good! No complaints there, but it was nothing special. And the prices felt a bit high for what we got. Portions could’ve been more generous too, especially considering the cost. We didn’t mind paying for a nice meal, but we left still a little hungry. We've been to other Italian restaurants with the same quality but less cost and bigger portions.

But the real reason I’m leaving this review is the service. We quickly realized this place just isn’t for people like us who aren’t into the whole fine dining scene. It honestly felt like we couldn’t move or speak too loudly without it feeling like someone was side-eyeing us. My mom noticed how a waitress (Elena, I think her name was) make a face when we asked for just tap water. We simply don’t drink alcohol, and it felt weird to be low-key judged for that.

It also kind of felt like we were being judged for not ordering appetizers. Maybe we were reading too much into it, but the whole energy from most of the staff just felt stiff and awkward. And later on, when we were tasting each other’s plates (a totally normal thing in our culture as Southeast Asian), the vibes felt off once again. For the record, we each ordered a main plus a single side. It’s not like we were being cheap by ordering only one thing for the four of us. Sharing food is just part of how we connect and enjoy meals together.

It’s possible we misread things, sure. But I think it says something that feeling was there in the first place.

The one bright spot among the staff was Vaida (I think she was the hostess?). She was genuinely warm and friendly, and actually made us feel like we were welcome there. We appreciated that a lot.

Overall, the experience just wasn’t comfortable. If you’re into high-end dining and want to dress up and spend big, maybe you’d have a better time. But if you’re just a regular family hoping for a good meal without the weird tension? Might be better to go...