Just returned from England & the culinary highlight of the trip was this Italian restaurant in…read moreBalham. The food, service, and environment were top notch. As good as or better than any Italian food I've had in the US of A. We were a party of 8 and had a large assortment of appetizers & mains all of which were delicious. Also the Pinot Grigio I had was very tasty &, by report, the cocktails were also excellent. Finally, they comp'd us each a jigger of limoncello which was the perfect way to end a super meal. I recommend this place highly to anyone in the area of Balham or is willing to challenge the narrow streets & fulsome traffic of London.

Ok, so this is my type of Italian. Walk in and you are greated with Bouna sera, the smell of pizza…read moreand the sound of an espresso machine. Went on Sunday for their £14.50 Sunday lunch - fantastic value. The antipasti was simple but delicious. Real highlight was the rolled anchovies in breadcrumbs. Each say on a bay leaf which had heavily flavoured the oily little fish - yum! Mains were classic Italian tratoria fare, lovely baked pasta dishes like veal and tomatoes or cannelloni. I had the later and wished I had served myself more. Desserts were simple, although I was a bit bummed at the lack of tiramisu. I have been working my way around the tiramisus of the world since my first encounter in Italy so am a very boring guest at an Italian dinner if I don't get it. I had canoli, which were perfect. Overall, love the atmosphere (think kids covered in tomato sauce) nonnas chowing down on risotto, and lots of normal 30s folk enjoying good comfort food and comfort prices. Service was wonderfully friendly and attentive. I will be back!

Fantastic food, 10/10 service and a warm welcome - we visited for a group family dinner and had…read morefantastic food and service. Will be back and highly recommend

This is a nice, cosy little Italian restaurant on the wrong side of the common. That is, it's on…read morethe Balham side of Clapham South where the hoards don't hang as much. I particularly like this place in the summer as they put loads of seats outside and serve up delicious salads and crisp wines. Inside, the decor is very traditional, with pictures on the wall and rustic tablecloths. The Italian staff are masters of making you feel very at home. Their homemade ravioli with spinach and ricotta is sensational - the best I've tasted, and they do amazing baked aubergine for starters. If you find yourself in Balham needing a bite to eat, I'd recommend you pop in here. The prices are reasonable, staff make certain that you're happy and full, and the food is decent.

Had seen this place when out for a walk on Boxing Day. Arrived not soon after it opened. Food was…read moregood, with a good selection, seeming genuinely Italian. Staff were very friendly. Wasn't outrageously busy - but given that it was a Monday evening between Christmas and New Year, not that surprising.

Beautiful intimate restaurant with great service. I got the ribeye, potatoes, bone marrow butter,…read moreand lemon merengue pie. Everything was delicious. The ribeye was cooked perfect and cut like butter. The flavor on it was also perfect. I liked how the potatoes were cooked but they could have used a little more seasoning. The lemon merengue pie was absolutely delicious too and came along with a nice presentation. I highly recommended this place.

We had reservations for two at Macellaio RC tonight, and the food completely surpassed all of my…read moreexpectations. I don't typically like to go out to restaurants for steak as I feel like I can cook a pretty great one myself at home, but this place was highly recommended by my girlfriend's coworker. I'm very glad we came, because this was arguably the best steak dinner I have ever had in my life! We ordered the Steak Tartare, Liver, and 700g of the T-Bone steak to share. (This was way too much food for two people, but 700g is the minimum order for T-Bone). We ate so much meat today, I feel like I need to go vegetarian for a day just to balance my body out. Still, every single item was fantastic. The Liver with the roasted onion puree may have been the standout. It was incredibly tender and flavourful, and I don't normally even like to eat liver. The T-Bone steak was also amazing, buttery smooth such that I felt like I could have cut it with a spoon. Service was great as well, with the wait staff being incredibly attentive and kind. Will definitely be returning to Macellaio RC in the future!

I've been here twice to catch up with a good friend over a glass of wine. The great thing about…read morethis place is they accept the Tastecard so food is half price! I usually order the seafood linguini and calamari to start. The food is amazing here and I ensure I have a small lunch so I can fill myself to maximum capacity at Caminata in the evening. The atmosphere is really nice and quite often you can find pieces of artwork for sale on the walls. The staff are always happy and greet you as long lost friends. You can tell they are passionate about the food they produce. Definitely a place to bring friends for a nice quiet catchup!

The star for this place goes to the staff who are really friendly and the decent house red wine…read more Other than that food is horrendous and I would definitely not recommend anyone go here. Pizzas are boring and just not tasty. The frito misto starter is appalling. And the garlic bread (more just garlic sauceless pizza) has nothing to offer.

Customer service is spotty meaning they dont give a shit about patrons. No warm greeting from guys…read morein the back, seems they hold the waitresses solely responsible for that. Went in two days in a row. For a fried appetizer assortment and seafood with pasta. Both days food quality 5 stars. Friday night waited 45 min inside the restaurant for takeaway. They got the order wrong , didnt give us garlic cheese bread so lost out on 8 pounds. Saturday night wasnt very busy at all so takeaway took 10 min. Dropped 30 pounds each time and food is worth the quality but these seem like nyc prices. Good for them for having consistent food quality over the years (based off of prior reviews) .

This was a really good local Napoli pizzeria - their wood-fired pizza oven takes pride of place in…read morethe open kitchen, where you can watch the chefs prep the dough and add the toppings. It's definitely a meeting spot for the local Italian community which added to the atmosphere of the place (you might be sat in Tooting but for a little while you could imagine being in Turin). The menu's fairly comprehensive, with a good range of starters (£4-£7.50), pasta (£5-£8.50) and pizzas (£5.50-£10.50). We went straight for the latter, with me ordering the Calzone (tomato sauce, ricotta, Neapolitan salami, ham, olive oil, basil) and my friend the Capricci (tomato sauce, ham, mushroom, artichoke, black olives, mozzarella, olive oil, basil). They were less than a tenner each and on the large side (which was a relief as we were both ravenous!). Service was friendly and efficient, and everything hit the spot, especially when accompanied by a bottle of Moretti beer. A great local eatery which is terrific value for money. Tip: they have Figli del Vesuvio - Double Pizza on the menu for £18.50. That needs to be attempted next time!

This is the third or fourth reboot this restaurant has undergone in the past few years, and it's…read morefinally hit the mark. It now looks like a proper, neighbourhood Italian - we've been three times since it re-opened and have something at the very least properly tasty and at its best genuinely delicious. Ingredients are excellent, seasonal and fresh, the cooking absolutely spot on and service and prices respectively excellent and affordable. Polenta with mushrooms, salsiccia with lentils, pizza with dolce latte (new one on me), wild boar ragu, mixed antipasti - all excellent. Alessandro is more than happy to talk over the menu - giving me a detailed description of the sausage and lentils dish I had for their special the other day. Simple, warming, satisfying - I'm not sure it gets any better.

Lovely, busy, local restaurant with authentic food and great service. The chef/ owner is happy to…read moretalk you though the menu and goes out of his way to ensure you are happy. Very relaxed atmosphere (they are not in any rush to get you in and out) which I personally like. The dishes are seasonal and change regularly.

We had dinner there last night with some friends and, although the food was tasty, my husband spent…read morethe whole night with vomiting and diarrhea. Absolutely unacceptable. I'll be reporting the restaurant for food safety concerns.

Very serviceable neighbourhood Italian- it seems like it's been here forever. Excellent pasta…read moredishes, and lots of seafood. Extremely popular with families , couples, and indeed local business people, you'll rarely see the place empty( particularly on a sunny weekend). I particularly enjoyed deep fried artichokes as a starter, and the ravioli al tartufo ( white truffle ravioli) was also excellent on my last visit. One of the few restaurants I know of that still has a dessert trolley( welcome to desserts c 1981 - think tiramisu and profiteroles). As other reviewers have noted, the waiters are in the classic stereotypical mould- expect to have all your menu choices pronounced "perfect". Expect to leave £30-40 lighter per head for three courses , excluding drinks, ut with a sense of cosey well being. If I had one gripe, it would be that there isn't a wider range of wines by the glass( house white or red only, both passable Sicilian ones as I recall).

Been here twice now and enjoyed it both times. Its a little off the beaten track so between Balham…read moreand Tooting Bec station. But well worth it if your a fan of Italian food. The menu is fairly extensive covering the usual pasta, rissotto's, pizza's and has a great selection of meat and fish dishes. Specials seem to change fairly often. The wine menu has enough on there to cater for all tastes and you don't get frowned upon when asking for tap water. My first visit gets 5 stars but yesterdays visit was excellent but had to send back our seabass due to it being cold. Otherwise I would highlighly recommend it. starter, mains and a bottle of wine for two people came out at around £60