Archway Battersea - (Near Lambeth, South East)

5 /5 Archie Pattenden: Great atmosphere, lovely open kitchen with charming chefs. Nyall took care of us so well, very attentive and charismatic. The Risotto and the tartare were delicious. Also, cocktails can be made off menu on request and we had a lovely cosmopolitan. We’ll be back. Thanks

5 /5 Howie T.J.: So glad to have found an Italian restaurant that meets our high standard. Too many mediocre ones in London. We went for an early lunch and were warmly greeted by Nyall, who looked after us throughout and ensured we had a great experience. He explained the menu in detail and offered some recommendations. When we weren’t sure which wine would pair best with our food, he kindly let us try a few options before choosing. Everything we ordered from starters to dessert was class. I’d highly recommend the crab tagliolini, the rib eye and the torta caprese (they change menu monthly). We love the interior too - warm, comforting and minimalistic. A casual restaurant with fine-dining service.

3 /5 Clark Roberts: We went there for my partners birthday dinner and had a table booked for 6pm (when the restaurant opened). We arrived just before 6, tried the door and couldnt get in. Waited till 6 and knocked on the door and couldnt get in. We then proceeded to call the restaurant 5 or 6 times and couldnt get through and I banged on the door very hard three times and nobody answered. At around 18:20 we considered just leaving but as a last ditch effort I banged on the window and someone finally came and unlocked the door to let us in. To our surprise there was already a couple in there eating their mains so how they got in and nobody heard us outside I have absolutely no idea. After explaining this to the person who let us in, we were given no apology or explanation and just light heartedly told "it makes us feel more exclusive" which after waiting outside in the cold on my partners birthday, went down like a lead balloon. Needless to say the food had a lot to make up for at this point and it unfortunately fell very short of doing this. The Fritto di pesce misto was quite nice, but weve both had a similar dish locally to us which we preferred. The Tagliolini crab had the flavour profile or a thai dish which was not what I had wanted from an Italian restaurant. I had the large portion and my partner had the starter portion and we could not tell the difference between them except my partner had a small visible amount of crab on her plate and I didnt have a single piece. All in all we should have just both ordered the starter portion. The Bomboloni was quite tasty as the custard inside was delicious, but the dough was comparable to funfair doughnuts. The Tiramisu was one of the best ive had in this country and definitely the highlight of the meal, but not enough to make the experience worthwhile. Overall I wish we had booked somewhere else for dinner, I cant quite understand the glowing reviews of the food and service because this was not our experience at all. On a positive note the setting of the restaurant was cozy and romantic like others have stated, just a shame about the food and service.