Al Dente

A somewhat constrained space, but the food here is great value for money.

Great pasta! Nice atmosphere in the restaurant. They do takeaway too

The ravioli was delicious however it wasn’t a lot. Also the cannelloni’s shell tasted stale.

Starter was amazing. Pasta was very good! Cool atmosphere and nice wine

Cacio e pepe was really tasty and similar with the ones I ate in Italy.

Fantastischer Laden, der seinem Namen mehr als gerecht wird. Selten so fantastische Pasta gegessen! :-)

My wife isn’t Italian.. we can never get pasta that’s good enough but this definitely was!

I travel to Italy four or five times per annum and have eaten across northern and central Italy. I have also eaten extensively in supposedly authentic places in London and find Al Dente quality of flavour excellent. On my latest trip to al dente I had zucca and tartufo which was sublime. On this trip I ordered the green tortellioni which were yes green, good flavour of the green vegetables and a core of creamy, buttery truffle, that rather created a symphony in my mouth. Served with a creamy- cheese sauce, lightly sprinkled with parmigiano, like snow on top of green mountains was nothing but appetising. Although they were marginally under seasoned. My partner had cacio e Pepe which is a classic. She enjoyed it but, again very creamy and the place lived up to its name - Al Dente, that was certainly pasta al dente. To start we had bruschetta con Lardo with honey and walnuts - another classic Tuscan dish. This was good but a word of warning the bread is very hard and a little hard to eat elegantly. However the lard is fatty and flavoursome with sweetness from the honey and some extra texture and earthiness from the walnuts. This would have been better is he bread was softer and bite size but this is how you get it in Tuscany so I’m not actually complaining. It’s a small menu executed extremely well. The vibe is modern and marginally hipster. Everyone is at high tables along the external wall or on a communal table in the middle. You get cutlery and napkins from drawers dotted around the place like food desks... it’s great. This price here is also wonderful. This is really Italian. Pasta in an Italian village kitchen is amazing, simple and cheap. Although this has its complexity it retains the fantastic taste & texture with the rustic price price tag. Two plates of pasta, plus the bruschetta and two aperol spirtz was less than £40. What more do you want. Been before. Will be back again. Thank you al dente. Keep it up!

Ottimo cibo e servizio, sono stata molto soddisfatta. Tornerò sicuramente.

Really good fresh pasta and friendly staff. Highly recommend! -

Food was excellent! Ambience wasn't nice though. Music too loud and not appropriate, AC not working on a really hot day. Service charge doesn't go to the waitresses and you can't choose not to pay it.

For all the lovers of al dente pasta! Portions may be a bit on the small side for certain dishes that don't have as many added ingredients, but price is on the rather reasonable side for freshly made pasta in central London.

Tasty and authentic pasta. Lovely atmosphere. O o o o

Unwelcoming reception by staff. Drinks didn't arrive until the main course after we had to prompt staff for them. Main course (melanzane parmigiana) was tasty but tepid; asked staff to return to kitchen to be heated, it was returned to me at the same tepid temperature. Will not be revisiting or recommending.

Amazing fresh pasta in a casual, friendly, very Italian atmosphere. The nicest staff. A great value for this quality food.

Great food and even better prices! We will definitely be back

Found this gem through an Instagram food blogger (I know, not very original and I'm perpetuating their industry), but a great find nonetheless! Walking in, looking at the very limited menu (6-10 main dishes, including past and a couple of baked dishes), and smelling the delicious aromas, you know you're in for a fantastic meal! Highly recommended and very very light on the pocket. 5 of us ate like animals, ordering enough for 6 people and it was GBP16 pp, including service.

Great little restaurant, delicious pasta for a great price! Pity they didn't have the wine and the dish we wanted and the dessert selection could be bigger. But would absolutely come back, the staff was great!

Amazing food and great atmosphere! Also potent aperol spritzs- delicious!

I had a wonderful time at Al Dente. The food and service were fantastic. The wine selection is fairly priced. Probably the best Carbonara I had in London.

Lovely little spot in the heart of Fitzrovia. Nice friendly staff, feels like an Italian family. Very good quality price! Had a nice spritz too. My favourite pasta: ravioli

Great home made pasta used in a small but tasty range of dishes. Lovely staff. Seating is all bar stools and room is limited but that didn't take away from the experience.

The staff were incredibly rude. I had a booking for 5.15, straight after work and upon arrival the staff spoke to each other in Italian saying 'who the f eats pasta at 5.15', little did they know I was dining with my Italian friend who understood what they were saying! 1.5 hours later we were told we must leave because another booking had been made, despite never being made aware that there was a time limit on our booking. The pasta is great but not good enough to compensate for incompetent and rude staff.

We attended as a group of 6 for a bridal celebration and had a wonderful time. The food was delicious and the restaurant wasn't too loud and had a great atmosphere so we could all talk together withough shouting to be heard. The only thing that we found a little difficult towards the end of the evening was the fact that there was only one toilet which there was a little queue for (although this is a very small venue and so this is to be expected).

Excellent food and good wine at a very reasonable price

I guess you get what you pay for - cheap but not even cheerful. The food was bad (stale bread, pale and tasteless tomatoes on the bruschetta, pre-prepared parmigiana which was just about reheated, ok pasta but barely enough of it), expensive drinks, passable service. Avoid.

Good food! Really liked the paccheri and ravioli especially. Good value for money.

Pasta v good. Restaurant a little basic. Staff v nice.

Unbeatable value, tonnarelli cacio&pepe were irresistible, recommended for tourists! Service may be patchy but acceptable in a very informal trattoria. Loud Italian trap music is not really ideal for relaxing or chatting...

Absolutely amazing pastas! Feels and tastes like a little Italy

Pasta was excellent and service really quick, genuine and great! A good selection of dishes; cacio e pepe was amazing! Only slight let down was bread but everything else amazing!

Fantastic, authentic pasta, the best pasta in London, a must try

Delicious and very reasonably priced. Shame that they had ran out of cannoli

Great pasta, delicious cannoli, bread and bruschetta could have been better

The food is incredible. Run by Italians and full of Italians. Cannot fault

Booked a table for 7.15. Arrived early and table wasn’t ready,people still eating which was fine. 7 of us were squashed onto half of the table which was really noisy and just couldn’t talk to each other. One of our group was running late. But we ordered starters and drinks. No cucumber for the gin. No straws. Waitress asked if we wanted her to go an buy some which I think is rude as we then felt we were putting her out surely for the ONE gin to offer you would have the side accompaniment to go with it?!?. She returned and gave us 4 slices of cucumber for 1 gin and tonic. When starters arrived we were looking for cutlery. Now,none of us had been there before so how were we to know there is a drawer in the side of the table?!? Surely you would say that when you seat us?!? Whilst ordering we explained one of our group was running late and they would order when they get there but we were then told we only had an hour and half on the table and it was in the booking email. Looked at the email there is nothing stating this. The waitress then tried to make out that she was doing ya a favour by letting us stay on the table till 8.45. By my calculations that is an hour and half? Well by the time our food came it was coming close to 8.45 but we were made to feel like we should rush our food and get out as we were an inconvenience. As we were leaving the group after us entered and the staff were profusely apologising to them about it being late! But that wasn’t done to us when we were waiting for our table! Our group was standing outside trying to think where to go for dessert as we didn’t have time to have it in this restaurant. A man came outside and sat on the chairs, who we feel may have been the manager, and starting bitching about us saying ‘what a disaster’. I don’t think this was very professional and most definitely won’t be going back to this branch again.

The service was quick and friendly and the pasta was delicious. Maybe a bigger wine list would have been nice

The food was amazing! Their olive oil is out of this world, trust me I'm Greek, I know all about olive oil! The staff were friendly and polite and the atmosphere was nice and relaxing. We had two loud girls sitting next to us which was a bit distracting but this can happen anywhere. I would definitely go back again!

Even though the food was nice, there were lots of flies around which is not appealing at all!

Great freshly cooked food, authentic Italian. The only downside was that 2 dishes out of 8 have been forgotten in the first order. If the service will be better organised in the future it will be a 5-star rating.

Honestly some of the best pasta dishes I’ve eaten! Definitely try the seafood linguine and the cacio e pepe

Loved the food, the tiramisu is highly recommended. Skip the antipasti and have some extra pasta.

Entrees were really good. Pasta dishes varies depending on what was ordered. The restaurant is small.

Incredible simple pasta made with fantastic ingriedients. The place is ran by Italians giving it an authentic feel. I would absolutely recommend the Cacio e Pepe.

Authentic Italian pasta (this is coming from a true native) and a lovely atmosphere! Definitely worth coming if you just want a plate of amazing, traditional italian pasta :)