London's best Italian restaurants

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Gino Davoli serves up his zabaglione at his Waterloo restaurant, La Barca

Neapolitan know-how: yard-long pizzas, £25, at The Yard in Shoreditch

We all love a good Italian, but there's a lot more to this country's cuisine than spag bol. From the piada street-food of Emilia Romagna in the north to spicy arrabbiata sauce from Calabria in the boot of Italy, the country offers up a veritable cornucopia of different regional fares.

And with London's burgeoning selection of authentic Italian restaurants, we don't even need to leave town to experience these regional nuances at first hand.

So be adventurous and take our grand taste tour of Italy as we round up the capital's best regional restaurants...

Piada
While you might not associate Italy with the humble sandwich, the piada - an unleavened bread wrapped around a filling - is one of the country's oldest foods, from Emilia Romagna. It was originally used as a disposable platter but evolved into a sandwich and became a popular street-food. Now Londoners can taste it at the Piada cafés in Soho and Farringdon. All the piadas are freshly made and you can choose from savoury fillings like the Tre (£4) with mortadella and mozzarella, or for a sweet snack try the sedici (£3) filled with Nutella.
50 Frith Street, W1 (020 7287 6263)

La Famiglia
A Chelsea staple since 1975, La Famiglia is owned by Alvaro Maccioni. Sir Mick Jagger is a regular and Tom Cruise grew so addicted to the simple Tuscan fare that he ordered take away from here the whole time he was in London. The pappardelle with wild boar sauce (£10.50) is popular with customers. Wild boar also comes roasted as a main course (£15.50). Other Tuscan favourites include angel hair pasta with truffle oil and black truffles (£10.50) and crostini of chicken liver p‚té on ciabatta (£3.50).
7 Langton Street, SW10 (020 7351 0761)

Sardo
The island of Sardinia is separated from the rest of Italy both geographically and culturally and as Sardo's Sardinian owner, Romolo Mudu, explains: "It could almost be a different country." It was this fierce regional pride that inspired him to open his Fitzrovia restaurant ten years ago. You can try dishes like spaghetti bottariga (£ 11), flavoured with dry grey mullet roe, or malloreddus (£9.50), a traditional teardrop-shaped Sardinian pasta in a tomato and aromatic sausage sauce.
45 Grafton Way, W1 (020 7387 2521)

The Yard
The Yard brings that Neapolitan speciality of the Campania region, the pizza, to Shoreditch. It's set over two floors, with outdoor space, as well. So far, so standard. But what sets this place apart are its enormous yard-long pizzas which taste as good as anything you'll get in Naples. Choose from a quarter-yard of rocket and parma ham (£7.95) or order a whole yard (from £25) which features up to four different types of pizza and is served on a huge wooden platter.
140 Tabernacle Street, EC2 (020 7336 7758)

Capri
Capri has been run by the avuncular Luigi Aversa since 1979 and brings a little slice of the Italian seaside to the Archway Road. Customers flock there to sample specialities from Capri like ravioli Caprese, filled with caciotta cheese (£6.90), and Caprese tart with almond and chocolate (£2.50).

Many of the dishes were created by Aversa himself and inspired by his childhood in a coastal village near Sorrento. Customers might even get a free shot of Luigi's famous homemade limoncello, made with lemons imported from Capri. At a potent 45 per cent alcohol, it's a great way to ensure his customers leave happy.
256 Archway Road, N6 (020 8341 7327)

La Barca
Calabrian-born Gino Davoli has been feeding a star-studded cast of customers since 1976. Tony Blair is a regular, as are Sir Ian McKellen and Kevin Spacey. The Calabrian speciality penne arrabbiata (£8.70) is a favourite, as is Gino's pulcino alla diavola (£13.50), chicken with mixed herbs, garlic and chilli.

The zabaglione (£15 for two) is a family recipe and your waiter will flambée the ingredients at your table.
80-81 Lower Marsh, SE1 (020 7928 2226)

 

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