Scalini

Scalini * Over 20 Years of outstanding italian food

One of the oldest traditional fine dining Italian Restaurant left in London, with our roots in the fashionable area of Chelsea, a once Victorian artists’ colony; there is an air of ambient charm as both staff and clientele creates a warm and stylish vibe to the day’s dining experience.

Scalini has been serving excellent Italian food as simply as possible, in the most traditional, unpretentious and honest ways since 1988 and continues to do so today.

The menu is resolutely Italian, we insist on sourcing from authentic Italian produce from our suppliers based in various regions of Italy.

http://www.scalinilondon.co.uk

Scalini | Italian restaurant 'Scalini' Review

I can’t remember when I first went to Scalini, it was probably my friend Baiba who showed me this place, but I have been going there for about 8 years now, and they always deliver a great Italian meal in a very cosy and traditional Italian atmosphere.

The two main managers of the place Mario and Valerio are Italian and they are bound to approach your table and tell you the specials on their menu as well as to bring you complimentary large olives as well as toasted cut into pieces baguette bread and a tomatoe and herb salsa that you can add to the baguette, and I absolutely loves these two things they bring, and usually have had a meal before I even start ordering my food.

As a main course 3 of us (different girls this time) had the spaghetti lobster which they also say is a special on the menu, but the interesting thing is that it is always on the menu, which I guess does not really make it a special.

But it is kind of cool as the people that know about it (or have been told) most likely will order this thing, and it is like the worst kept secret they serve this, but people love to know this bit of fact, and when I speak to people about Scalini they always ask me if I know they serve the best spaghetti lobster in London.

I always have such a great time when I go to Scalini, I love the atmosphere, people chatting around you, the Italians Mario and Valerio offering advice in terms of what you should order and just being lovely in general, and I love the food there.

Scalini Italian Restaurant, Walton St, Sth Kensington, London

There are lots of other restaurants nearby: Monza is an expensive place to eat in Yeomans Row, South Kensington.

Monza serve a variety of Italian dishes at th... more Maroush III is an expensive place to eat at 38-40 Beauchamp Place in South Kensington, London.

Maroush is a chain of upmarket Lebanese restaurants with authentic atmospheres that serve traditi... more Chisou is a restaurant in Beauchamp Place, South Kensington.

Its menu serves Japanese food Borshtch 'N' Tears is a restaurant at 46 Beauchamp Place in South Kensington, London.

They also ha... more See all Italian restaurants and places to eat in South Kensington

Scalini, 1-3 Walton Street, South Kensington, London, SW3 2JD ...

Was taken there for my anniversary so I wanted it to be special and I was not let down.

The food was excellent and plenty of it, the staff were very helpful and the atmosphere was very lively.

It is a very busy restaurant so we had to book ahead for our special night.

All in all a great night out with great food and wonderful service.

Scalini is home to father of Italian food in London | London Evening ...

The Spaghetti Tree (Primavera Books, £14.99) tells in awe-inspiring detail the history of Italian restaurants in London, taking as the starting point the opening of La Trattoria Terrazza in Romilly Street.

Mario Paggetti, who in 1965, lured by stories of waiters’ high earnings, had left a job in a Bournemouth hotel to join La Terrazza, went on, as did many of his fellow workers, to open restaurants of his own.

Sale e Pepe, Sambuca, Signor Sassi and Scalini are all places where Paggetti modelled his business on the seemingly foolproof formula devised by Mario and Franco, a style of dining eagerly embraced by a clientele who probably knew that spaghetti didn’t grow on trees but maybe not a great deal else about Italian food.

When he was working at La Terrazza Mario Paggetti cut open a deep-fried chicken breast and spurted a stream of hot garlic butter all over Bruce Forsyth’s jacket.

But for that service to showbiz, for his joie de vivre, hard graft (still on the floor six days out of seven at the age of nearly 72), dedication to customers — "I was born to take care" — and a full restaurant of contented punters, Mario Paggetti gets my third star that I couldn’t, in these days of River Café, Zafferano, Locanda Locatelli (where Osvaldo Antoniazzi, head chef at La Terrazza in 1969, is currently working part-time), Semplice and Bocca di Lupo, really give for the food.

Scalini | Restaurants in Brompton, London

Scalini Restaurant, London | Italian Restaurants - Yell

So it might not be the newest or most exciting restaurant in London, but I always enjoy trustworthy and traditional Italian, and Scalini definitely fits the bill.

The menu is very, very traditional - various antipasti misti, prosciutto e melone, soups such as pasta e fagioli, golf ball-sized fluffy gnocchi, roasted veal and lamb... but all of it excellent.

The gnocchi was the best I've ever had, really something quite special.

Not even my nonna's gnocchi is as good as this!

This is a restaurant I would definitely return to - but as I am spoiled for choice in London, I'd like to make the rounds first!