Italian Restaurant in
Covent Garden

The room is built around an open kitchen, with pasta on the pass, fish from the grill, and the bar mixing Negronis and spritzes through the evening. Interiors lean into Italian warmth with wood, soft lighting and terracotta accents. Among the Italian restaurants on the Strand and across Covent Garden, this is one for diners who want the cooking in the middle of the room rather than hidden behind a wall.

The format is the Italian osteria: a room set for regular dining rather than occasion dining, at a pace that suits a weekday evening as much as a Saturday. The osteria is part of the Bocconcino group, alongside the Mayfair and Soho restaurants, and shares the same regional Italian kitchen and wine philosophy.

Handmade pasta and dishes from the open kitchen

The à la carte follows Italian cooking region by region. Antipasti run from XL Carpaccio di Manzo Scozzese and La Parmigiana Classica to Calamari fritti con salsa tartara. The pasta section carries Ravioli alla Genovese with slow-cooked beef and onion ragù, Rigatoni alla Vodka, and Pasta al Granchio served with crab in a spider crab head. The pasta is made by hand.

From the main kitchen and the grill come Pollo Milanese Perfetto, slow-cooked Costina di Manzo Brasata con Purè al Tartufo, and La Bistecca, a Scottish rib eye with rocket, confit garlic and veal jus. Seasonal seafood runs through the menu, with whole fish from the grill and market catches through the year. Vegetarian and vegan dishes sit within the menu rather than in a separate section, and the kitchen handles allergies and dietary requirements as a matter of course.

The wine list

The list follows the diversity of Italian vineyards: crisp whites, sparkling wines, rosés, and bold reds from Tuscany and Piedmont, alongside orange wines from independent producers that rarely reach London lists. Each bottle is chosen against the kitchen, which means the pairings work with handmade pasta and grilled fish rather than sitting alongside them. The bar runs a full cocktail list through service.

Pre-theatre and set lunch, Monday to Friday

The set menu runs weekdays with two and three-course options, working as both a business lunch and a pre-theatre dinner. The Strand position is the practical part: the restaurant sits in the middle of the theatre district, closer to the eastern West End venues than most Covent Garden dining, so a curtain time is a walk rather than a journey. The kitchen is paced for it, and the floor team times the courses to the show.

Bottomless brunch and the Sunday seafood buffet

Brunch runs Saturday and Sunday from midday to 3:30pm, with grilled lobster, antipasti, pasta and free-flowing drinks. Sunday adds the Italian seafood buffet: lobster, oysters, prawns and crab, alongside handmade pasta, antipasti and desserts. Both are sit-down services in the main dining room rather than a counter format, and both book out on weekends through the year.

Live music in Covent Garden

Live music runs on Wednesday evenings, with performances through dinner service alongside the cocktail list. The volume is set for a dining room rather than a bar, which is the point: the room keeps its atmosphere without making conversation at the table difficult. Reservations are worth making for the music nights.

Private dining and events

The private dining room takes 26 seated or 30 standing, enclosed and separate from the main room. Semi-private hire takes 40 seated or 50 standing, giving a dedicated area inside the working restaurant. Exclusive hire of the whole venue takes 86 seated or 159 standing. Birthdays, corporate events, weddings and family celebrations run across all three formats, with bespoke menus, drinks packages and décor arranged in advance by the events team. Private dining at Osteria.

Where to eat in Covent Garden: how Osteria fits

Covent Garden is dense with places to eat, and most of them fall into two groups: the fast counter formats built for the tourist flow around the piazza, and the theatre-district restaurants running set menus at volume before curtain. Osteria sits apart from both. The kitchen is open and working through service, the pasta is made by hand each day, and the room is set for a full meal rather than a turnaround. It handles the pre-theatre booking as well, but it is not built only for it.

Frequently Asked Questions