Bancone

Bancone is a chic Italian restaurant in Covent Garden with a short, straightforward menu divided into three sections: antipasti, pasta, and dessert. It's a long, tight room with a long eating counter, an open kitchen, and incredibly delicious pasta, led by chef Louis Korovilas, who formerly worked at Michelin-starred Locanda Locatelli. Chefs at the front window roll out pasta dough virtually all day, putting it on a display for passers-by while feverishly cutting and shaping for those inside who are anxiously waiting for their pasta.

There are generally around eight plates of pasta on the menu, and half of them are usually suitable for veggies. Proper al dente pasta is slightly undercooked and hard to get right, but the chefs here nailed it. In fact, all the pasta they tried was perfect: slightly chewy, so it had a little bit of bite, but soft and silky, so it held its sauce beautifully. The best dish was the poetically named "silk handkerchiefs" (it’s technically called fazzoletti) with walnut butter and confit egg yolk. Simple, but delicious: soft sheets swimming in a rich sauce, with little chunks of walnut for texture. At £8, it was also great value. Just as good as the plate of beef shin ravioli with saffron butter, sweet parsley oil, and soft, flavourful meat. Sadly, things went downhill with the salty tomato, squid, and olive bucatini (tubular spaghetti). The pasta, again, was flawless – but this dish needed less salt, more balance.

The restaurant itself is a touch office-like (it appears to have been one), but you don't come here for the appearance. You come to Bancone to eat inexpensive, wonderful pasta at the bar while people-watching others around you. Purchase those silk hankerchiefs.

Google rating: 4.5/5
Phone: +44 20 7240 8786
Address: 39 William IV St, London WC2N 4DD, United Kingdom
Service options: Dine-in · No takeaway · No delivery
Prices: £30 - £49
Website: http://www.bancone.co.uk/