Allora

No, I wasn’t lost and wandering this far away from central London. It was a birthday of a friend of a friend and I got invited and as my reward got some house-​made gnocchi — flavorful and soft. Wouldn’t recommend the crab ravioli — not nearly as well done as the gnocchi. Attentive service, good flavors, decent pricing.

Excellent Italian food with warm and welcoming service! We had the mussels, gnocchi and pappardelle and each was delicious. The wine list complimented the food well and didn’t break the bank, and the finishing touch was the tiramisu! What a find and we will be back.,

A quick 7-​minute walk from Maida Vale Marriott gives you a fantastic meal at the cozy Allora. The hosts were warm & gracious, the food & wine were mouth-​wateringly delicious and the ambience was a perfect blend of simple modernity and comfort.
There were seven of us, including a sleeping 3.5-year-old. The owner happily offered to set up two chairs together to make into a make-​shift bed next to us.
We ordered a bottle of Barolo Essenze & another bottle of (something?) white — and both complimented the food well.
We chose 3 appetizers for the table. The Bruschetta was a successful, albeit unusual, take on the typical offering — it was basically deconstructed bruschetta on three pieces of bread: one with tomatoes, one with an olive tapenade & one with mushrooms. The Prosciutto & Pears was another slight twist on the more conventional prosciutto & melon; the flavor profile worked, but I prefer melon still as the textures seem to meld together more easily. Lastly, the Calamari was delicate & flavorful, with no surprise additions except a tasty tartar sauce with a hint of mustard.
Entrees: the delectable Pappardelle with Duck Ragu was somehow both hearty & light. Would go back to order this again in a heartbeat. The Gnocchi w/​tomatoes, mozzarella & basil were very fresh and there was a good dynamic between the caprese-​like elements and the denser pasta. The Lobster Linguini was sold as a house specialty; it was served on the actual ½ lobster shell & it delivered beyond expectations. I didn’t try the Risotto or the Veal Ossobuco, but they both looked great, were devoured very quickly & pronounced delicious. :)
Desserts: the house-​made sorbets were exactly the refreshing end to dinner I was looking for. Raspberry & lemon are pretty common flavored and they did them justice, but I was especially surprised at how much I liked the less usual apple sorbet was. Someone else got Mango and it was a was a table hit, as well. The two other desserts ordered were Deep-​Fried Ricotta balls w/​Chocolate & Panacotta. Both excellent.
All in all, it was a wonderful Italian dinner that allowed for a non-​rushed enjoyment of conversation & laughter.

This restaurant was located a short walk from our hotel (Marriott Maida Vale). We had a lovely dinner there on a weeknight. The staff was excellent — providing a taste of wine to be sure it was satisfactory. fresh ground pepper table side. friendly but not overbearing. The food was delicious. Bread and dipping sauce was served along with our wine. I ordered beef medallions and my mother ordered lobster linguine. Dinner was followed by a shot of limoncello, as both of us were too full for dessert. One of the best meals I had in London.

Cozy Italian restaurant in St. Jone’s wood. I went there alone on Wednesday night but the owner was very friendly and the restaurant was homey atmosphere and I didn’t feel lonely at all. Lobster pasta was amazing, very fresh and tasty. I will definitely go again and try different dishes!

Located in St. John’s Wood, a residential area in north-​west London, Allora does tasty and light Italian food at its best.
Allora lies on a little street in leafy St. John’s Wood and is a small but beautiful Italian restaurant. The clean and simply design is modern and the room is very light.
After being seated, I immediately started to browse through the wine list. The offering by the glass is short, and irritatingly starts with reds. However, one of the whites sounded pretty interesting. It was an Insolia Sicilia Bianco I.G.T. Normanno from Sicily. Surprisingly, the very friendly staff asked me if I would like to taste it, before they poured a full glass. I really value this kind of service and even better, I very much enjoyed this white wine. It was refreshing with a slight mineralic hint — unlike the typical mineralic taste you can get from most Rieslings. Overall, an intriguing wine that I should remember!
I started my meal with an excellent dish called «parma ham, with pears», or more poetic «prosciutto crudo di parma con frutta». It tasted just like the Italian name sounds — the juicy pear on a bed of rocket with a dash of balsamic vinegar blended perfectly with the ham. Adding freshly ground black pepper right at my table only added to the deliciousness. I also appreciated the thin salty bread I had with this starter to add some crispyness and texture.
Following an overwhelming first course, I went on and tucked into an equally delighting main of home made pappardelle with duck ragout, or in other words: «pappardelle fatte in casa al ragu’ di anatra». The pasta was nicely cooked and the plate was lighter and mor delicate than I expected, packed with enjoyable flavours.
Finally, I went on to order a dessert and opted for the deep fried ricotta balls with a sugar crust and chocolate sauce. I must admit that the dessert was perhaps the least exciting I ate at Allora — not so much because it was not good, but because of the two other stand-​out dishes and the lovely wine. After all the food and wine, I finished with a typical Italian, strong and bitter, espresso.
Opened not long ago, I hope Allora will be here to stay. The food is one of the best in the area, the service great and the atmosphere friendly and relaxed. I did not expect this when I decided to go there, I thought it would be just another average Italian place, but really, I can only highly recommend Allora.

We found Allora on a quiet Sunday through the Tastecard offers. We ordered the pasta to start, followed by a beef main. The food was absolutely lovely. Proper Italian dishes. Each bite took me back to my travels in Sardinia.
I ordered fillet steak with roast potatoes and spinach. The steak was so tender and delicious. It was absolutely succulent and juicy. Superb. The lighting is really dark in Allora, maybe a bit too dark. I thought my steak was sitting on some fancy formed roasted potatoes, so I ate my steak and then realized that it actually came with the wrong vegetables. It was bedded on salad, polenta (yuck!) and kale (double yuck!) — but I ate the kale, thinking maybe they didn’t have spinach but they should have said so when I ordered. The salad dressing what pure salt. I’m North American, I don’t get enough salt over here but I thought it was disgustingly salty. When we complained the the waiter about the polenta mix up, he didn’t offer me roast potatoes. He responded with the fact he told the waiter off. I felt a bit upset that I didn’t get my roast potatoes (who doesn’t love roast potatoes?!) and I was still hungry. Because of this, I ordered dessert when I would have been stuffed. I wasn’t happy about this (I don’t usually order dessert), so I ordered the tiramisu, which was lovely. I still left hungry though, which should never happen at a truly Italian restaurant. I felt really let down by this.
We told the owner of the mix up about the vegetables and the waiter’s response. She wasn’t very happy and was very concerned about our experience. I really appreciated that.
I will go back to Allora, it’s gorgeous Italian food close to my neighbourhood, which is worth recommending to friends.

Great Italian restaurant. The atmosphere was wonderful with music and a slide show of black and white photos. Very clean place. The staff was attentive and very friendly. The wine and food was delicious. I had red wine, grilled vegetables, lamb steak in a yummy sauce and chocolate and vanilla gelato. And to top it off, a shot of Limoncello and a chocolate with a love poem inside! I highly recommend this restaurant.

Pleasantly surprised by this Northern Italian restaurant near my hotel. just opened 9 weeks ago. It has a lovely atmosphere and friendly and attentive staff. They use fresh ingredients and the food is homemade. Tastes like Italy. Wonderful glass of wine to start with the bread and olives. I ordered grilled vegetables and then pasta with lobster in a red and white wine sauce. Pasta texture was perfect. I enjoyed the chocolate gelato as well. highly recommend this small, new restaurant.