Da Mario Restaurant

My first dinner in London and I’d consider it a major success! I scoured Unilocal for a restaurant within walking distance of my hotel in order to get a head start exploring the city as it should be explored – on foot. Eventually I came upon Da Mario Restaurant which stood out when I read that Princess Diana is fond of this otherwise inconspicuous Italian spot.
Walking up to Da Mario, it’s chilly, but you can still see diners sitting on the patio and lights twinkling as the sun sets. The atmosphere is romantic, but lively. We started with a Fantasia di Bufala, which consisted of buffalo mozzarella, greens and tomato accompanied by olive oil and a sweet balsamic reduction. It was simple and well done, but the mozzarella wasn’t as flavorful as I’d hoped it to be. I’d probably pass on this dish if I were to return.
The Pappardelle Ragu was absolutely delicious. The flat wide pasta noodles were homemade and cooked to a perfect al dente. The ragu was essentially large chunks of fork tender beef in a tomato based sauce. I finished every last bite. My dining companion ordered the Pappardelle Aurora and also was blown away so I’d say you can’t go wrong with one of the handful of Pappardelle dishes on the menu.
Da Mario also gets a feather in it’s cap for the extra generous wine pours! This spot is definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area.

My friends and I were actually walking down the street to find another Italian restaurant that I know when we came across Da Mario. We went inside and it was already quite busy. However, the owner was there and he made accommodation for us, even though we did not have a reservation. He was very polite for doing so at the last minute.
We had the absolute best food and service from any place I have been to in all the years I’ve traveled to London. I will be going back on my next visit and will continue to be a customer!
Try the veal tortellini, it is amazing! The garlic bread is very unique and fantastic as well. Great wine selection, too!

We found this place after visiting the Natural History Museum. It was one of the best Italian places we have ever been to. We are from California so it was sad this place wasn’t closer. We ordered the ciabatta and caprese salad as a starter, pizza /​pasta for entrée, and Tiramisu for dessert. All the food was really fresh and delicious. The balsamic vinegar was particularly interesting (and tasty) as it was probably the thickest I have ever had. The staff was really friendly and on top of it. Next time we are in London we will definitely be making our way here.

I have been to many restaurants and there is only one where everything I’ve eaten has been exceptional. This is that restaurant.

We loved it here! Our expectations were fairly low to start, since we had tried a few other good-​not-​great Italian restaurants in the area. Da Mario knocked it out of the park! We had the bruschetta, pizza, and a basic pasta with tomato sauce and it was all delicious. Reasonable prices, great ambiance. Hoping to return soon!

Most delicious pizza and pasta I’ve ever had !!! Exquisite food! Made fresh and just melts in your mouth. I wish we had places like these in the US so glad we stopped by. Amazing Food must have. Best pasta and pizza in London seriously !!!

We have been going here for years. Delicious high quality and authentic Italian food. Whatever you order it’s good!

This place is AMAZING! I was in London last month (March 2016) and this was recommended by our hotel in Kensington. I am a pizza lover and this was THE BEST pizza i’ve ever had anywhere! We had the Vesuvio and the Capricciosa. Cant wait to go back to London and eat here again! Paula was our server and she was as sweet as she could be. #YUM

I live right around the corner from this cute little Neapolitan restaurant. It simply has great food and very friendly waitresses. I’ve ordered the pappardelle aurora (I always ask to add pancetta) and the melanzane parmigiana and both were great. If the weather is nice, it’s lovely to sit outside and order a bottle of wine.
I do not like to sit in the downstairs part, the service was slower and it was quite noisy. The waiters and waitresses were always very friendly. A great little spot in South Kensington.

This place has amazing pizza! I was very very impressed with the taste and service as well
There’s 2 levels to this place with multiple rooms, I would recommend a reservation on a weekend. The place is small but clean.
I would recommend the pizza here, it’s amazing
Overall I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this place based on Price, Service and Taste of food.

It may be good enough for Princess Diana but this place did not wow me at all.
I’ll start by saying Italian food is probably my least favourite cuisine. It’s all so samey and carby.
So anyway we booked a table for 5 here but still had to wait 15 minutes to be seated (and we were 5 mins late). The place is very homely but lives on the fact that princess diana came to eat there (maybe once who knows) and her memorabilia are all over the place.
I ordered one of the specialities — the spaghetti with clams — and although the pasta was cooked very well, the sauce that came with it was super salty and pretty much just tasted like salty tomato.
Portions were also quite small compared to other Italian places I’ve been to but it was still enough to fill me up.
Come for a taste of Italian mama food.

The pasta is great there, only have that every time.

Pizza is bland but pasta is good. Very nice looking and big restaurant, but the service is slow as all get-​out. We spent about 2 hours there last night waiting for our food.
Didn’t mind, because we had good company and wine, but still it’s shocking that it would take so long to serve a table of 4. All we ordered were mains and one appetizer and one bottle of wine. The appetizer was delicious — it was the aubergine parmigiana. My husband’s rigatoni amatriciana (with pancetta) was also great. Pizza is meh. Pricing is fine.
Just make sure you have a LOT of time to spend

I’ll sum it up in one line — Princess Di had GREAT taste!
(The princes is said to have dined here and this was her favorite pizza place in the neighborhood — several mementos on the walls pay homage to her)
At Da Mario restaurant, everything from the bread to the mains and desert was simply excellent. If you’re looking for a no fuss, high on taste meal in central London that wont break the bank, this is it.
We started with some focaccia bread that was perfectly warmed and crisp to dip in the two types of olive oils that were on each table — regular and chili. Yumm,
This was followed by Prawns Aglio Oglio — delicately spiced and grilled to perfection, these garlicky open faced prawns were a hint of how excellent the rest of the meal was to be.
I got the Pappardelle Pasta — cream sauce with spinach, garlic, toasted pine nuts, parmesan and fresh basil. For a change every single ingredient in this list was in the dish and what’s more you could taste it in every bite. This has to be one of the most well-​balanced pasta’s I’ve ever had. The sauce was just right — creamy, but not too overpowering or drenched in cream that you couldn’t taste anything else. Excellent.
The husband opted for the Charcoal grilled sea bass fillet, baby squid, king prawn dish that was served with a side salad of mixed greens and cherry tomatoes. I tasted the fish and it had a melt-​in-​the-​mouth type of freshness to it and the crispy bed of salad was excellent as well.
To round it all of, we shared the Caramel Custard and I had a decaf espresso — the coffee was decadent and the desert was gently soothing and delightful.
Not withstanding the fame that came with the late Princess dining here, the prices are modest and the portions generous. I was a tad skeptical of visiting this restaurant because of the celebrity tag associated with it, but everything including the service was great. Highly recommend you visit De Mario if you get a chance!

Excellent new in London. Fed the family of 5 for less than 50. Great meal and we are well satisfied. Highly recommend it for those near and far. See why Diana lived their pizza and why we loved the pasta as well. And the calzone.

So so so good. I don’t know what the mixed reviews are about. This place was boss. Had 2 appetizers. I suggest the salami plate. It was too good to be true. Their pizza is the way pizza should be made, and the pasta is fresh and delish. 10\10. Would recommend.

Fantastic food, great service. We had the melanzane parmigiana appetizer and the homemade ravioloni with two of the salad choices. All outstanding! And it felt like such a friendly place. The owner pays attention to everything, seems to know many of the patrons, and you can see a painting of him with the Princess Diana on the wall. The wait staff was excellent and the food was delivered piping hot. Highly recommended!

Reasonably priced, good location, plus the added tourist appeal for being princess Diana’s «favourite pizzeria». The so called «disco» is kind of awkward, with a funny mix of non sequitur songs and music videos playing.
With that said, the service was great and my pizza was amazing! I see why Diana liked it so much;)

Really lovely if a bit hectic! Nice little spot for dinner and some really fun décor. Good value for the location.

Fan of this place for the food and the décor, but it is true that the service is a bit poo. All of these southern Italian waiters got some attitude on them, I tell ya.
We were a big group and ordered a ton of food — and must say it arrived promptly. Half of us had pizzas and half of us pasta, and the Arrabbiata, the Amatriciana and the Seafood linguine were really actually great. The pizza was good but not outstanding and the tiramisu was pretty good but not great. There was too much whipped cream and not enough mascarpone.
But all in all, a good italian place, I would go again.