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RestaurantsLondonSouth KensingtonSW7

survey result

Summary

£54
   ££
3
Good
3
Good
4
Very Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

Near the Albert Hall, on a quirky site built in the Venetian Gothic style to please Queen Victoria, this “typically bustling family-run Italian” opened in 1967, and offers a “standard menu, with properly cooked pasta” and dependable pizza. “Kids are really well looked after, just like being in Italy” – as Princess Diana found, when she used to take Wills and Harry out for a treat from nearby Kensington Palace.

Summary

£54
   ££
3
Good
2
Average
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

This “long-established” family-owned Italian in a Venetian Gothic building near the Albert Hall is “set up as a sort of homage to Princess Diana”, who used to bring Princes Wills and Harry for pizza and pasta.

Summary

£49
   ££
2
Average
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

Family-owned Italian near the Albert Hall that’s “a good option for getting away from the chains”. Open for five decades, it was apparently a favourite lunch haunt of Princess Diana, who would bring Princes Wills and Harry for pizza.

Summary

£49
   ££
3
Good
3
Good
4
Very Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

This “bustling and busy Italian very close to the Albert Hall” is a “fantastic little place”, where “children are always very welcome and well looked after” and the “food is good, especially the pasta dishes”. “It makes the most of its connection with Princess Diana”, who would bring Princes Wills and Harry here to lunch on pizza.

For 34 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).

Have you eaten at Da Mario?

15 Gloucester Rd, London, SW7 4PP

Restaurant details

Highchair,Portions
Yes
No dress code
120

Da Mario Restaurant Diner Reviews

Reviews of Da Mario Restaurant in SW7, London by users of Hardens.com. Also see the editors review of Da Mario restaurant.
sisi l
A restaurant with racial discrimination whi...
Reviewed 1 months, 1 day ago

"A restaurant with racial discrimination which is not worth visiting."

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Kim H
Great pizza and pasta and good atmosphere, ...
Reviewed 4 months,

"Great pizza and pasta and good atmosphere, especially upstairs "

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Cecilia G
The food was lovely, however, the service w...
Reviewed 10 months, 17 days ago

"The food was lovely, however, the service was atrocious… I had made a booking but didn’t realise I had booked for the day after, the manager said that we could have a table but only for an hour. I thought this was fair enough and was very grateful, but the attitude I was given throughout the dinner by the waiters and the manager. We rushed to finish our food within the time given and when it came to pay the bill, I had to ask 6 different waiters and waited for 15 minutes to get the bill, because of this I asked to take the service charge off but tipped the waiter who was actually giving us good service. Once we had left the restaurant, the manager ran out after us shouting and pointing saying “how dare you take the service charge off…” and so on then shook his head and flicked his hand at us as he stormed off. Firstly, service charge is optional, secondly, this is not the type of service I expect from a restaurant such as this. The customer service was horrendous and the manager is ridiculously arrogant and rude, which is a shame as the food was lovely."

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What the Newspaper Critics are saying

The Times

Jay Rayner discovered the solution to the problem of where to eat before a concert at the Royal Albert Hall “hiding in plain sight” a nine-minute walk away: an old-school Italian that’s a “living landmark from London’s first postwar restaurant wave”, run today by Marco Molino, son of its late founder, Mario.

The ground floor and upstairs dining rooms are “thrillingly kitsch” – “swooningly mad and, for being so, utterly delightful” – with their painting of Princess Diana (who used to sneak in from Kensington Palace to share pizza with the young princes), religious icons (Buddha, a Thai goddess and Jesus), portraits of Saudi Arabian kings, weirdly ornate ham chiller cabinet and “Poundshop Eden Project” of faux foliage around the windows.

“Most importantly the food is exactly what you want it to be,” enthused Jay, whose highlights included perfect and good-value pasta, “thumb-thick prawns” and tiramisu “so light it can practically be inhaled”. 

Jay Rayner - 2025-04-20

Prices

Traditional European menu

Starter Main Veggies Pudding
£7.70 £12.10 £8.00 £5.00
Drinks  
Wine per bottle £28.00
Filter Coffee £2.00
Extras  
Bread £0.00
Service 10.00%
15 Gloucester Rd, London, SW7 4PP
Opening hours
Monday12 pm‑11:30 pm
Tuesday12 pm‑11:30 pm
Wednesday12 pm‑11:30 pm
Thursday12 pm‑11:30 pm
Friday12 pm‑11:30 pm
Saturday12 pm‑11:30 pm
Sunday12 pm‑11:30 pm

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