We used to live in Pimlico (near the beautiful Vincent Square, on the other side of Vauxhall Bridge Road), and we always loved Delizie d’Italia, a tiny Italian delicatessen with a small amount of indoor and outdoor seating. It isn’t located in the best part of Pimlico, right on Lupus Street, opposite the notorious Churchill Gardens estate. But the area has gone a long way and is perfectly safe during day time. A lot of great places have opened in the area during the past decade, including, for example a vintage clothes store frequented by A-listers. The famous 1930s neo-Georgian Dolphin Square apartment complex is only a stone’s throw away. A fabulous Michelin-starred restaurant is just half a mile away towards Victoria station (our review here). From Pimlico tube station Delizie is less than five minutes’ walk.
The quality of the service very much depends on the mood of the mostly Italian staff. We’re often quite lucky. Many people just get a quick fix for lunch to take away, like a ciabatta sandwich, panini, or one of the hot main dishes like lasagna, cannelloni, arancini, risotto, spaghetti, chicken Milanese or oven-baked sea bass (£6 to £9.50). We usually sit down at one of the tables (preferably outside on the pavement, weather permitting).
Last time we went, the staff was in an exceptionally pleasant mood and offered to tailor us a meat and cheese platter to our liking, without us asking. An offer we could not refuse.
We also ordered their outright outrageously ambrosial octopus salad (you pay by weight), always my clear favourite, as well as scrambled eggs and salmon on toasted bread (£9).
Over the years, we’ve only had one non-perfect experience. Once the octopus salad was great but not perfect. We still talk about this event to this day, but no hard feelings. It would probably be excessive to make your way to this end of town just for a meal, but if you’re in the area, you must visit. Everything else would be un peccato (a sin). 5 out of 5 in our book.
Looking for more great Italian food in London, try Apulia next to Smithfield Market, The Yellow House in Bermondsey, Hai Cenato next to Victoria station, or London’s best pizza place: IPC in Bayswater.
For travel inspiration and adventure, check out our posts about our Norfolk seal safari, our flight above London in a helicopter, our Segway off-roading adventure at Leeds Castle, Kent, our Sahara camel ride and desert camp experience, or our day trip from Porto, off-roading, rock-climbing, and exploring ancient Roman gold mines.
3 Comments
Umm…YUMMY! These all look so good! We loved our time in London, I was really surprised by all the delicious Italian food we found. Hopefully when we go back I’ll be able to try this place!
Thanks for your nice comment, Elisa. Yes, there are plenty of nice Italian restaurants and delis in London. Great to hear that you enjoyed your time in London. Stefan