Cafe Murano Bermondsey

This Bermondsey Street address has an impeccable pedigree when it comes to Italian restaurants – it was once home to Zucca, the much-loved (and much-missed) showcase for the talents of chef Sam Harris. Its newest tenant is Angela Hartnett, who has opened this third London outpost of Café Murano, her casual offshoot of her Michelin-starred Murano restaurant, towards the bottom of Bermondsey Street.   

It’s a big space, with room for 110 diners, though the clever design means that tables still feel intimate, while there’s life and laughter coming from the long open kitchen (with seats at the counter). A wall of windows keeps things light and bright by day while the headlights of passing cars adds an urban edge at night; it all feels more up-to-date than Hartnett’s more polished-looking West End sites, as too the interior design which clashes Italian marble with raw concrete alongside Café Murano’s signature timber panelling.

Fresh pasta made on site and superior-quality risotto rice is, as ever, the main draw at Café Murano – marigold-yellow ravioli glistening with grassy olive oil and glinting with black pepper or, in autumn, a Parmesan risotto shaved with a snowfall of white truffle.

Elsewhere, the dishes are no less appealing for being so simple: octopus carpaccio with olives, potato and chilli oil, say, followed by a stew of lamb neck with carrots and celery or stone bass with the aniseed and iodine notes of fennel and samphire. You might, though, find yourself casting longing glances at a terrific-value £10 kids’ menu which has chicken Milanese or tagliatelle with sausage ragu followed by ice cream or fruit salad.    

If you don’t want to eat, there’s a bar for aperitivi and cicchetti (anchovies, arancini) and Italian gins put to good use in an authentically Italian Negroni. The all-Italian wine list, meanwhile, focuses on small producers, with an emphasis on low intervention and biodynamic methods of winemaking; if you’re not sure what to order, you can’t go wrong with the own-label Angela Hartnett Toscana bianco produced by Tenuta Fertuna.

From acclaimed London chef Angela Hartnett, Café Murano is a group of neighbourhood Italian restaurants serving seasonal dishes, and Bermondsey is now home to the third branch. The original Café Murano opened in 2013 as a more casual off-shoot of Hartnett’s Michelin-starred flagship Murano in Mayfair. In 2015, a second Café Murano followed on Tavistock Street in Covent Garden.

Headed up by chef Adam Jay, who previously oversaw the St James’s site, this vibrant spot continues to serve its ever popular dishes, as well as several new creations exclusive to this location. Head here for an intimate date night, weekend brunch with friends or pre-theatre dinner.

On the a la carte, you’ll find a stellar line-up of cichetti, antipasti, primi and secondi. Dishes like the house arancini, salami, and sea bream crudo with pepperoncino and samphire make tasty starters, before moving onto pasta, risotto and gnocchi primi plates. If you’d prefer a meat or fish main, try something of the secondi section like monkfish tail with mussels and spicy tomato sauce, or veal ossobuco with wet polenta and gremolata, one of Café Murano’s most renowned dishes.

Like the food, the drinks offering keeps things Italian, so you could pair your meal with a bottle from the exclusively Italian wine list or try cocktails such as the Café Murano Spritz, made from a blend of Aperol, Cocchi Rosa and Luxardo Maraschino.

Hartnett first came to prominence working for Gordon Ramsay before going solo with the Murano brand. In addition to the restaurants within the Murano portfolio, Hartnett launched the critically acclaimed Merchant’s Tavern with husband and fellow chef Neil Borthwick. In 2018, Hartnett was the winner of Ayala and SquareMeal's Female Chef of the Year award.