Restaurant in London, United Kingdom
Bib Gourmand pasta worth booking twice.
Legare holds two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand awards (2024 and 2025) and a 4.7 Google rating for good reason: it delivers seasonal, produce-led Italian cooking — particularly its handmade pasta — at prices that make sense in London. Book for the pasta, stay for the natural wine list, and don't skip the focaccia.
Book Legare if you want honest, technically accomplished Italian cooking at prices that still feel fair in London's current climate. Two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand awards (2024 and 2025) confirm what a Google rating of 4.7 across nearly 700 reviews also suggests: this is a small, independent restaurant consistently delivering above its price point. The pasta alone makes it worth the trip.
Legare occupies a converted warehouse on Shad Thames, the historic riverside street in the shadow of Tower Bridge. The room is unfussy — white walls, stone floors, tightly packed tables, and an open-plan kitchen at the centre. There is no attempt to dress the space up or trade on its setting. The focus is entirely on what arrives at the table.
Chef and co-owner Matt Beardmore trained at Trullo in Islington, which tells you something useful: this is the kind of Italian cooking that takes British produce seriously, keeps menus short, and lets flavour carry the weight rather than novelty. The menu is seasonally driven and changes regularly, with a sensibly brief printed selection supplemented by blackboard specials. Dishes are relatively simple in construction but bold in flavour — a combination that the Bib Gourmand judges tend to reward, and rightly so here.
The in-house pasta is the clearest reason to return if you have been once. Handmade paccheri , large pasta tubes , served with a ragù of braised cuttlefish, chilli heat, and bottarga is the kind of dish that demonstrates real craft without announcing itself. If you have already ordered it, use a return visit to work through the rest of the menu: the kitchen's approach to secondi (roast quail with onions, sultanas, Kalamazoo olives, pine nuts, and pink fir potatoes, on at least one occasion) shows the same precision. Cured chalk stream trout, grilled mackerel with shaved fennel and orange, and fresh-from-the-oven focaccia with roasted garlic and oregano have all appeared as part of the repertoire. Desserts have included cannoli with Marcona almonds (priced by the piece) and white chocolate cremoso with passion fruit.
Front of house is led by Jay Patel, previously of Barrafina, which explains the service tone: attentive without being stiff, comfortable with the pace of the room. The wine list runs to around 38 natural wines from small Italian producers, with roughly a dozen available by the glass. At the ££ price point, that selection represents good value.
Legare's food is not built for delivery. The cooking here depends on timing , pasta served at the right moment, focaccia straight from the oven, fish dishes that lose texture quickly. There is no evidence from the venue data that Legare offers a delivery or takeaway operation, and the style of the kitchen makes it easy to understand why. If you are weighing whether to eat here versus ordering in from an Italian delivery option, this is not the same category of decision. The value at Legare is in eating the food as it is meant to be eaten, in the room. For Italian food that does travel well, the broader category (pizza, arancini, slow-braised sauces in sealed containers) is a different proposition from what Legare is doing. Book a table.
Booking difficulty at Legare is rated Easy, which is one of the more pleasant facts about this restaurant. Despite the Bib Gourmand recognition and strong reviews, you are not competing with a six-week waitlist. That said, the room is small and the tables are tightly packed, so same-week bookings on weekend evenings may require flexibility. For a Friday or Saturday dinner, aim to book at least a week ahead. Midweek tables are generally more available. The restaurant is at 31G Shad Thames, Tower Bridge, London SE1 2YR , walkable from London Bridge station and close enough to Borough Market that it fits naturally into an afternoon in the area. For anyone building a day around the neighbourhood, see our full London restaurants guide and full London experiences guide for nearby options.
The ££ price range positions Legare in approachable territory for London dining. You are not spending at the level of the city's starred rooms, and the Bib Gourmand designation exists precisely to flag places where quality and value align. If you are bringing someone who is price-conscious or if you are paying out of pocket rather than on expenses, this is one of the more defensible choices in the area.
For pasta-focused Italian cooking in London at a comparable price point, Bancone is the most direct comparison , strong pasta program, accessible pricing, similar neighbourhood-restaurant energy. Artusi in Peckham operates on similar principles (seasonal, produce-led, independent) and is worth knowing if south London suits you better. Archway sits in a comparable bracket for Italian cooking with a neighbourhood focus. If you want more ambition in the room and a larger wine operation, Luca in Clerkenwell takes Italian ingredients in a more polished direction at a higher price. Bocca di Lupo offers broader regional range across Italy if variety is more important to you than depth. For Italian cooking at the highest level globally, 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong and cenci in Kyoto represent very different expressions of the cuisine. Closer to home, the UK's destination dining circuit , The Fat Duck in Bray, L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, and hide and fox in Saltwood , operates at a different scale and spend. Legare is not competing with any of them. It is doing something more modest and more immediately useful for most diners: consistent, seasonal Italian cooking in a room where you can actually get a table.
For more on where to eat, stay, drink, and explore near Legare, see our full London hotels guide, full London bars guide, and full London wineries guide.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legare | Italian | An unpretentious Italian restaurant in one of the converted Shad Thames warehouses; the unfussy service suits the style of the place. The seasonally influenced menu uses British produce, with the in-house pasta a particular highlight; dishes are relatively simple but flavours are bold and prices, appealing.; A converted warehouse in the shadow of Tower Bridge is an unlikely spot for a small, independently owned Italian restaurant, but Legare 'punches above its weight,' according to one well-satisfied visitor. Inside, it’s all white walls and stone flooring with tightly packed tables and a centrepiece open-plan kitchen delivering a seasonal, regularly changing menu that’s sensibly short and bolstered by blackboard specials. Chef/co-owner Matt Beardmore honed his craft at Trullo in Islington and we were impressed by the exemplary hand-made paccheri (large pasta tubes) served with a ragù of braised cuttlefish given heft with a touch of chilli and a topping of bottarga. We kicked things off with a dish of cured chalk stream trout, pickled kohlrabi, dill and mustard seeds as well as delicious grilled mackerel with shaved fennel and orange, while our 'secondi' was accurately timed roast quail which arrived in company with onions, sultanas, Kalamazoo olives, pine nuts and pink fir potatoes. The fresh-from-the-oven focaccia seasoned with roasted garlic and oregano is not to be missed, while dessert might promise cannoli with Marcona almonds (priced by the piece) or, perhaps, white chocolate cremoso with passion fruit. Beardmore's business partner Jay Patel (ex-Barrafina) heads a tightly knit front-of-house-team. The wine list comprises some 38 natural tipples sourced from small Italian producers, with a dozen offered by the glass.; Michelin Bib Gourmand (2025); Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024) | Easy | — |
| CORE by Clare Smyth | Modern British | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Restaurant Gordon Ramsay | Contemporary European, French | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library | Modern French | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| The Ledbury | Modern European, Modern Cuisine | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Dinner by Heston Blumenthal | Modern British, Traditional British | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
The handmade pasta is the headline act — the paccheri with braised cuttlefish ragù is a documented standout. Start with the focaccia (roasted garlic, oregano, fresh from the oven) and don't skip it. The menu is short and changes seasonally, so trust the blackboard specials on the night.
The venue data doesn't confirm a dedicated bar counter, but the room centres on an open-plan kitchen with tightly packed tables. For counter-style solo dining with a kitchen view, Bancone or Trullo (where chef Matt Beardmore trained) offer that format more explicitly.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which is one of the better things about Legare given the Bib Gourmand recognition. A week's notice is typically enough, though weekends in summer near Tower Bridge attract foot traffic that can tighten availability. Book online when you have a date in mind.
The room has tightly packed tables in a compact converted warehouse, which limits large-group flexibility. Groups of two to four work well here. Parties of six or more should check the venue's official channels to check availability, as the space isn't configured for big bookings.
This is a small, independently owned Italian with a sensibly short menu, natural wines from small Italian producers, and a kitchen that trained at Trullo. Don't expect a sprawling à la carte — the format rewards people who trust the kitchen. The Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024 and 2025) signals quality at a price point that still makes sense in London.
The menu is seasonally driven and changes regularly, with a focus on British produce cooked in an Italian framework. Specific dietary accommodation policies aren't documented in the venue data — check the venue's official channels before booking if you have requirements, as the short menu leaves less room to substitute than a larger operation would.
The room is white walls, stone floors, and unfussy service in a converted warehouse. Casual or smart-casual both work — nobody is dressing up, and the atmosphere matches the price point (££). Leave the jacket at home unless you want it.
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