Date Visited: 31st May 2021
Location: Eataly London, 135 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 3YD (previously the old RBS building)
Getting There: Right next to Liverpool Street station, so easily accessible via the Underground, rail or bus.
Cost: Free to enter and walk around, cost for food and drink if you decide to eat anything. For a starter and main plus alcohol, we spent approximately £130 for the table of four.
Review
Arriving relatively early (11am), meant we beat any queues to get in. For a Bank Holiday Monday, it was already fairly busy when we arrived. To beat the lunchtime rush as we didn’t have a booking, we headed straight up to the ‘Pasta e Pizza’ restaurant. If you’re looking to dine there during peak times, be sure to book as by the time we left there was a queue and a long wait for walk-ins.
As a table of four, we decided to shared everything. From the charcuterie board with bread and the fried platter for starters, to the tagliatelle with traditional Bolognese, spaghetti vongole, diavola and capricciosa pizzas. Plenty of food as we had to take-away the remaining three slices of pizza.
Cara was brave enough to try the clams in the vongole today, but wasn’t a fan. Nevermind, more for us! She preferred bits of the starters along with the pizzas and the spaghetti Bolognese The benefit of having produce on offer in the market section is if you really like a certain element, you can pick some up after your meal to take it home. The pizza and pastas were fresh and tasty. Both pizzas had a nice base with plenty of toppings. The pastas were al dente and saucy, so much so that Cara thought the vongole tasted too much like the sea. It was a very hearty lunch.
The service was helpful and attentive, and being new, everything was clean and working. It’s slightly weird being back in restaurants getting served food, but definitely a good experience again.
The Market
If you ever need an Italian ingredient, then most likely you’ll find it at Eataly. From fresh veggies and seafood, to imported meats and cheese, dried goods and wine. There’s plenty on offer upstairs. Although the restaurant was quite good with social distancing and track and trace, the market was very busy. So although everyone was masked up, there was little two metre spaces.
Cara enjoyed the ham from the charcuterie so we picked up some extra slices from the counter for lunch tomorrow before heading back downstairs.
On the ground floor, you have the various counters offering various dine-in or take home options. For Cara, she headed straight to the chocolates to pick up some dessert. You can also purchase some freshly baked bread, handmade pasta, espresso and cakes. I’m sure we’ll be back again soon to try out the counter options. On a sunny day like today, it’ll be great to pick up a few snacks and eat it outside. I can imagine once people start filling up the offices again, Eataly will be packed with queues for tables. As it’s still new, there’s still a steak restaurant and cocktail bar to open. Something to look forward to next time…
More details: https://www.eataly.co.uk/
Ratings:
Burn Time: 4 out of 5 – great way to spend a lazy Bank Holiday eating. It was almost like we were in Italy!
Value: 3 out of 5 – food isn’t too pricey, but definitely more than the bog standard high street challengers like Zizzi’s, Spaghetti House and the like. Quality is definitely better, which reflects the slightly higher prices.
Overall: 4 out of 5 – as mentioned above, will definitely be back to try out the other food counters and steakhouse once it’s opened.
Have you visited Eataly yet? If so, what did you think?
1 thought on “Places to Eat: Eataly London”