Pierino in London

Whilst down in London with my sister, we were visiting the National History Museum and got hungry so looked for somewhere nearby to eat late lunch at. We happened upon Pierino which is located opposite the museum and checked out ratings for the place; it seemed to be alright so after a short queue, we were then seated.

Pierino interior

Specials menu for the day

I get the feeling this place is always busy, being ideally located from the museum. The interior is clean with simple wooden tables and they’ve tried to stuff as many tables and chairs into this tiny space as possible. However, there is no table-sharing, so that was pleasant. We ended up having a 4 seater to ourselves due to the positioning of the tables near the bathroom. The placemats are simple laminate cards, which is cheap but effective due to the high turnover of customers this place no doubt gets.

It did take a while to get the attention of someone, being sat quite away from the main part of the restaurant. The menu is varied, though, so there is sure to be something that suits all palettes. The specials are on a menu located to the right of the restaurant as you enter. There is, unfortunately, no printed version of this menu, so I’m afraid you’ll just need to glance at it as you’re waiting to be seated, or take a photo.

The drinks

Sam Pellegrino lemonade

It was a warm day when we visited, so we both ordered some San Pellegrino lemonade. These came in the bottles along with some glasses with ice in them.

The food

The spread

It took a while for the waiter to come back after we ordered our drinks. Once the order was placed, we waited a while before our food arrived. This was due to the huge number of customers. I was in no rush, but I imagine if you were, this place is probably not ideal.

Pappardelle with duck ragu

Pappardelle with duck ragu and crumbled amaretti

I ordered the pappardelle with duck ragu from the specials menu and it was gorgeous! The crumbled amaretti added that hint of sweetness to the dish, the pasta was cooked al dente and there was plenty of ragu and duck. The pasta side of things was quite small, though, so maybe not for someone who’s really hungry. The herb parsley on top was unnecessary.

Gnocchi Luganese

Gnocchi Luganese: Home made potato dumplings with fresh luganica sausage, white wine mushrooms, chilli and fresh tomatoes

My sister liked her gnocchi but felt the portion was small and the parsley here again was unnecessary. 

Overall rating and comments

6/10, -2 for the service, although amicable it did take a while to catch the attention of someone where we were seated to both order and pay the bill,  -1 for the portion sizes, -1 for the lack of a printed Specials menu.

Would visit again?

Maybe if we were hungry again after coming out from the National History Museum but I wouldn’t make a deliberate trip to visit this place.

Information

Address: 37 Thurloe Pl, Kensington, London SW7 2HP

Have you been to Pierino? What’s your favourite Italian dish?

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