Bancone Borough Yards

Loved Bancone! Took my nephews out for a treat and Daniela and the team looked after us so well. The food was excellent, each dish was balanced well. The chilli, garlic and parsley spaghetti was particularly tasty and I could’ve had the spicy pork ragu again straight after. Will have to go back and try more dishes.

It was a bit crowded when I came for a Sunday lunch — I had a reservation, fortunately, and I was able to get seated at the bar immediately. It was perhaps not the most comfortable seat, but quite fun to watch the kitchen cook and prepare all their assortment of dishes. I ordered the carbonara silk handkerchiefs, which was delicious. It definitely leaned on the heavy/creamy side, but I didn’t feel like it was too oily or greasy so as to get me tired of the flavour. The pasta had the perfect chewy texture, and the guanciale was rendered very nicely — crispy without feeling overcooked or too fatty. I’d definitely recommend a visit — seems like they have so many yummy pastas that I’d love to try.

We attended on a cold winters night. A place to eat for a date or a gathering of friends over some good quality pasta (altho we felt the portion sizes are quite small, perhaps due to our large appetites for good food) and good wine. Great atmosphere all round especially at the counter seats. Great service and good recommendations given to us, especially for dessert. We would happily return again and recommend to others!

Amazing pastas, friendly service. Highly recommend the venison tortellini and the silk handkerchief with walnut butter which was decadent and fragrant. The Gorgonzola pappardelle was also tasty. Pastas were cooked perfectly al dente and sauces were delicious. I loved that they were generous with the fresh grated Parmesan. Service was friendly. Note that Filtered water charged at £1.5 per head and a donation of £1 and well at 12.5% service is automatically added to the bill

Food: starters: Artichoke wass very good, however Lardo on toast was just ok (pricey I'd say) Mains: all were fantastic: spicy pork tagliatelle, venison tortelloni, hankerchief carbonara and the pork chops. The pork chops were amazing, very juicy and flavourful. Loved the freshly grated and abundant parmesan cheese! Dessert: creme Caramello was way below average.

Pasta was lovely tasting but not enough - the amount of pasta should be doubled. The taste and texture were however fantastic. My husband was excited about getting the cannoli for dessert and was vastly disappointed by it being a mini version (for £5) and it not being filled with the traditional ricotta filling. We didn’t take a photo of it unfortunately. Service was fantastic.

Great food and a fun lively atmosphere here but an absolute travesty for not allowing you to take away your leftovers. We came here to celebrate our daughter's graduation with her picking Bancone for it's excellent food and being well recommended online. Everything was great with our meal as we tried the "silk handkerchief" pasta dishes, Cacio e Pepe, and a couple of other dishes along with a couple of drinks and appetizers (focaccia and the fried artichoke). Our waitress (Bernisha) was super cool and helpful as was an additional staff member who brought our food to the table and grated cheese for our dishes. The big rub comes from their absolutely ridiculous restaurant policy of not allowing you to take away your leftovers. My wife has a small appetite and we ALWAYS have to take her leftovers to go. Sometimes I eat them the next day and sometimes she does. I mean why waste some great food? When we asked for a few take away containers for my wife's, daughter's and daughter's boyfriend's leftovers we were told they don't allow that. W. T. F. ???? I thought they were joking at first. Then the man who brought our food out and grated our cheese earlier came over to our table and explained that the restaurant policy is not to allow guests to take their leftovers home. When asked why, he proceeded to give an explanation that if customers took their leftovers home, the restaurant would lose the quality control and presentation of the food. For example, we could get sick by not reheating the leftovers properly or we could leave them out of their restaurant-controlled environment (e.g. in a hot car) and the food could go bad. He actually said they could be sued for someone getting sick due to this example. I informed him that I have eaten out a lot in my 60 plus years and in many different countries in all types of restaurants and have NEVER EVER heard of a restaurant not allowing their customers to take home their leftovers from meals THAT WE PAID FOR! I asked him what other restaurants around there do this. He actually said "a lot of them do". Wrong answer. No one else does. The only time I can remember a place not allowing take away food was all you can eat buffets for obvious reasons. A quick online query of this ludicrous policy states the following: "In London, refusing takeaway containers for restaurant leftovers is uncommon, particularly in casual, mid-range, or chain spots where doggy bags are widely offered and accepted as standard practice. High-end fine dining spots (e.g., Michelin-starred) are more likely to decline, citing food safety rules or presentation standards, though even there it's fading due to anti-waste campaigns". Bancone in Borough Yards is not a Michelin-starred restaurant. It is a popular casual pasta bar known for fresh pasta sheets and Italian dishes.....but without any Michelin recognition. I would go here again for the food but make sure I don't get full too easily or watch my purchased leftovers go to waste. Oh, another tip for Bancone: Tell your staff not to argue with paying customers.

If you go here, do yourself a favour and try the venison tortelloni. It’s the best thing I ate in London this trip. The venison was well cooked and tender and the flavours are out of this world - you must try it! For starters the artichoke was unique and lovely. The cacio e pepe was a bit heavy for me (too mu ch of one flavour), we also tried the spicy pork ragu - quite ordinary. The star of the show was the venison.