Caprini Restaurant

A little treasure in the middle of London, a quiet place to eat grate pasta or pizza and enjoy coffee and desert. The carbonara was very nice.

We ended here by chance, walking towards a bus stop we looked from the window and saw busy tables, decided to give it a go and it didn’t disappoint. We had pizza cappriciosa and tagliatelle alla rustica, the house red wine was great too!

Good portion size Food was average in terms of flavor Was dining solo in the corner and halfway through the meal, the waiter was going to stick a stranger at my table despite the restaurant having spare tables. Presumed I wouldn’t mind. Strange but not a huge deal

Just got off the train at Waterloo and was about to go through an exhaustive search on my phone to find a lunch spot. This place was literally staring me in the face. Hard to call it a hidden gem given it's position but what a find. Proper food at proper prices with excellent service. Loved the ambiance, too. Very highly recommended.

Staff are friendly, food is okay not as expected. But we only ordered pasta and fried squid. Maybe other dishes are better.

The best Italian food we’ve ever had! Tasted fresh, great portion sizes and the staff were wonderful. The value for money is amazing, will be a staple now every time we visit London!

Really nice food , an authentic italian restaurant in a cozy atmosphere and waiters very friendly. I felt that I was in these small cantina in Italy. Really good prices if you compare with other restaurants. Definitely will return. Highly recommend for those look nice food, reasonable price and convenient to the location. Not for fancy intentions

Authentic italien Restaurant! The pizza and the tiramisu were both really, really good. I recommend a reservation for special occasions like News Year Eve.

On a corner of Waterloo and Exton Street. I've walked by this place numerous times on my visit to London. Ambiance is ok, it's a very small place with tables packed in very close proximity, but honestly they're making the best with the space that they have. Music is typical for the UK and all over the place. Food, I ordered the Spaghetti Bolognese, the wife ordered the Cotolette di Pollo alla Milanese and my daughter ordered the Ribeye. Steak was cooked to perfection. The Bolognese and alla Milanese were sublime and a delight. Everything was very reasonably priced. I'd eat here again if back in town, really good authentic Southern Italian cuisine.

Needed something near waterloo station and stumbled onto this italian place. First thing you notice is the waitstaff is entirely middle aged dudes in blue shirts. They are a bit gruff but attentive. Had a random portuguese beer (haven't seen that on an italian menu before). Veal scallopini was ok. My wife liked her gnocchi but i thought it lacked flavor. My kid's salmon was ok. Best part of the meal probably was the tiramisu.

This is the kind of place you go if you want to take your time. You will arrive, be seated in the small restaurant, and wait for a menu. Then wait for the very friendly guy to take your order, then wait for your drinks and food. However it is all worth the wait. The food is delicious! The guy waiting on has a belly that clearly demonstrates his love of the pasta they serve. And he will happily converse with you. Just beware that his accent is so thick that might have to just nod and smile.

We happened upon Caprini on Yelp as it was near the Waterloo tube station and our hotel. For a Monday eve it was quite busy. Pleasingly surprised with our dishes of a lovey seafood paella and a wonderful pizza. Both the house red and white wines were good for the price. Nice neighborhood restaurant which should have much high marks in our opinions.

Decent no frills restaurant with a very traditional menu, very close to Waterloo station. I went with friends who are regulars and had a thoroughly nice evening: I had soup and gnocchi followed by coffee, washed down with a decent half bottle of house wine. My companion had garlic mushrooms and chicken, the latter being very well cooked, followed by chocolate mousse. It came to £30 a head. OK, the decor and offerings are a bit dated, which you'll either love or hate; pasta, meat and fish are better than the pizzas. On my visit service was friendly and efficient (our experience was clearly very different from some other reviews) and unfussy.

I thought the food was good, however the people were very pretentious. It looks fancy but the menu prices are fairly inexpensive (around 12 for a meal) and thought after seeing their menu and some of the customers inside, that it would be fine to walk in wearing street clothes. Basically I felt judged the entire time, the wait staff said literally nothing to me, aside from asking for clarification on my drink order. So good food, pretentious people. Take your pick.

An excellent restaurant!! The restaurant was in an unexpected location, right across from a 24/7 takeaway grill and nextdoor to a subway. The kitchen in the other restaurants in that area had already closed but when we arrived at Caprini they explained that their kitchen was open as long as the restaurant was open. It was about 30 min until closing and the host/waiter was super accommodating and allowed us to dine there. Typically I would inconvenience restaurant staff 30min prior to closing but we had just arrived in the city and had not eaten all day so we were desperate for a proper meal. We ordered the seafood pasta and a pasta stuffed with meat and spinach covered with cheese (I forgot the name), a bottle of wine, salad, and bread and butter. The seafood pasta was a large portion, we could have share it with 2 people. The other dish was equally amazing, I finished every bite and sopped up the last bit with a piece of bread...I mean it was that good! The bread and bottle of house wine was basic, nothing to review there. The salad though, was below average. Chopped iceberg lettuce with cucumber slices and a vinaigrette dressing. I guess I would expect more, I wouldn't think restaurants would use iceberg lettuce but that's just me. The staff was so friendly and super accommodating !!! If I could eat there every day on my trip, that would not be the worst thing that could happen, this restaurant is superb...I would definitely recommend it!!

Have you ever had a real craving for a tasteful Italian meal after a long day? .... Well, if you're looking for that place, this is NOT it. My boyfriend and I were visiting from out of town and had just gotten back to central London after a day in the suburbs. We decided to go to Caprini after reading many good reviews. As we approached the restaurant we realized it was empty but walked in anyway. Service was strange. One waitress watched TV on her phone while the other watched us like a hawk. After being asked 3 times within 5 minutes if we were ready to order we ordered the garlic bread.. this was probably the best part of the meal, which isn't saying much when I could've walked down the street and bought the same thing from Sainsbury for 1£. The wine was fine, sightly better than boxed wine but reasonably priced. For entrees my partner ordered the Pollo Caprini and I ordered the Tagliatelle. It would be great if somebody taught the chef to salt the water before dropping the pasta in or simply remove the pasta before it got mushy like a side of mash. I appreciate the attempt to add additional pasta water once he coated the pasta with the sauce, however the ratio of half pasta sauce to half water was horrid. The Polli Caprini was honestly worse than the food I was served on the airplane over to London. It was a piece of rubbery grilled chicken with a simple cooked down cream sauce- and when I say simple, I mean only cream. There was pieces of bacon that were obviously added at the time of platting as they did not add to the flavor (or lack thereof) of the dish. Lastly, there was a pile of unsalted fries and a pile of ice burg lettuce on the plate. For those of you from the United States- Olive Garden is better. Do not go here.

Only late night spot close to Westminster bridge serving food. Since our bodies had not adjusted to the time difference we were always wanting to eat late night. They were closing and they let the four of us in and made out good fresh to order. THE GARLIC BREAD IS AMAZING! I mean the best I've ever had! The staff is polite and the bathroom was the cleanest I've seen in London. The food was good and I would definitely recommend

Low-medium tasting food for a medium-high price. Poor, unresponsive service. Do not recommend.

We ate here last night and loved everything we tried. We started with garlic bread, and then all of us opted for the spaghetti bolognese. It was scrumptious. After that we had gelato and chocolate mousse. We loved it all and highly recommend this restaurant.

Love this little restaurant, the server is very friendly. Pretty warm ambiance . Food is great!

The service was fantastic and it has a very nice atmosphere. I started with the bruschetta which was a disappointment. That was my mistake because I should have known better since it was November and there was no way the tomatoes would be at peak flavor. That was made up by the veal saltimbocca. The garlic roasted potatoes on the side were amazing.

The decor is charmingly 1970's but the food is pretty terrible. I'm a pizza lover so I ordered a pepperoni pizza with side salad. When they brought it out, I wasn't even sure it was a pizza; it was covered with cheese to the extent that you couldn't see the base at all - and all the toppings were hidden under the thick layer of cheese! When I cut into it, the base was soggy. If I bought the cheapest Lidl pizza, covered it entirely with a centimeter of cheese and then microwaved it until the cheese boiled - it would look and taste a lot like this pizza. I've eaten many, many pizzas and this was the worst I've ever had (by a fair margin). The side salad was basically just iceberg lettuce..... Overall this is a dated, overpriced restaurant that seeks out the tourist crowd. Not to be recommended, sorry.

It's ok. The pasta was definitely good (or maybe because I love pasta but never eat it - CALORIES!) but for my liking it had a bit too many peas. Not a fan of peas. However, I did finish my bowl though which made me full for the rest of the day. The green veg soup was good. Nice and hearty. Nothing exquisite, but simple and tasty. Everything you need for lunch. The scampi and rice which my partner ordered, were like scampi and rice. There is little what can go wrong with these two...and it didn't go wrong at Caprini. Good place for lunch, quiet, comfy seating, cozy atmosphere for a small price.

This Italian food truly resembled airplane cuisine. I had the veal, which looked and tasted fake. My partner ordered the ravioli, there was NO cheese but included miscellaneous meat. Also, none of the staff member were preparing the food while wearing gloves. One of the worst dining experiences my partner and I have ever had. If you enjoy good Italian, do not dine here.

Service is good, since they are Italian, they seem to take food pretty seriously. Whenever I order take-away from them, they open and show the food to me so that I "know what I'm getting, not an empty box." Taste-wise, the food is alright. Spaghetti tastes like noodles in tomato sauce, as one would expect.

Dreadful service. Subpar food. Only interesting because it feels like going into a time-warp. Picture a 1980s Italian restaurant where the dishes and cutlery and staff haven't changed, chips and all. Now purge everything romantic in that image, and expect to try to be upsold (even when you order too much), ignored and made to ask repeatedly for the bill. How many ways can you invent to ignore us?

Random trip back to the 1950's in this old school Italian restaurant just opposite Waterloo station. I had a rather tasty Gnocchi and my friends were all satisfied with their choices too. A lovely little find, and I'd visit again if I were looking for a decent meal in the area...

I've been meaning to try this place for a while, mostly because of the decor. I've had good luck in London with down to earth, slightly twee looking, old school Italian restaurants, and now I have one more to add to the list. It's all lovely and 50s inside and out, good service and good prices. The house wine is fine (as it always should be in decent Italian restaurants) and there's all the usual favourites on the menu. My Saltimboca was slightly overdone, but everything else was great. Definitely a spot with visiting around here, one of the few remaining bits of personality in the area! c*

Locked in time from the Land before Chains. Simple Italian food, like you may have grown up eating. Good good stuff, nice prices, prompt service. It's friendly and nice and more or less just what you want. If this is what you want. The salads will tend towards iceberg and the dressings will tend towards tangy mayonnaise. The calves liver was succulent and perfectly cooked - although Clare's Saltimboca was a trifle overdone. Totally decent house wine at £12 a carafe. Get the specials. Keep eating here so that it doesn't follow the rest of this neighbourhood into chainland.

My friend and I were en route back to our hostel, when we decided we were hungry. We just so happened to be passing this little, unassuming place almost under a bridge. We chose it, because I feel as though small places like this are always surprising. It's a small space with old creeky floors with a few servers standing at attention, waiting to assist. We were seated immediately, by a portly Italian man, who always seemed to be there when we wanted something. I dropped a knife and I had a new one in my hand and the other taken care of almost immediately. We weren't starving so I just started with an Italian Orange Soda and some bread and butter. I had the special that day, which was just a filet steak with a creamy pepper sauce and some veg. It was really nice. The steak was perfect, the sauce was great. Everything was seemingly fresh. I would eat there again.

I lived next to this place for over a year and never went in, put off by the faded décor and unassuming façade. What a mistake that was! The first time I actually tried it I realised what I'd missed out on - wholesome, unpretentious Italian food that comes at an affordable price. Ok, so the interior isn't stunning but it's a homely, relaxed place for a meal either with friends or, as I've seen many people do, simply on your own. The staff are friendly enough (although I think they're all Portuguese rather than Italian, not that it matters) and it's easy to get caught up in conversation with the other customers sitting next to you. The drinks menu is fairly standard: if you want beer you'll probably end up with Carlsberg and the house wines, whilst perfectly acceptable, aren't anything memorable. The food, however, is pretty good. Served without fuss, their pasta dishes are tasty, filling and half the price you'll be charged in some places across the river. If you're in the mood for secondi piatti, I've found both the veal milanese and the Tournedo Rossini to be great options, especially as they come with a choice of potatoes. Puddings are also worth checking out, particularly as they're one of the few places I've seen to serve Zabaglione. Since trying it for the first time I've had a couple of really good meals here, something which has certainly taught me not to judge a restaurant by its cover!

Fair prices for central location but food is far from good. Neither was the service. Can't recommend this place. The authentic look is an illusion.

Nice service. Food was fairly average but the prices were good so you pay for what you get.

As others have said, this a rare survivor from a time before London's reasonably priced restaurants all became derivative facsimiles serving what people who work in marketing think 'NYC' is like. Instead, hospitable and attentive staff serve unfussy Italian favourites in large portions from a menu that doesn't try to confound your preconceptions about how menus are formatted or attempt any other faddish nonsense. Food is well seasoned, the decor is homelike and the prices are very reasonable. Nobody with a stupid beard would look at the place twice and for that alone, we must cherish it.

This place ROCKS! The food is still excellent! I first went to t his place back in the early 70's...and actually it was my first job ever! I washed dishes here as a teenager! (40-plus years later I'm a radio guy in the USA) Even then my family would come here to eat and the food was always excellent. On a recent trip back to London, I HAD to go back for old times sake and was ecstatic to see, first hand, the food is still outstanding and the prices still below the norm for London. Wonderful memories, and I know how the kitchen used to operate..even in the 70's it was extremely professional and exceptionally clean, believe me, I got busted many times when I didn't clean properly! I assume it's still that way today...but boy do I remember washing tons of dishes there! Next time I'm in London...Caprini will be my first restaurant stop! Highly recommended as a hidden jewel in one of the world's most wonderful cities!