Essenza

Best Italian meal in Rome, I mean Florence, I mean London. I love the staff they were on the serve you right team — no pecking order just everyone making your experience special, The food is incredible the place was quiet as I was early for dinner, there were about 75% locals there not tourists which was nice. And was a sign to me they have good food regularly.

Still my favourite Italian in Notting Hill. Very friendly staff. Pasta are always fresh and delicious. Child friendly, we return again and again.

We found Essenza while looking for a nice meal to end our trip to London to visit our daughter. We started with a good bottle of Chianti (that became 2 bottles) as well as the calamari and antipasti for apps. Both were fantastic. The parm cheese on the antipasti plate was fantastic. I had the veal saltimbocca. Very tender and flavorful. The rest of the table had the ravioli (pretty good), linguini with mushrooms and pancetta (awesome), gnocchi which was good. overall very good meal.
We were essentially the only party in the restaurant on a Monday night at 7PM, which was nice. I’ll bet on a busy night it gets loud and crowded as the tables are very close together.
We recommend going for dinner! Solid 3 ½ stars

We lived in London for three months and this was probably my favorite restaurant. Not because of the vibe or ambiance (it is small and simple), but the food literally melts in your mouth. The home made pasta is to die for. I also got the burrata appetizer and it was the best burrata I have had in my life. The desserts are off the charts too. Highly recommend!

Jewel-​Box sized place, and an overall gem. Staying at hotel in general area and as i walked the street to find a nice place to eat, I started to smell something great cooking and followed my nose to Essenza. The food was very good and mostly authentic, service was a bit rushed. I”d definitely recommend and will definitely go back.

Good food good service yes a good Restaurant the only problem is when your spending £150 for 2 I like NOT to be rushed (very busy)
I would eat here again but book a Different time .
Dave & Julia New York USA

DELISH! We ended up coming here for a impromptu Birthday dinner. When E&O was booked, one of the waiters there suggested Ezzenza. He said it was his favorite. And know I know why!
Highlights:
— Delicious authentic Italian cuisine.
— So authentic I think every server was from Italy!
— Small but cozy, a great ambiance.
— The BEST tiramisu I have had. Ever.
Lowlights:
— We had to dine and dash since we did not have reservations.
Overall: Another fantastic restaurant in Notting Hill! If you come here, make a reservation!

This is the sister restaurant to Osteria Bascilica and Mediteraneo and I think that all 3 are delicious but this menu is superb. Most of the items on the menu are shared between all 3 restaurnts but for some reason this has 2 or 3 different items that just blew our mind!

Great authentic italian flavours, open late. Perfect place to call in for a heap of delicious pasta when you’ve had one of those days and just cannot face cooking!

I’m not overly impressed with Essenza for two reasons: (1) service is horrible and (2) food is not that great.
We made a reservation for May 7^th at 8pm. My husband happened to double check online around 6pm the day of and noticed that his reservation said May 10^th. He called and they confirmed that they had our reservation for May 7^th. We arrive, no reservation, or at least we can speculate.
Upon arrival, we stood in the doorway for nearly 10 minutes before anyone paid any attention to us. To clarify, by «in the doorway» I mean, literally in the doorway as there is no where else to stand. Servers were buzzing from the restaurant to the patio to the restaurant and we were constantly having to move out of the way to let them get through. It was annoying to say the least. Especially since there were only 3 tables seated in the restaurant.
We provided the disgruntle server with our name and he seated us. We then waited another 10 minutes and he came back and said that he was not able to find our reservation. At this point, we had invested 20 minutes of precious «wait time» and it wasn’t our problem that they were unorganized. We did our due diligence by calling to confirm the reservation.
Another 10 minutes later, the even-​more-​disgruntle server took our order which included a bottle of moderately priced wine, carbonara pasta, arrabiata pasta, minestrone soup, and the veal with risotto. Only after our order did we start to get slightly improved service. Slightly.
Bread arrived. It was OK. Soup arrived. It was tasteless (more salt needed). Pasta arrived. It was not what I ordered and tasteless at that. Ate. Waited for check. Waited longer for check. Waited even longer for check. Requested check. Paid. Departed.
You win some, you lose some. Essenza lost this one in my opinion. It wasn’t awful but it’s not a place I would return to.

Went for a meal here just before valentines weekend, booked a table on the day and I think I was lukcy to do so. It was packed (with a certain celebrity TV presenter on the next table) so it obviously has a popular rep. The portions were a good size, and were what you expect to pay. Wine was very nice, and service was extremely firendly. Feels like a real Italian family run little place, I recommend it.

Stopped by here for an EARLY dinner on Saturday. Luckily they are one of the few good restaurants opened all day.
Food was so good! My bf and I both ordered the Spaghetti with lobster (17 quid) and a side of fried zucchini. The pasta was amazing! Lots of flavor from the grilled lobster and the tiny prawns sprinkled on top. My bf felt like the prawns took too much flavor away from the lobster; but i thought it was fine.
The fried zucchini was good, needed a bit of salt but anything deep fried is always good.
For dessert, we shared the chocolate soufflé which was more like a fondue. It also had some orange flavoring in the middle which I wasn’t particularly fond of. Finished off the meal with 2 shot of limoncello and double espressos. The waiter was also kind enough to give us another 2 shots of limoncello on the house. =)
Overall, great service — not TOO friendly/​chatty but attentive when needed.
Will come back again soon~

Around 6pm on a Tuesday evening I walked down the street to check out dinner options for 7:30 that evening for a group of 6. At that time, the street was dead and out of the 5 – 6 restaurants all near eachother I saw maybe 2 – 4 people eating in total. I figured there was no need to make a reservation and we’d have our pick between all the restos — I was very wrong
We ended up heading to dinner around 8:30 and tried a few restos but they were all booked. One of them recommended we try their sister restaurant Essenza. We walked in and the place was packed. The waiter told us he could probably seat us in 30minutes. He took down my cell phone number, asked where we were going in the meantime and said he would come find us when the table was ready.
We went to E&O around the corner for a drink. Around 25min later they called my mobile and said it would be about 10minutes. 10minutes later, one of the waiters came into E&O to say it would be about 5min. By the time we made it to the restaurant (a bit tipsy) our table wasn’t quite ready. To apologize for the wait, they offered us all a glass of prosecco. We really didn’t mind the wait, as we were a larger group. The staff were very pleasant the whole time
The food was very good — but to be fair, we were starving so anything wouldve been good! It was standard good Italian food in a very small but fun atmosphere. Haven’t tried the other restaurants on the same street so not sure how it compares. Either way, I’m sure I’ll head back to Essenza at some point!

Three stars is probably me being a little harsh. if I could give three and a half I would, but I’ll go against normal mathematical practise and round down rather than up.
Why? Two reasons:
1. It is in a good neighbourhood and so you pay for what you get. It’s not excessively over-​priced, but I wouldn’t say it’s definitely ‘good value’ as such.
2. The food took a long time to come. Ok, so I wasn’t in a hurry. I had a relaxing evening catching up with friends, but I still didn’t expect to be in there for nearly three hours.
Other than that, I did like the place. It’s small and intimate with classic white décor. The food was very tasty, and the crisp white wine complimented the dishes well. My portion of gnocci could have been a little larger, despite its yummy richness, and I was touch surprised that they didn’t serve hot chocolate as an alternative to coffee afterwards.
I would go again, but there are other places in the area which look just as tempting, and as I’m not in that part of town too often, there are other places I’d rather go, if I’m honest.

My friend is a huge fan of Mediterrano and was oh so disappointed when they turned us away on a Thursday evening because they were too busy. Fortunately for us they pointed us in the direction of their sister restaurant, Essenza, just down the street. And Essenza had a table with our name on it! Unfortunately, it wasn’t the most ideal table since it was right by the door and got a bit crowded with people waiting nearby for their tables… but it did the trick.
The food was terrific– one of the better meals I’ve had in London. We split the caprese salad, which had artichokes in addition to the usual mozzarella and tomatoes. Not sure if this is typical in London, but have never seen artichokes in my caprese salads back in the States… and it’s a very nice addition.
As for our meal I ordered the grilled calamari, which was the perfect portion size, perfectly cooked, and delish. My friend ordered the ravioli, which was sinful. She cleaned her plate pretty fast, but was nice enough to let me have a bite or two. No room for dessert, but who needs dessert after a ravioli so that rich?

Friends who live around Notting Hill have introduced me to this rather hidden gem on the back of Portobello Road. This Italian is not easy to find and therefore more a meeting point for locals who know the back alleys by avoiding the tourists.
It is very intimate and of good manners, therefore I could see this place a tête-​à-​tête. The restaurant is very small, however, there are as many tables placed next to each other.
White table clothes with napkins are decorating the tables and you would miss out if you would not order a wine.
During the weekdays they offer an express business lunch while at the week ends the restaurant is especially welcoming for lunch families with children. Also if you want to spoil your partner but stay at home Essenza offers take-​away.
My friend, who enjoys going there from time to time highly recommended the pastas, when the dishes arrived the portions were generous and a starter was not needed necessarily. We had a very good time there, especially is you have a lot to discuss and do not want to be interrupted but still well looked after.
This restaurant has class and good food.
Note: Reservation is recommended!

I have no idea why it’s taken me so long to get here… Essenza is the youngest sibling to Notting Hill’s Mediterraneo and loved-​the-​world-​over (especially by me) Osteria Basilico, and it’s literally paces away from both. For some reason, it flies under the radar.
I finally made to Essenza for a quiet dinner with friends (I had heard this was a more intimate, civilized spot compared to the other two) and was surprised that it was buzzing — all 15 or so tables were packed, and the waiters were bustling about and speaking loud Italian as they do at Osteria. Also, the food was sublime. I really hate to say it… but…it was as just as good as the similarly menued Osteria. I had a starter of melt-​in-​your-​mouth buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes and artichokes followed by chargrilled squid which was cooked to tasty perfection.
It falls short of 5 stars for just a few reasons: first, the service. Kind, yes, but I had to repeat my order several times and even then, they forgot a side order. We also sat with a bowl of oil/​vinegar for roughly 30 minutes before actually having to ask if they could bring us its friend, the bread basket. And the bread was pretty boring. Also, Essenza lacks the atmosphere of its sister restaurants, particularly Osteria B. It has a smart, contemporary feel that lacks Italian charm and I think it would be a bit sad-​looking if completely empty.