Reviews Rossella

Incredible value for money.  This place is always packed, so yes, make a reservation.  In terms of the food, quite decent, very decent for the price.  The waiters don't really know what some of the dishes are which can be a bit annoying, but they're really nice.  The decor is random and tacky and endearing.

Just seconds down the road from Pizza East in Kentish Town is a little family trattoria called Rossella. I’m not going to lie, it ain’t much to look at from the outside – but your belly (and overall your wallet) will thank you should you enter.

It’s completely dead when we arrive. I’m running late so A gets there before me, tells me to hurry up cos it’s PACKED – so I start breaking out into a dad-run to get there fractionally quicker, finally arriving to be greeted by a river – nay an ocean – of empty seats. Unfathomably so, it turned out, given the quality of the food.

Fast forward 30 minutes and the place is absolutely heaving. This is more like it. The vibe is markedly more personal than its rival across the way – our waitress carefully takes us through the specials, telling us her favourites along the way; head chef Luca makes a dash to chat to the regulars when he’s not blasting out orders in the kitchen. It’s a proper local’s local, something of a rare breed in London.

We’re sold by the specials so order entirely from the board. I have the octopus linguine to start which comes lightly spiced, sprinkled with breadcrumbs and cooked in a glorious amount of garlic. Traditional, undemanding, delicious. I quickly gobbled every last bumming morsel.

A’s stuffed pepper looks ready to erupt when it arrives, bulging with arborio rice, parmesan cheese and tomato. The pepper is nice and crisp, the filling avoids being too heavy. A solid, but not stodgy, starter. 

Now’s here’s where I became a bit of a fat twat. I’d already ordered my main but after getting a waft of pizza whizzing past me I couldn’t resist getting one in to share. So here we are with three meals between us, getting looks from older diners concerned at the state of modern obese youth.

That said, the chargrilled swordfish was a good healthy option, perched on top of a salad of artichokes, cherry tomatoes and black olives. Very simple and delicate, but still with a lovely mix of flavours; perfectly juxtaposed with A’s regaling of throwing up in a Harry Ramdens in Bournemouth. Thanks for that. 

Sole meuniere showed a bit more flair; the fillet placed diagonally on the plate topped with caper sauce, tomato and two king prawns, encircled in pesto and balsamic swirls. The buttery flakes of sole tasted went beautifully with the caper sauce, whilst the prawns gave a light touch of decadence. You’d expect it for the price though – at £18 this was way off the mark. 

Slices of proscuitto and rocket pizza went down a treat in between servings of our actual meals. A very good pizza indeed and an absolute steal at around the six quid mark. Such a steep hike between this and the specials is a no-brainer – I don’t care how good to sole is, I’d still rather buy 3 pizzas. 

There’s only one way to finish a meal like this – I’m looking at you, my sweet spongy Italian friend. I could see the waitress carrying my doorstop of a tiramisu slice a mile off, a truly gluttonous serving. The double espresso on the side was a nice little touch, letting you make your own mini affogato which added some much needed moisture. Vanilla & pistachio gelato received a bowl scraping ovation over on the other side of the table. 

You’re likely to have walked past Rosellas and not given it the time of day, but it really is worth a shout. Unpretentious, unforced and unbelievably good classic Italian grub, the pizzas and pastas are crazy cheap, and if they sort the strange mismatch of prices out I’d encourage you to go beyond the carb fest. Get there early and miss the rush.

Family-owned restaurant in the heart of Kentish Town, perfect for local Ham & Highgaters. The food was incredible and the staff and experience exceeded my expectations. First time I’ve had completely authentic, great tasting, perfectly priced and satisfying Italian food in a long time. No complaints or little touches missing. I was very pleased and felt attended to and left satisfied. Would 100% recommend.

One of my favourite restaurants in London. Such friendly, knowledgeable staff. We had the best evening! Make sure you have the bread and zucchini starter. The house wine comes from their own vineyard as well

Exploring the suburbs of London for dinner turned into a pleasant surprise! The service was over the top amazing and the food was delicious!

The service was speedy, with some great recommendations from the team. Good arrived quickly, and tasted amazing. Would highly recommend, and will be going back myself! Wasn’t to expensive, and was a great date dinner spot.

The food was really great and very reasonably priced. The decor was well laid out and sweet, but maybe ever so slightly tacky for my own tastes. All the waiters were very friendly, apart from the one who took our payment - the bill included a 12.5% service charge, so when I clicked no to add an extra tip on top of that, he scoffed at me and rolled his eyes! It was a bit of a cr*p ending to a lovely lunch...

Great food and coffee (good value too with the lunch deal). Friendly service, welcoming atmosphere. A great local spot!

A massive Thank you to Luca and his team at Rossella. Myself and my new wife held our wedding reception at Rossella this past week and I have to give them 5 stars not only for the service and food but also for their assistance with planning which began before the pandemic scuppered our plans. When it came to choosing a venue for nearly 70 of our friends and family to share our day with us there was only 1 place we wanted to do it. Having eaten at the restaurant previously and impressed with the food quality and service we returned to speak about the possibility of utilising the venue for our special day. From the moment we spoke we were reassured that we had indeed made the right choice in Rossella. Luca - the owner is hands on and really knows his food...and wine. We had a few testers and decided on the menu. In the lead up to our day Luca helped us with seating plans and the logistics of the day which we hadn't given a second thought too. On the day of our wedding we arrived to be greeted by a champagne reception and a smiling Luca. Nothing was too much trouble. The whole team were accomodating to all from our 6 month old neice to my wife's 90 year old grandmother. The food was top class and portions generous. I had a T bone steak which was cooked to perfection and tasted beautiful with the family wines we had chosen - this wasn't a one off from the seabass to the meatballs many of our guests have said that the food was the best they had ever had at a wedding. We danced the night away - the team again being accommodating to our dance group which was the evenings entertainment - nothing was too much trouble - Luca from myself and the new Mrs. T thank you to you and your team we had so many wonderful compliments on your venue and the food. We will always remember our special day with a smile and the taste of those cannolis. J&C Xx

Would frequent if I lived nearby. Heard the waitress telling about a couple that are regulars every Friday for the last 10 years. The food was delicious. Visit for our anniversary. Even mentioned in the booking. Nothing special or a dessert on the house tho. The pasta from the valentines menu with langoustine was yummy. Desserts were so light and creamy.Overall will make a 1 and half hour journey to come back again.

I live locally and often order takeaway or eat it. Everything I've tried so far, from different kinds of pasta to pizza, has been delicious. The staff are nice and the prices are reasonable. Highly recommend.