Luca in Machinga

One of the most beautiful dinner venues I’ve been to in London, stunning interiors and amazing service. Food was good.

Delicious italian food with great service. Moody lighting and great atmosphere

Ciao! Il cibo era buonissimo!What a great night out! The food was really good! The scallops with nduja sauce on top was so good, once you have a bite the spiciness kicks in and Boom! Great flavour!The two pasta dishes were very tasty. The tomatoes sauce had a lot of flavour, those tomatoes! Oh wow! Loved the parmesan sticks, clever starter!Definitely a place to watch! We must come back!

Great food and great service as well. I can see why this place is so highly recommended. We will certainly be eating there again.

Dont believe the hype. While the ambiance of this restaurant is great and service is obviously organised with care, the quality of the food is no better than an average Italian restaurant and the price markup is ridiculous. With a 10£ surcharge for pasta as a main we ended up having primi at almost 30£ (+service charge of course). Ok for the really good ravioli but the ragù in my pasta was criminally liquid. Forgettable starters as well, both the scallops (tiny, unimaginativeand the burrata. Very expensive wine list as well. Two stars for the really low value for money.

Disappointing. Started well with starters although they took around 30-45min to arrive after ordering. Following that, we waited a bit over an hour for the Primi (pastato arrive and only for dishes to arrive lukewarm. Several tables who ordered the chefs menu were served multiple courses while we were waiting. They tried to compensate with an additional pasta dish but it was quite bland in taste and there was nothing special about it, clearly rushed. Mains arrived within a decent time however... both beef fillet and lamb were very small portions for the price and the lamb was dry and lacked seasoning. In fairness, the beef tasted fine.The kitchen were described by front of house staff as "congested" but it was apparent that the customers ordering the chefs menu were being prioritised over those ordering al la carte.GM did take the primi off the bill, proving the standards were not met but a nice gesture.Comparatively with other places who come in around a similar price point, we felt very disappointed with what we received and will not return.

Best Italian in London! I think Luca has one the best ingredients among London Italian restaurants - the only competition is River Cafe. Just look at the color of the olives, the bean, the pastas. They are all very fresh, and about the best one would find anywhere. We have many favorite Italian restaurants in London. But none of them is comparable in term of ingredients. They maybe good at different format of cooking, but not ingredients. I’m very much enjoyed everything we ordered, from bread, olive oil (which is so good that I asked if I can buy some bottles from Luca), scallops, pastas and the dessert.I also like the vented high ceiling and proper decor. Not over the top, but proper high end Italian setting.

Best meal in London so far

We decided to visit Luca to celebrate a friend birthday. We had orkney scallops with nudja sauce and monk fish crudo as starters, both dishes were delicious. We had three lobster pasta and one Halibut as main dishes, sadly the Lobster pasta didnt meet our expectations. The chef completely ruined the dish by using basil as garnish, the pasta was slightly overcooked and taglierini would work better with crab rather than lobster.We ordered as dessert panna cotta and cherry tart, both dessert were excellent.Considering the cost of the evening- including three bottles of wine and three glasses of Francia corta- £ 515.86 the overall experience was just ok, I wouldnt rush back!!

Food was ok - 7/10, staff tried too hard to please. It wasnt genuine

Cooking 5 stars, but somewhat disappointed with meal structure and service. We had brought our own wine and chose the Prix Fixe menu. Food then came haphazardly and we ended up with our red wine with the halibut. In the end slightly disappointed and confused. Not in the same class as their sister restaurant The Clove Club.

Giving these because customer service is impeccable. Food especially mains could be better tho.

The epitome of a hidden gem. Luca sits quietly, humbly in Clerkenwell, yet inside reveals a wonderful dining room and a comfortable, greenhouse feel terrace, perfect for summer dining. The menu is a little dear and the portions are a little on a small side but the plating is true showmanship and the flavors are exacting and tremendously agreeable to the pallet. Great for a posh date or business lunch.

Amazing experience in Luca. We decided to try differente plates to get the full experience.As starters we shard the parmesan fries which were pure cheesy heaven. They also offered sourdough bread with the most amazing Italian olive oil. And the burrata was a good combination of a good bufalla mozzarella with sweet melon, salty prosciutto ans herbs. The tartare was unusual and tasty.For pasta dishes we had a version their version of carbonara which was great and a ragu with penne.Desert was a lemon curd, with lemon ice-cream, raspberry coulis and merengue, one of the best I have tasted.The red wine, suggested by the staff, paired well and it was delicious.Finally the service was also 5 stars, the staff was attentive, very nice and always there when you needed them.Definetly a resturant and experience I recommend!

So glad that the waitress recommended trying the Pamesan fries. It was one of the best appetizers Ive ever tried.The lamb was also excellent. Restaurants in London can always surprise us.

Luca is a gem - stellar service and staff; inventive and fresh ingredients that reflect the season. The monkfish crudo with fennel, chilis, white peach and mint just melted into perfection. The lobster tagliatini was perfect - rich of flavour but the exact proportion to keep the overall meal light. Their timing and assistance are perfect - always there when you think about it and never interrupting. (This was my first meal after being in Venice, and it was like I never left).

What a restaurant!From the welcome, all the way through the service was on point.Food was absolutely delicious. We ordered the Chef’s Menu and every dish was immaculately presented and superb.The whole restaurant looks beautiful and we were lucky to get a table outside where you could easily mistake being away in Italy somewhere.The only minor negative detail was the sommelier didn’t know what food we would receive so we didn’t know if we should order red, or white wine. We guessed and luckily got it right.Would highly recommend and will 100% be returning.

What can I say absolutely fabulous, my partners Son had his wedding reception here in the courtyard food amazing, staff second the none nothing was too much trouble weather perfect, highly recommend a visit here. We live in Spain but this would be one place I go back to again and again.Well done LUCA

What a fantastic night!We were celebrating our wedding anniversary and we chose Luca as the menu looked incredible.When we arrived we were greeted by the Fri Thor house team who inediatky m

Had a really wonderful experience at Luca. Amazing food and such lovely people.

Wonderful Restaurant.The staff were excellent from start to end. No rush, no panic, just perfect service.Food was excellent. Tried the chefs menu. as expected, excellent.Would highly recommend.

A great way to celebrate a special occasion, the food goes between good and amazing, the staff is patient, polite and very accommodating.The tasting menu is good value and the wine list has a good selection and is reasonably priced.We also received a surprise from the chefs, to celebrate the occasion, thank you!

Fantastic food and drinks. Good ambience, the place is larger than it looks in the pictures. Service was excellent too. Highly recommend a Fernet Branca as a digestif.

Excellent services and food was very nice. However, we were seated in the courtyard which lack atmosphere.Pamersean fries was one of the most unique and tasty entree we had.

Lovely restaurant with nice set up - services was great! Always helpful and friendly - the cocktails are very good - I only have started and dessert and they were delicious definitely will get back to have the full experience - the parmesan fries are a must!

Exceptional service from the host, splendid wine menu and all around excellent food. Disn’t manage to snap a picture here but the parmasan fries were sensational - more like parmasan churros in my opinion!

A real pleasure to return here . I had a lovely birthday meal and the food was excellent . We had the fixed menu which was excellent value and gave us a taste of everything plus desserts . The service was perfect and the atmosphere and vibe excellent . The photo below does not really do the food justice ! !

Wowowow amazing food, amazing cocktails and friendly staff! I was made to feel so welcome! I had the Tortelli, there is even an option to make your Primi into a Secondi! The bar are happy to make any cocktail even if it’s not on the menu! We had the Luca Spritz and it was beautiful

They stealth-charged us £2 for table water. Thats just petty. Food was delicious though and while some of the furniture is aging a little, the restaurant is beautifully designed.

I booked the ‘Pasta Room’ here for my proposal, and had a 7 course Prix Fixe Menu.Shannon from the bookings team was helpful and always at hand to answer queries and relay messages.Anastasia was our waitress and the general manager (whose name I’ve sadly forgotten, sorry!were fantastic throughout the whole evening. Being in a private dining room made the experience so much more intimate, and at no point did we feel like we were forgotten or lacking service.The food was stunning. I’d go back in a heartbeat.

Exquisitely superb experience in this modern Italian cousine restaurant - with an English twist. Booking in advance is mandatory: ask for a table in the room at the back, which is flooded with natural light coming from the full height windows.

Lovely elegant restaurant in a quiet area in Clerkenwell.Initially it looks like a little quiet bar, but after you pass the bar area towards the back, they have an amazing dinning area. I’m really impressed with the space and design.Apart from the tables, they also have 3 rooms which you can reserve for large groups including an outdoor seating section.The food is delicious and neatly presented, they also serve cocktails and have a lovely selection of wines.The staff is welcoming and helpful, I was very happy to have finally visited.

Good Italian wine selection. Food was extremely well made. Mushroom antipasti and steak were the highlights for me. It’s on the pricey side but quality of food and service were excellent.Everything we had was well balanced. Highly recommend you to reserve a slot in their open air area at the back for beautiful way to enjoy LONDON summer day !!

One of the best meals I’ve had out in London. Beautifully refined Italian food served to us at the bar along with cocktails and wine pairings. Can’t fault it, definitely coming back soon. Make sure you order the Parmesan fries the moment you’re seated... and the lemon tart can’t be missed either.

My favourite Italian restaurant in central London! So chic inside, and food and wine selection are just amazing! Never been let down, part of our seasonal treat routine.

Went to Luca yesterday after I read about it on conde nast and it really really didn’t disappoint. Entering the restaurant it looks quite small, then it opens up to a huge back dining area with floor to ceiling windows. The team were well set up in terms of Covid and people were wearing masks when stepping away from tables.We were served by Sara who was so lovely and so knowledgeable about the food and wine. She guided us through the afternoon and was just a pleasure to talk to.The food was utterly amazing. We had lamb, which was succulent and just out of this world. Bucatini, burrata, scallops, the choux pastry fries with Parmesan which were just insane. For desert we had the amazing pistachio olive oil cake and the amalfi tart. We washed this down with some lovely wine chosen by Sara.Thank you so much guys. Truly loved the place and will definitely be back.

Dinner for 3 on a Wednesday night. Second visit, and it did not disappoint. Prompt and knowledgeable service. The parmesan chips are a great starter, followed by scallops and a crab crostini. Squid ink pasta could have done with a bit more flavour but still hit the mark, cod cooked beautifully and the beef was on point. Recommended wine matched perfectly. Spotted a celebrity sitting at the table behind is too. Highly recommend!

Really cosy ambience and the staff were attentive. We had the scallops, Parmesan fries, squid ink spaghetti, Agnolotti cacio E Pepe with beef in the starter sizes and that was enough for the 2 of us to share as the dishes were all really flavoursome and rich. I would definitely order scallops and the agnolotti, plus try to ask for the seating on the booth.

I have been wanting to try this restaurant for many years. The service was impeccable, the starters were perfect and the dessert was amazing. The main however, as I have a gastric band I asked for the pasta to be very well done, instead it arrived more Al dente than I have had, which is a little disappointing as this took twice as long to eat and I ended up giving half away to my friend. Overall, however, the food was good, the service fantastic, the setting was beautiful and the martinis went down very easy. A tad more expensive than I was expecting, but for the central location and the overall experience it was mostly worth it. I would recommend for the parmesan fries which are out of this world!

Started with the scallops, which were cooked perfectly. The burrata was disappointing - upon slicing it open, there was no creamy goodness spilling out like a good burrata should have. The beef ragu pasta was tasty and the pumpkin ravioli was good, as someone who doesn’t have a sweet tooth, it was not too sweet. The steak was cooked to a medium rare just right and came in a huge portion, so i would suggest to share it between 2 pax at least. I tried a bite of my friend’s salmon and it was cooked perfectly, tender and juicy. Besides the disappointing burrata, it was overall a good meal if you’re looking for a more high end place to celebrate a special occasion.

Had the tasting menu, every dish was amazing. Would highly recommend for fine dining special occasions.

The food here is excellent, with the prix fixe representing excellent value for money when you consider the amount of food versus the quality. The wine menu is extensive of on the slightly expensive side. Service is attentive and relaxed without being over bearing. The tiramisu is outstanding!

Very nice environment and great food. Recommend the salad. If you like Padella youll like this place. Service is good except that the man at the door is a bit cocky-- hes not taking orders so its fine too. Will come back again.

Great food in a smart but relaxed setting. More small plates than starter, main and dessert. Friendly helpful staff. Big wine list. Quite noisy.

We had a small wedding and held our reception with close friends in the Pasta Room. The staff at Luca could not have taken better care of us. It bucketed down on the day, so they set their partially covered terrace with candles and let us have a photoshoot in front of their gorgeous fireplace. Our guests raved about the food and the service. They really made the day special.

We had a nice meal at Luca during the summer over a month ago - at least it looked like a nice meal at the beginning. I was really impressed by the interior design, the back garden and the atmosphere I couldn’t stop looking around.The staff was ok but given how many they are, the service could be better.The wine we had was so full of flavor and the Parmesan fries starters were delicious! The salad of new season cucumbers was very refreshing but disappointing as to me a salad isn’t only cucumbers - not worth the £12 anyway.As for the mains, we were really feeling like we wanted to have pasta. My boyfriend had the calpetti with the barbecued vegetables and grana padano which were so delicious and creamy and I had pasta with squid ink and chicken of the woods, which is by the way a mushroom. I wasn’t super excited by what I ate but I enjoyed it as something different that I hadn’t tried before. The waiter suggested that they make it main size which we agreed on. I however was suspicious that we will have to pay double the price, which we did, £30 for a pasta is to me a bit ridiculous so when we got the bill we were a bit awkward but didn’t make any fuss about it. I generally found it a bit overpriced but I guess it is what it is. The main issue was that a couple of hours later I was feeling sick and vomiting like crazy. There was obviously something wrong with my pasta because my boyfriend was fine - and i only have had a glass of wine so it wasn’t this for sure.I had very high expectations from this place but my experience was really bad as we paid over £100 to end up in the toilet.

Im writing this review much later than my actual visit, the reason being is that as good as my pictures may look, the experience still grates on me nearly as much as the parmesan on those delicious fries...Luca is quite a beautiful looking restaurant, but sadly the vibe is all wrong. The impression felt here is that they have got caught up in their own hype. Its not felt neither warm or welcoming. Two huge draws that returning customers seek.The service and attention to detail from the Luca team was good, if not a little slow.The wine list is sure to meet any expectations, theres a good chance this saved it from being a 2 star review!So, the food, thats why your here right?Its fair to say that the dishes are wonderfully presented, but flavours I felt were a little plain. Although I cant stress enough, order the parmesan fries, they are a delight to start whilst your exploring the menu.So to sum up, why didnt this place score higher?The atmosphere is non existant, and the prices are inflated well beyond the food or experience on offer.Luca is by no means a bad restaurant, get the atmosphere and overall experience better, be a little more reasonable on those prices and shift the focus back to the customer, ask yourselves what sets you apart and why should a customer return?*I didnt snap a picture of the fries as they were inhaled due to a mixture of tastyness and waiting times!(Want to see more of my foodie adventures, then please follow my Instagram: @kettleinho)

Fine Italian cuisine. It’s surprisingly great. The food is really delicious and the portions are small enough so you can enjoy taste until desert.

Beautiful restaurant with outstanding service and delicious food. You must have the spicy scallops which come in enormous shells, classed up with a dash of foie gras. The pork belly was a star as well, with crispy skin and caramelized apples. Dessert was a generous dollop of tiramisu that was a perfect blend of sweet and creamy, with the coffee coming through.Will definitely return! Hard to book a table so have to plan in advance.

I’ve been here three times. First two times I would give it 4stars. However, during most recent visit, there’s problem with cleanliness. Found hair/string (not sure what it wasin my bruschetta. Then they served tea with stained cup with dust spots in it.Food was still good though.