Tinello

I spend really good time in this restaurant, friendly staff and nice atmosphere.
Food amazing with a really good choice of pasta and main, everything fresh and tasting.
Good the wine list with a selection of wine from all the world.

This was one of the best meals I have had in a while. Don’t let the funny names of the dishes fool you. They are all good.

I do like coming back here every now and again but for my 3^rd visit last night, it lacked a little bit of the initial luster. One reason for the downgrade is that they didn’t have some of the items on the menu and was a little disappointing as the items that were available wasn’t as appealing. The service was okay when they were around but there were long patches of time we were without wine and wished they would just leave it on the table for us.
Here’s an update on the food
Courgette frites — This is consistently on the menu. I don’t know how they get it so thin but one of my favorite sides
Green beans with tomato? — This was surprisingly tasty.
Cheese with tomato toast — really? for the amount they charge for the size of a coaster, I’d recommend not bothering with this
Spaghetti with prawns — I think I would’ve loved this dish if they used about a ¹⁄₃ of the salt that was on there and if the pasta wasn’t so al dente (I did ask for it not to be but came out al dente anyway).

Given the existing reviews of this place, I don’t think I need to go into too much detail. Suffice to say, given the area and the arse-​rapingly ridiculous prices you can pay for dreadful food, Tinello is a breathe of fresh air. The guys and gals that run this gaff are warm, friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable. Service is second to none, though there are small areas to brush up on. Definitely unstuffy and the food decidedly excellent. Definitely one of the best places to dine in the west, and no wonder it is BOOKED UP every night of the week.

Chic modern Italian comes to Sloane Square.
I always seem to forget that small stretch of road behind Sloane Sq., where Chelsea and Belgravia meet. It is quaint and pretty and filled with lovely little shops and eateries. So it should be no surprise that Tinello opened here as it is perfectly trendy, yet still cozy enough to fit into this high end corner of the neighbourhood.
The service could not have been nicer or more accommodating. The small menu was exciting and different from your regular Italian restaurants, though I chose the only traditional dish on the menu of Saltimbocca alla Romana which I must say was outstanding. To start I tried their broad bean salad with caramelized onions and sun dried tomato dressing which was a real treat and finished with a refreshing granita over seasonal poached peaches. All delicious and pleasing to the palette.
The only thing that felt a bit ‘cold’ was the ultra conservative and a bit older clientele. More Belgravia then Chelsea. Quite stuffy and complete contrast to the Milanese chic styled décor of the place. That said, the place was very busy and is clearly a local hot spot. Its like a slice of Milan is just around the corner.

I really enjoyed Tinello — after hearing great reports about the food — a snafu over bookings last time I tried to go left me table-​less… but I managed to sort it out properly this time. The staff were almost excessively courteous — about 3 waiters showed us to our table (alas, downstairs, but it wasn’t too gloomy down there) — and whisked away our jackets with various flourishes. The menu was full of tempting sounding dishes, with pastas available as starters or mains. We both decided to go for main course pasta — I had a very delicatly flavoured broad bean ravioli dish with a greenish lettuce pureee (although perhaps a little too much butter, but that’s just me, I am not hugely keen on butter) … but it was beautifully cooked. I had my ususal spinach on the side — a generous portion. My friend had a spicy prawn spaghetti with a huge side of shoe-​string thin zucchini fritti, which he polished off fairly smartly.
When it came to pudding I tried to ask the waiter about the fig tart. ‘Is it puff pastry or shortcrust, because I don’t like puff pastry…’ The waiter looked agonized, as if I’d asked him to choose between sacrificing his first born or visiting plague on the world. After a tense moment, he scurried off to find out. The tart turned out to be delicious, a sort of grown up take on a fig roll, with dried fig pieces inside a warm, almost shortbread-​biscuit crust. My friend was equally happy with his tiramisu. Plus they brought some little profiterole things with the bill, which I couldn’t try as they had a very alcoholic kind of glaze, but my friend was pretty happy to scoff both of them.
A smart, polite sort of restaurant, with exemplary cooking.

For photos see Greedy Diva @

Tinello is sophisticated but fun, elegant but unstuffy. It serves quality food and wine at reasonable prices. London is certainly hitting its straps when it comes to Italian restaurants right now.
I like Tinello’s ambience immediately — there’s exposed brickwork, industrial lighting, wooden floorboards and well spaced tables with crisp, white tablecloths. The clientele are wealthy 30 plusers and, in case it gives you further confidence, there’s many Italians among them on the night we visit.
To start, the mixed antipasto (£7.80) includes a selection of cheese, spicy salami and (my favourite) a silky, rich duck liver pâté. Deep fried baby cuttlefish (£3.80) are coated in a crispy, light batter giving way to moist and inky pockets within. Wondrous fine shreds of fried courgettes (£2.60) look like fireworks in a bowl and are certainly moreish if slightly greasy. A creamy Pugliese burrata with tomato bread (£3) is served as a splodge on the plate, rather than whole, but loses nothing in taste for that.
A firm spaghettini with Cornish crab meat, chilli and garlic (£11) looks boring — you might go looking for the crab — but rest assured it’s in there — and it tastes like sweet, spicy, al dente heaven.
Orecchiette with turnip tops, chilli, garlic and anchovies (£10.50 as a main course as above, £8.50 as entrée) is one of our favourite dishes from Puglia. Here, it’s not the greatest I’ve ever tasted, but it’s good. It’s salty and firm, with the kick of chilli giving it some lift. Taut pockets of pumpkin ravioli are nestled in a smooth smoked ricotta (£11.50 as a main course, £9.50 as entrée). They’re excellent — perfectly cooked with a terrific, robust smokiness. I’m certain you won’t get flabby pasta at Tinello.
The roast veal cutlet is simply fabulous. It’s juicy, fatty and tender, with the added bite of a braised fennel and lemon salad (£23.25).
They’re out of tiramisu, so we take 2 serves of gelato and sorbet (£3.50 each) and a gorgeous white chocolate and pine kernel semifreddo with cocoa ice cream (£5) which I strongly recommend.
Service is attentive and friendly enough, but not overly fussy (which I count as a good thing).
With wine (a couple of bottles of fruity Valpolicella) and service, our meal tallies in at around £55 per head — excellent value for such great food and ambience. If you haven’t been yet, put Tinello on your list.

Opened not too long by the head chef and the sommelier of Locanda Locatelli and backed by Mr. Locatalli himself near Sloane Square on Pimlico Road. Behind a very low-​key exterior is a modern dark interior which feels kind of cosy without being crammed. The service staff are very friendly and helpful but I had to take a star off my rating since they kept getting the order wrong or forgetting parts of it.
The menu has a selection of «Small Eats» which are all quite inexpensive. It could be a very nice place to just go for wine and the small eats. I came here for lunch though and was looking for something a bit more filling than that. Not being all that hungry I decided that instead of going for the full antipasti, pasta and secondi combination just have the small eats and the secondi piatti, my company decided to have the small eats and the pasta as the main.
First out were the small eats, the zucchine fritte (fried courgettes) and seppioline fritte (deep fried baby cuttlefish), unfortunately not those two actual dishes, not until the waiter came back with the right ones. Having had the fried courgette many times at Polpetto and loving it I had my hopes up for this one and I was not let down. Very nicely cooked with thin crispy batter. The cuttlefish were equally well cooked and very tasty.
The pasta my company went for was the Linguine gallinella e olive nere (linguine, gurnard, black olives, chilli and garlic) which was nicely cooked but a bit lacking in flavour. Like other reviewers in other places have said I do think that the pasta is the weakest part of the menu at Tinello. As for me I went for the Medaglioni di cervo, zucca, crescione e nocciole Piemontesi (loin of venison, pumpkin, watercress and hazelnuts) which was a succulent, tender piece of venison with a rich sauce. Very well made, the pumpkin was especially tasty and the whole thing felt perfect for an autumn lunch with the sun slowly setting outside and sitting inside in the warmth looking out at people freezing outside.
To be honest though you probably need to go for both the pasta and secondi piatti as the portions are not that big. Considering that there was a supplement to have the pasta as a main and the size of it I can’t really imagine how small it would be not having it as a main. So naturally we ordered dessert. Tiramisu and a selection of sorbets and ice creams. The tiramisu was apparently quite nice but again, a bit more was expected. The ice creams and sorbets were of very high quality and tasty.
Overall the lunch was good but I did expect more and for the price I know I can get better in other places. I will definitely return to have an afternoon/​evening of wine and small eats as I think that’s where Tinello shines.

I wanted to really like it.
The staff seemed both absent and eager at the same time, so maybe they are still working things out on the floor. Cosy and sleek décor, but our ambiance was interrupted by the two infants dining near us on a Saturday evening at 8:45.
My pork was overdone and the greens beneath were drowning in sauce. I bet the pasta was better. I’d give it another shot if I heard that others loved it.