Where to Eat Italian in Covent Garden: Da Mario for Fresh Pasta, Veal, Seafood and Pre-Theatre Dining
Da Mario sits at 63 Endell Street, a few minutes from Covent Garden but with a personality increasingly rare in this part of London. The restaurant has been family-run for more than three decades, and instead of chasing the current fashion for enormous dining rooms, open kitchens and photogenic cheese wheels, it remains compact, white-tableclothed and resolutely old-school.
The menu follows the same philosophy. Fresh pasta, veal, calf’s liver, sea bass, clams, porcini, wild boar and homemade desserts dominate a relatively concise card, with enough seasonal movement to keep the restaurant from feeling preserved in the 1990s. Portions are generous, cooking is done to order and dinner operates at the pace of an actual restaurant rather than a pre-theatre conveyor belt.
What stayed with us after our 2026 dinner was how little Da Mario seemed interested in competing with fashionable Covent Garden. We ate extremely well, service had that confident familiarity that only really works in a small room, and the strongest dishes tasted as though somebody had cooked them rather than styled them. London has newer Italian restaurants, louder ones and far more theatrical ones; Da Mario is better at reminding you why none of that is compulsory.
Cuttlefish and Chickpeas Are a Better Beginning Than the Obvious Burrata
The seppie con purè di ceci combine sautéed cuttlefish with chickpea purée, San Marzano tomato, olive oil and chilli.
It is an intelligent opening because texture does most of the work. Cuttlefish brings springiness and sweetness, chickpeas give earthy softness, while tomato and chilli prevent the plate from becoming overly gentle.
This is the kind of starter that tells you Da Mario has more range than the room’s traditional appearance might initially suggest.
Scallops alla Veneziana Keep Things Sharper
The capesante alla Veneziana are breadcrumbed and sautéed with garlic, lemon and parsley.
Scallops naturally lean sweet, so acidity matters. Lemon gives the dish direction, breadcrumbs provide enough texture to catch the garlic and cooking juices, and parsley keeps the finish clean.
It is straightforward cooking, but that is exactly the attraction.
Nothing here needs foam, purée dots or another layer of sauce.
Fried Taleggio Is the Dangerous Starter
The Taleggio fritto with chilli honey is the opposite kind of pleasure.
Taleggio already has softness, funk and richness; frying adds a crisp shell, while honey and chilli push sweetness and heat against the cheese.
One plate for the table makes sense.
Ordering it before black-truffle pasta and then wondering why dinner feels heavy does not.
Ravioli di Magro Are the Quiet Classic
The fresh ricotta-and-spinach ravioli with butter and sage are among the dishes that best suit Da Mario’s character.
There is nowhere for weak pasta to hide in this preparation. The filling needs freshness, the dough needs delicacy and the butter must coat rather than drown.
Sage gives the necessary aromatic edge.
This is the sort of pasta that looks modest beside lobster and truffle but often proves more satisfying over the course of an entire meal.
Wild-Boar Ravioli Push the Pasta into Deeper Territory
The ravioli di cinghiale replace the soft dairy filling with wild boar and a butter-and-herb sauce.
Game gives the dish more weight and a darker savoury profile without requiring an equally heavy sauce. That restraint matters.
Wild boar already brings enough personality.
A tomato ragù or cream sauce would only make the plate more obvious.
Casareccia with Beef Ragù and Porcini Is the Comfort Order
The fresh casareccia with beef ragù and porcini mushrooms is one of the most substantial pasta choices.
Casareccia naturally catches thick sauce, while porcini add earthy depth to the beef without needing truffle to announce the woodland theme.
This is the pasta for a cold London evening.
It is also the plate that most clearly connects Da Mario’s old-school dining-room mood with the food itself.
Tagliolini with Sausage and Broccoli Are More Interesting Than They Sound
The tagliolini with Italian pork sausage and broccoli use garlic and olive oil rather than cream.
That makes a major difference.
Sausage contributes fat and spice; broccoli provides bitterness and freshness, preventing the pasta from becoming relentlessly rich. Fine tagliolini give the dish a lighter texture than rigatoni or casareccia would.
It is not the flashiest pasta on the menu, but it is one of the combinations we would happily order again.
Vongole Are the Cleaner Seafood Pasta
The tagliolini alle vongole veraci combine fresh clams with Datterini tomatoes, garlic and olive oil.
There is very little margin for error.
The clams need to remain tender, the pasta should absorb their liquor and the tomato must stay a supporting flavour rather than turn the dish into tomato pasta with shells.
After a substantial antipasto, this is exactly where we would go.
Lobster Tagliolini Are the Celebration Order
The tagliolini all’astice take the same fresh pasta into richer territory, with lobster, Datterini tomatoes, brandy, garlic and olive oil.
Lobster is naturally sweet enough that the sauce does not need to become luxurious for its own sake. Brandy deepens the aroma; tomato provides acidity; garlic should remain controlled.
At the upper end of the pasta menu, this is the obvious special-occasion choice.
Still, the quieter dishes often tell you more about the kitchen.
Calf’s Liver alla Veneziana Has Proper Old-School Charm
The fegato di vitello alla Veneziana comes with Tropea onions, butter and balsamic vinegar.
This is exactly the kind of dish disappearing from many central-London Italian menus.
Calf’s liver has a mineral sweetness that benefits enormously from onion, while balsamic sharpens the finish and butter rounds the sauce. The cooking needs precision because overdone liver goes from tender to chalky very quickly.
When the timing is right, this is more interesting than another expensive steak.
Veal with Black Truffle and Marsala Is the Richer Route
The scaloppina di vitello con tartufo nero combines thin veal escalopes with black truffle and Marsala wine sauce.
The combination is consciously luxurious but still recognisably classical.
Veal provides delicacy, Marsala sweetness and depth, while truffle adds aroma. The danger is allowing the sauce to overpower such a mild meat.
It works best when the veal remains the centre rather than the excuse.
Tagliata Keeps the Beef Simple
The tagliata di manzo is grilled sirloin served over lamb’s lettuce with balsamic reduction.
This is the more direct meat order.
The beef needs char, correct resting and very little interference. Valerian leaves provide freshness, balsamic just enough acidity.
After pasta, it is also easier to share than a heavier veal preparation.
Sea Bass with Sicilian Lemon Is Exactly as Simple as It Should Be
The Branzino Citronette pairs sea-bass fillets with Sicilian lemon sauce.
That sounds almost too simple, but white fish often benefits from precisely this level of intervention.
Sea bass brings delicacy and mild sweetness; lemon keeps the dish bright and prevents the plate from drifting towards blandness.
Among the secondi, this is the cleanest route after a richer starter or pasta.
The Mixed Fish Grill Is the Broader Seafood Choice
The grigliata di pesce combines sea bass, tuna steak and large prawns with grilled vegetables.
The difficulty is timing.
Sea bass, tuna and prawns each require different treatment, so the dish only works when the grill treats them as three ingredients rather than one order.
When handled carefully, it gives the table a much broader sense of Da Mario’s seafood side than another pasta ever could.
Wine Pairings
Tagliolini alle vongole: Guado al Tasso Vermentino di Bolgheri — citrus, herbs and saline freshness sit naturally beside clams and tomato.
Ravioli di cinghiale: Nozzole Chianti Classico — Sangiovese acidity and savoury red fruit suit game without overwhelming the pasta.
Tagliata di manzo: Villa Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva — firmer structure and darker fruit make sense with grilled sirloin.
The Wine List Has Unexpected Depth
Da Mario’s cellar moves well beyond a token list of Italian favourites.
Everyday bottles span Grillo, Verdicchio, Vermentino di Gallura, Soave, Gavi, Barbera, Primitivo and Chianti Classico, while the upper end includes Tignanello, Sassicaia, Guado al Tasso, Barolo and Brunello di Montalcino Riserva.
That breadth suits the menu because the restaurant moves comfortably between seafood, game and beef.
The sensible drinking zone is somewhere in the middle: a good regional Italian bottle that matches the food rather than turning dinner into an exercise in label recognition.
Maria’s Apple Tart Is the Dessert with the Most Personality
The homemade dessert list includes tiramisù, crème brûlée, lemon cheesecake and Maria’s apple tart with crème pâtissière.
The apple tart is the one that feels most naturally at home here.
There is something appealingly unfashionable about finishing a Covent Garden dinner with pastry, apple and custard rather than a giant theatrical dessert designed for somebody else’s phone.
For the more traditional route, the tiramisù uses espresso, Disaronno and mascarpone.
Vin Santo and Cantuccini Know When Dinner Is Finished
The restaurant also offers Vin Santo with cantuccini.
After pasta and veal, this may be the smartest ending of all.
Dip the biscuit, drink the wine and let the meal stop naturally.
Not every dinner needs one more plate.
The Small Dining Room Is Part of Da Mario’s Advantage
Da Mario has been here for more than thirty years, and the room still feels like a personal restaurant rather than a central-London concept.
White linen, closely spaced tables and portraits of actors with Italian family roots give the interior an old-fashioned character that might feel contrived in a new opening but makes sense here because the restaurant has actually lived through the decades it references.
That intimacy was important during our 2026 visit. Service felt genuinely present rather than simply efficient, and the smaller scale gave the meal a rhythm very different from the huge Italian dining rooms now common around Covent Garden.
Service, Atmosphere and Value
Da Mario opens Monday to Friday from 12:30 to 23:00 and Saturday from 13:00 to 23:00, closing on Sundays and bank holidays. Evening pre-theatre bookings are available up to 17:30, with two hours allowed for dining.
The restaurant has a few rules worth knowing. From 12:30, each diner must order at least one main course; from 17:00, the minimum becomes a starter and main course per person. Evening service is adults-only from 17:00, while children over eight are accepted earlier.
Starters currently sit broadly between £9 and £19, pasta between £17 and £37, meat mains between £29 and £38, fish mains between £28 and £36, and homemade desserts between £9 and £11.
Those are not bargain-trattoria numbers, but neither is this a casual bowl-of-pasta operation. The strongest value lies in a slower, more traditional restaurant experience that feels increasingly unusual in the West End.
Useful Information
- Address: 63 Endell Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9AJ
- Cuisine: Traditional Italian
- Style: Small family-run white-tablecloth restaurant
- Established: More than 30 years ago
- Specialties: Fresh pasta, seafood, veal, calf’s liver and homemade desserts
- Starters: £9–£19
- Fresh pasta: £17–£37
- Meat mains: £29–£38
- Fish mains: £28–£36
- Desserts: £9–£11
- Vegetarian options: Available
- Gluten-free spaghetti: Available with most sauces for £2.50 extra
- Pre-theatre dining: Available
- Last evening pre-theatre arrival: 17:30
- Evening minimum order: Starter + main course per person
- Evening age policy: Adults only from 17:00
- Monday–Friday: 12:30–23:00
- Saturday: 13:00–23:00
- Sunday and bank holidays: Closed
- Telephone: +44 20 7240 3632
- Best for: Fresh pasta, traditional veal dishes, Italian wine and a quieter pre-theatre dinner in Covent Garden
Our Rating of Da Mario Covent Garden
Food: 9.1/10
Classical Italian cooking with enough seasonal movement to avoid feeling dated.
Starters: 9/10
Scallops, cuttlefish and fried Taleggio give the opening section more range than the traditional room might suggest.
Fresh Pasta: 9.3/10
Ravioli, vongole, wild boar and lobster provide both depth and variety.
Meat: 9.2/10
Veal and calf’s liver are particularly strong reasons to look beyond the pasta.
Seafood: 9/10
Clean preparations and a serious mixed grill keep fish from becoming an afterthought.
Desserts: 9/10
Homemade, traditional and refreshingly uninterested in spectacle.
Wine: 9.3/10
A surprisingly deep Italian cellar, from everyday regional bottles to major names.
Service: 9.2/10
Personal and attentive in a way that suits the scale of the restaurant.
Atmosphere: 9.1/10
Old-school without feeling dusty; small scale is a genuine advantage here.
Value for Money: 8.7/10
Not inexpensive, but the cooking, wine and style of service offer something increasingly distinct in central London.
Overall Rating: 9.1/10
