Circolo Popolare London Review: Is the Famous Pecorino-Wheel Carbonara Actually Worth the Hype?
Circolo Popolare is impossible to confuse with a discreet neighbourhood trattoria. The 40-41 Rathbone Place dining room is wrapped in shelves holding roughly 20,000 bottles, long communal tables cut through the centre, fairy lights soften the ceiling and the whole room operates at a volume somewhere between dinner and party.
Big Mamma opened the restaurant in Fitzrovia with the same philosophy that made its other London addresses instantly recognisable: Italian ingredients, oversized portions, handmade pasta, Neapolitan pizza and desserts that seem designed to arrive with their own audience.
Chef Angelo Bruno leads a kitchen that moves from burrata and San Marzano tomatoes to truffle pasta, langoustines, grilled beef and the restaurant’s most photographed dish, the Gran Carbonara served from a 4 kg wheel of Pecorino.
On our 2026 visit, the cooking was better than the spectacle initially suggested: service kept pace with a packed room, ingredients had real quality and the meal never felt like pure Instagram theatre. Is Circolo Popolare a tourist trap? No — but you are absolutely (🤑) paying for the show as well as the pasta.
Burrata Is a Better Beginning Than Ordering Half the Antipasti
The menu is built to provoke over-ordering.
There is focaccia, Parma ham, Valtellina bresaola, beef tartare, fried pizzette, supplì, truffle burrata and various combinations of stracciatella, vegetables and cheese.
The burrata al tartufo costs £17 and is the more indulgent option, while the simpler burrata preparations allow the dairy itself to do more of the talking.
Good burrata should feel cool, milky and almost liquid at the centre, with enough acidity and salt around it to stop the richness from becoming flat.
One substantial antipasto for two is enough. Circolo gets much heavier from here.
Pizzette Fritte Are Exactly the Kind of Excess the Room Encourages
The pizzette fritte cost £8.50 and bring southern Italian street-food energy straight to the table.
Fried dough needs to be light enough to puff rather than absorb oil. The pleasure lies in crisp edges, soft centre and the almost indecent speed with which something so simple disappears.
They are more fun than essential.
If carbonara and pizza are coming next, share them and move on.
The Gran Carbonara Is Theatre — but Not Only Theatre
The Gran Carbonara costs £19 per person and is served for two, finished directly inside a large Pecorino wheel.
This is the dish most likely to make nearby tables look over.
The spectacle would be meaningless if the fundamentals were weak, but the structure is sound: spaghetti alla chitarra, guanciale, egg yolk, Pecorino and black pepper.
The pasta has enough bite to survive the dense sauce, while guanciale provides the crisp, fatty counterpoint that cream would only blur.
The challenge is richness.
Pecorino from the wheel adds another layer of salt and fat to an already concentrated dish, so the portion for two makes sense. This is not the moment to prove individual stamina.
Is it the best carbonara in London? Not quite. But it is one of the few theatrical versions that still tastes like carbonara rather than a stunt.
Tagliarini with Crab and Lemon Are the Smarter Pasta Order
The tagliarini with crab and lemon cost £21 and show a more controlled side of the kitchen.
Fresh pasta comes with hand-picked crab, thyme, chilli, langoustine bisque and lemon butter.
That sounds busy, but the logic is clear. Crab brings sweetness, bisque adds shellfish depth, chilli supplies warmth and lemon prevents the sauce from sinking under its own richness.
This is the pasta we would order when the carbonara performance feels a little too obvious.
It has more balance and considerably less theatre.
Spaghetti with Langoustine Push the Seafood Further
The spaghetti with langoustine cost £27.
Datterino tomato sauce and langoustine bisque provide the base, while marinated langoustine and lemon zest bring sweetness and freshness on top.
The plate works best when the bisque stays concentrated rather than creamy.
Langoustine is delicate enough to disappear beneath excessive sauce, so the raw or lightly marinated element on top matters: it restores the shellfish itself as the focal point.
At £27, this is one of the more expensive first courses, but also one of the most ambitious.
Mafaldine al Tartufo Are Deliberately Excessive
The mafaldine al tartufo cost £20.50, combining truffle and mascarpone cream with fresh black truffle.
This is not subtle pasta.
Mafaldine have enough width and frilled edges to hold a rich sauce, while mascarpone gives the dish an almost luxurious softness.
The danger is monotony.
Truffle needs aroma rather than sheer quantity, and mascarpone needs enough seasoning to avoid turning the whole plate into cream with perfume.
It is the right order for a cold evening and the wrong one if burrata and carbonara have already reached the table.
The Mammargherita Is the Pizza That Tests the Oven
The Mammargherita di Bufala costs £13.50.
San Marzano DOP tomato, fior di latte, buffalo mozzarella, Parmigiano and basil leave nowhere for poor dough to hide.
The crust is soft and inflated at the edge, with enough char to give the base bitterness and structure.
The combination of fior di latte and buffalo mozzarella creates more dairy richness than a strict Margherita needs, but the tomato has enough acidity to keep the pizza lively.
Among the pizzas, this is still the one we would order first.
Some Like It Hot Brings Nduja into the Room
The Some Like It Hot pizza costs £17, topped with ricotta and ’nduja cream, fior di latte, spicy sausage, tarragon and chilli.
There is no ambiguity in the name.
The attraction is not simply heat but contrast: ricotta cools, ’nduja spreads smoky pork fat through the base, sausage adds texture and tarragon brings an unexpected herbal note.
This pizza can become heavy quickly, so it is better shared than treated as a personal endurance test.
Mortadella with Benefits Is Pure Big Mamma
The Mortadella with Benefits costs £21 and piles mortadella, smoky stracciatella, Parmigiano and fresh black truffle over a mozzarella base.
Everything about it is excessive.
Mortadella provides sweetness and fat, stracciatella adds another creamy layer, Parmigiano sharpens the finish and truffle supplies aroma.
The pizza tastes exactly as rich as that sentence sounds.
For some diners, that is the point. For us, the simpler pizzas leave more room for the dough to matter.
Wine Pairings
Gran Carbonara: Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico — bright Sangiovese acidity cuts through guanciale and Pecorino.
Tagliarini with crab: Planeta Etna Bianco — mineral, citrus-driven and precise with shellfish and lemon.
Mammargherita: Graci Etna Rosso — light tannins and volcanic freshness suit tomato and mozzarella without overpowering them.
Grilled Beef Is Better Than Expected
The tagliata di manzo costs £24, served with salsa verde.
The choice of onglet is smart.
This cut has considerably more flavour than fillet and enough texture to reward careful slicing. Salsa verde brings herbs, acidity and enough salt to sharpen the meat rather than mask it.
The 35-day-aged sirloin costs £36, moving the menu into more serious steak territory.
Still, Circolo is not where we would come primarily for beef. The tagliata works because it stays simple.
The Lemon Pie Is Ridiculous — and That Is the Point
The lemon pie costs £8 and arrives with a famously extravagant tower of meringue.
It is visually absurd.
The reason it survives beyond novelty is acidity. Lemon keeps the dessert from collapsing into sugar, while the meringue gives texture and spectacle in equal measure.
The portion is big enough to share, which is fortunate after carbonara.
Matilda’s Torta Takes Chocolate Even Further
The Matilda’s Torta costs £14 and stacks six layers of chocolate cake beneath a molten chocolate glaze.
This is dessert as escalation.
There is no restraint, no attempt at delicacy and no reason to order it after truffle pasta unless you have planned the evening badly or magnificently.
For a table of four, one slice makes sense.
For one person, it becomes a statement.
The Room Is Half the Experience
Circolo Popolare can seat up to around 220 people, and the scale matters.
The front room alone accommodates more than a hundred diners, while a second dining room and summer terrace extend the space further.
Despite that size, the décor creates enough visual clutter and warm lighting to keep the restaurant from feeling corporate.
The downside is obvious: this is not intimate dining.
Conversation competes with music, neighbouring tables and constant movement. If you want a quiet anniversary dinner, choose another restaurant.
If you want a noisy Saturday lunch with friends, Circolo makes far more sense.
Service, Atmosphere and Prices
The team handles a difficult job reasonably well: moving a very large room without turning dinner into conveyor-belt hospitality.
Bookings open 30 days in advance, though walk-ins are also accepted and some tables are deliberately kept aside.
Circolo opens Monday to Friday from 12:00 pm to 10:30 pm, Saturday from 11:00 am to 10:30 pm and Sunday from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm.
Prices are not cheap, but they remain below London fine-dining territory. A burrata al tartufo (£17), Gran Carbonara (£19 per person) and lemon pie (£8) bring the meal to £44 per person before drinks if the burrata and dessert are shared.
The weekday Pranzetto lunch menu starts at £17, which changes the value equation considerably for anyone more interested in the food than the nighttime spectacle.
Useful Information
- Address: 40-41 Rathbone Place, London W1T 1HX
- Area: Fitzrovia
- Cuisine: Italian trattoria and Neapolitan pizzeria
- Chef: Angelo Bruno
- Dining capacity: Up to approximately 220 guests
- Signature dishes: Gran Carbonara, Neapolitan pizza, burrata and oversized desserts
- Gran Carbonara: £19 per person, minimum two
- Tagliarini with crab: £21
- Mafaldine al tartufo: £20.50
- Mammargherita di Bufala: £13.50
- Some Like It Hot: £17
- Mortadella with Benefits: £21
- Tagliata di manzo: £24
- Lemon pie: £8
- Matilda’s Torta: £14
- Weekday lunch menu: From £17
- Monday–Friday: 12:00 pm–10:30 pm
- Saturday: 11:00 am–10:30 pm
- Sunday: 11:00 am–10:00 pm
- Reservations: Open 30 days in advance
- Walk-ins: Accepted
- Vegetarian options: Available
- Dogs: Welcome
- Best for: Group dinners, carbonara, Neapolitan pizza and one of London’s most theatrical Italian dining rooms
Our Rating of Circolo Popolare
Food: 8.9/10
Better than the décor might make cynics expect, particularly when the order stays focused.
Starters: 8.7/10
Burrata and fried dough deliver immediate pleasure, though restraint becomes important quickly.
Fresh Pasta: 9/10
Carbonara gets the attention, but crab tagliarini show more finesse.
Pizza: 9/10
Soft-edged Neapolitan bases and strong Italian ingredients make this more than a supporting act.
Meat: 8.6/10
The onglet tagliata is the strongest choice, while the larger steak feels less central to the restaurant’s identity.
Desserts: 9/10
Ridiculous in scale, but surprisingly effective when acidity keeps the sugar under control.
Service: 8.8/10
Impressive considering the size and constant movement of the room.
Atmosphere: 9.5/10
Loud, maximalist and impossible to ignore — exactly the reason many people come.
Value for Money: 8.6/10
Dinner pricing reflects both food and spectacle; the £17 weekday lunch menu is the sharper deal.
Overall Rating: 9/10
