The story
Bancone Covent Garden, at 39 William IV Street in London, is an Italian kitchen built around pasta made by hand every day. The Michelin Bib Gourmand for 2026 recognises its good quality, good value cooking, and the restaurant has held the award since 2020.
The signature is fazzoletti, soft glossy rectangles dressed with walnut butter, chopped walnut and a golden confit egg yolk. The Good Food Guide named the branch a Local Gem for 2026. Other pastas on the menu include pappardelle with Herdwick hogget, soy, Thai basil and chilli, and cappellacci filled with Cornish crab, corn, chives and sea herbs.
The restaurants are buzzy and informal, with table service, counter seating and a bar. Prosecco and Italian regional wines feature on the list. For the silk handkerchiefs, the house suggests a brisk, fruity white such as a Gavi, whose acidity cuts through the butter and yolk.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
good quality, good value cooking
When sleek, handmade pasta specialist Bancone opened its first branch in Covent Garden back in 2018, it scored an instant social media hit with its ‘silk handkerchiefs’ – soft, glistening rectangles of fazzoletti dressed with walnut butter, sprinkled with nuggets of chopped walnut and topped with a golden confit egg yolk. While still the stars of the show, they share the billing with other tempters such as pappardelle with Herdwick hogget, soy, Thai basil and chilli or cappellacci with Cornish crab, corn, chives and sea herbs. Start with cauliflower salad, smoked almonds and pecorino sardo; finish with fior di latte or crème caramello with coffee and buckwheat. Prosecco and Italian regional wines go down a treat.
Location
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