Il Giardino in Southwark

Overall a very nice experience and was the first time here. The service was grand, the staff were super friendly, quick service and the food tasted delicious. There were also specials to also choose from, not too much on the menu which I think is always a good thing, plenty of wine choices to complement the food. Got there early evening on a thursday and then the restaurant was full, shows popularity and you could feel the place has been there a while and was a lovely evening. Would go again and recommend it to anyone who enjoys Italian food. Solid A***** LDT x

Gorgeous little gem of a restaurant! Classic family style Italian. Reasonably priced, tucked away in a corner of good old Peckham. Food is so fresh and tasty. Cosy atmosphere, great menu options. Excellent service from the lovely Alice.

What a lovely, cosy restaurant. We were a party of 10, and they accommodated us perfectly. Efficient service and amazing food.

Would not recommend. This is not a family run place - they describe it as ‘family style’ - and it is not at all authentically Italian. Most of the pastas are made with cream and the staff (none in front of house or kitchen obviously Italian) didn’t understand us ordering pasta as a primi followed by fish as secondi and brought all our food at once. It had also taken almost 30 minutes to get a drink. Our bill came to £100 (with only one of us drinking and no desserts) so wouldn’t even fall under the cheap and cheerful category. There are many better options in Peckham to choose from.

Excellent food and beverage quality served in a timely fashion. Great service super friendly and efficient. Small and romantic. Book a table downstairs! The place is full! Local neighborhood restaurant worth returning!

Super cozy restaurant with delicious food! Highly recommended!

I had previously been in 2018 and thought it was one of the best meals I ever had. Came again, very busy, service ok not that warm or interested. Food ok, nothing special. Won’t come back again.

Terrible service. Expensive pizza and very small, also not a good pizza

Super Nice little Italian restaurant.

It's like stepping back in time.. When restaurants were individual and the food was simple and delicious. The prices are very reasonable and the food is cooked in way where you can taste the individual ingredients. The staff are welcoming and everything is timed perfectly. Highly recommended.

This is a great restaurant, really friendly staff, the food was delicious and the sentiment of the owners is perfect,... Good food and they want you to have a great time and leave happy, we certainly did

Great food, friendly staff, cute atmosphere. 10/10. Will recommend to everyone. Felt very authentic.

One of the most beautiful spot around goldsmiths in south London. Lovely and welcoming staff with cheap and delicious food. Always enjoy dinner here and go for a film in Peckhamplex.

Excellent neighbourhood Italian, 1st class

I love Il Giardino. I have been eating there for years and love the cozy atmosphere, the delicious food, and the friendly service.

Our daughter and son in law took us to this restaurant whilst staying with them and we had such a lovely evening. Food was amazing, the staff were so friendly and we definitely recommend. Look forward to returning again next time we visit.

Really cute restaurant with great wine and one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. Really nice staff too! And reasonably priced

The service is very bad. They took forever to prepare the meals. It is whatever but not Italian food, they don’t even gove breeze with the secondo. Honestly, i will never be back

Il Giardino is a lovely small Italian restaurant with a very personal feel. The food was delicious and arrived quickly, even though all the tables were full and I could see there were only two people in the kitchen. The waiting staff were plentiful and attentive. I should certainly go again if I find myself in Peckham again.

Unbelievable quality. Must go. Authentic taste and lovely staff. We went as a big group at 20 and they were do accommodating. Do visit!! Wine was so lovely.

I absolutely LOVE this place! The exterior, the staff, the menu, the cosy interior, the AMAZING pasta carbonara, the pizza, the wine. ALL OF IT. Such a lovely place.

Perfeita , a melhor pasta que come na minha vida

Lovely family-run local Italian restaurant, with the warmest of service and good value freshly cooked Italian classics.

Lovely atmosphere, nice staff, the starters were great, the only thing that lets the restraunt down is the pasta, it’s good and simple but not great, fresh pasta might have been better. But I would definitely go again, just for the lovely vibe

Excellent food and service, friendly staff, nice atmosphere. Being going there for over 16 years.

Friendly service and incredible, authentic Italian food. Family feel. Loved it.

We went for the first time, absolutely stunning! We tried the Antipasto to share that was quite small but fair for the price paid, the Linguine Mushroom and the Pizza were tasty and very good ! I am not a huge fan of Tiramisu but their one was fab !

What a lovely restaurant! Quite cozy, amazing food on our vacation. Would really recommend going here, affordable as well 👍

The best Italian dish I have had in a very long time! Absolutely amazing. We had the mussels spaghetti and the Bolognese, just so good. I also had the vanilla and coffee for dessert, PERFECT!! Will definitely be returning over and over again

I booked a table for 19 people for my birthday and the staff were brilliant - we felt looked after all evening and the food was delicious. Highly recommend for a relaxed and fun evening.

We had a lovely meal on a very busy Tuesday evening, the food was so fantastic and the staff were so wonderful

I went here last night on a whim with my bestie. Luckily we came just before the dinner rush (about 6.30-7pm) and got seated right away! This place is very busy and often turns people without reservations away cause it's too packed so I'd say book to avoid disappointment. SERVICE: Lots of reviews here talk about the wait, but please remember this is a small place with a small staff (2 kitchen staff and 1 waitstaff when I went) so yes there will be a bit of a wait BUT the service with this small staff is impeccable. The young man serving us last night was SO lovely, polite, and quick despite how packed it was. Love him. FOOD N DRINK: We got 2 limoncello and raspberry drinks which were DELICIOUS. Nice strength to them, very well presented in very gorgeous glasses. We got the tagliatelle emiliana and tagliatelle carbonara and I have to say this is some of the best pasta I've eaten outside of Italy. V flavoursome, not sickly, quality ingredients and beautifully presented. Portions are moderate. Left us room for dessert (tiramisu and torte de nonna which were both DELICIOUS) and we didn't feel sick after. Great selection of wines, drinks, and alcoholic coffees that we want to try when we come back! Got given a mint w our bill which was a nice touch haha. ATMOSPHERE: Beautiful family-friendly restaurant, great villa-style interior and very comfy chairs! Not too crowded and easy to move around. Toilets were very clean. It was very upbeat with music at the perfect volume and you don't have to shout over it. OVERALL: An absolutely gorgeous little restaurant which is justifiably always busy. We were made to feel very welcome and valued and we had a great time. We can't wait to return! Please don't hesitate to book. We were smoking outside afterwards and saw some ladies wondering whether to go in and we honestly said go in, it's great!!

Love this place! Delicious food, friendly service, welcoming vibe - every time.

Great food, but a little too much waiting for me

Stunning stunning stunning! Highly recommend sitting on the roof terrace especially at sunset!!

Delicious food, so fresh and just really simple delicious food

Excellent meal and a lovely spot. The prawn starter was delightful, the sauce in particular was fantastic. I had the fungi pizza, it was great. Crusty and doughy at the same time. Five stars all day!

Absolutely glorious local trattoria, gloriously authentic hearty food. A local favourite!

Visited this beautiful restaurant with my children for a birthday. The food was amazing, pizzas are so tasty and the best atmosphere. Loved the experience and highly recommend without reservations.

Good service, authentic, cute, nice food and quite cheap. No complaints except for the very very very loud table next to us but what can you do.

3ish dates in and not sure where it’s ‘going’? Fear not, for I have devised a simple test to separate potential life partner from deeply offensive nextman - bring them to Il Giardino. If they don’t get how good it is, they can f*** off over the road to Levan with all the other vacuous c****. Ciao!!

The loveliest location in Peckham for a delicious atmospheric meal. The staff are so polite and accommodating, total 5 star service 😊

Everything very good. Friendly service. Slightly long wait.

Old school, uncomplicated Italian family restaurant with friendly staff. Pasta was nothing special, it’s not fresh pasta but it was fine. However the tiramisu was excellent, almost as good as I make it at home with lashings of coffee and liqueur and not too much cream, great flavour.

Lovely place, great food, really lovely food and great service!!

AMAZING restaurant, service was great, food was great, food could be a little more flavourful but still great!

Great place, authentic food. Really love it so far 👍

Cené aqui con una amiga hoy. La camarera malagueña majisima. Buenas recomendaciones, postres y pasta increible. Precio razonable, no barato pero tampoco caro. Super bueno para la zona! Gracias.

So amazing!!! Food is incredible & the staff r super lovely. Recommend the tiramisu sooo yummy will definitely be back :-)

A nice cozy place for couples. The food is fantastic and reasonably priced, around £45 a head with a starter, main, desert and drinks.

We loved the food and the atmosphere. We were having a terrible evening until we came here. They made us forget our troubles. The sausage dishes and meatball dishes are fantastic. We're still here .... Hope the desserts are just as good!

Just found a little gem in Peckham🤩Nice and cozy atmosphere, food and service was outstanding. Definitely coming back!

non so perché mi sia arrivata una chiamata da questo numero mmmmha!

Already when opening the menu you Can already understand this is an imitation of Italian food. Everything has cream added to it??? Also the dishes spelling on the menu is writing all wrong. Terrible food but good service

Came back to Il Giardino for the first time this week after living abroad for 10+ years. Every bit as good as I remembered and thrilled it’s still here. Lovely unpretentious Italian restaurant, food is delicious - still dreaming about the Orecchiette pasta with walnuts! Thanks to the chef and all the wonderful staff.

Had such an amazing evening at this restaurant. The restaurant itself is so beautiful, it looks as like something from a Disney cartoon. And the food and wine were amazing. A really lovely experience and I would definitely recommend a visit!

Super Yummy! Great service! Loved dining outside! Win win win! Highly recommend.

Great food, very kind personnel and nice vibe.

Very pleasant. Good food and service. Will return and looking forward to it

the food is wonderful and great service

A very nice Italian place tucked in next to the Peckham station. Really enjoyed their creamy mushroom tagliatelle and especially their Torta della Nonna.

Went there 11th May 2022 on spec without booking. What a good Italian restaurant. Great service from a hyper efficient waitress / food from specials great. Do try out this lovely place - you won’t regret reading this genuine review

Perfect family dinner experience, homely authentic and owner is so friendly. Portions are incredible for the price wishing them many more generations in business🙏

This was just what I needed. Amazing home cooked wholesome food with an authentic caring service. 💯 will be going back.

Worked in Peckham for 20 years and passed this restaurant which always seemed busy. Now I know why........ Good food, cooked and priced well. Comprehensive menu for all tastes Very good staff and service.

Sadly disappointed with the service last night. I recommended to my family that we come here for my 50th birthday but now regret it as we had to wait nearly an hour for our starter the all of my family apart from me got their main. I was sitting there for 15 minutes whilst everyone was eating as the restaurant had ticked my meal off as served to me. This actually upset me and I told the waiter. They bought out my meal when nearly everyone had finished theirs but by then, I didn’t want it. I wasn’t hungry anymore. They bought out a slice of tiramisu with a candle and sang happy birthday as an apology but that didn’t make up for the fact that I didn’t get a meal in the end! They took off the cost of my whole order but still ruined my evening. I wanted to return here as I hadn’t been here for 12 years and knew the food and service was good. I was wrong this time and will not return! This was supposed to be a special meal. Everyone else enjoyed their food. I can’t comment as I didn’t have any!

Very cosy little restaurant and the food is delicious. Enjoyed a wonderful calzone.

Lovely place ,good food and really friendly staff

Great cute little restaurant, perfect for dates and overall great food. Would highly recommend!

We had a lovely Valentine’s Day meal here. The service was lovely, the atmosphere cosy and friendly, and the food was really delicious! We both had different tagliatelle pasta dishes and they were incredibly tasty. We’ll definitely be back.

Il Giardino is a place I've walked past a thousand times and always thought it looks like a cosy little restaurant so different to all the more yuppified establishments that surround it. It's exactly that, they cook hearty Italian classics with friendly service and reasonable prices and I'll be back soon!

Lovely, cosy Italian spot for a romantic dinner with home-style dishes and atmosphere. Reasonable prices too and nice house wine. Very friendly staff.

Food and service excellent as always. We've been coming here for 20 years and it's always great!

Went here for a spontaneous late dinner and it was lovely. Food was amazing (I had the Tagliatelle Emiliana). And the experience was really nice, felt like a family owned restaurant, service was great, it looks quaint. Definitely recommend

Second time coming here and loved it! Pasta was delicious as well as the asparagus starter. Come here for a very relaxed vibe

Lovely restaurant, very tasty food, friendly service

Food is fantastic and portions are generous. Staff is great, perfect place for a little date but music was questionable at times but can’t really fault it to be honest. The garlic bread was… garlicky. So go ahead and order some you won’t be disappointed!

We had a delicious meal here. The staff were lovely and so welcoming. Will be back soon!

I’m giving this 3 stars because the staff are nice, it’s cheap and it’s still going 30 years after my first visit. My pizza may have been made on site but London’s pizza has moved on and this isn’t it. The dough is probably a same day job and the pasta wasn’t freshly made. Tomato sauce was raw in a tarte way in both meals. Was rammed when we were there though so what do I know. Decent house red.

Delicious food! Lovely service! Will be back!

We had a lovely dinner at Il Giardino. My sis and I went at opening time to avoid the crowds. The waiter was friendly and the upstairs seating area was lovely. All of the courses were tasty and beautifully presented. We will definitely go back when possible.

Absolutely delicious food and ever so friendly staff. Definitely going back.! Already planning our next visit with friends and family ❤️

We came here a few times a few years ago. The food always took ages to come but it was good when it came, as was the wine. I wonder if they’ve had a change of ownership over COVID because now it’s still slow but the food and wine is terrible. It’s still a nice building but they ruin the atmosphere with tinny pop music and laminated menus. I ordered house white which was bad. Had to ask for tap water and took a while to order food. Ordered a starter of crostini. It was £8 or so for cheese on toast with some cheap pepperoni on top. After that, we thought about cancelling our mains but we’re too embarrassed. They came out about an hour after the starters. And we were lucky to get in before the rush. The table next to us said they thought their food would never come and you wouldn’t get away with service where they are from. There’s only one chef for about 100 diners. Sure the staff they have are working hard but not enough of them. When the food came, it was bad. My trout was tasteless. Potato’s we’re just small tasteless roast potatoes. Spinach tasted like out of a tin. That was £16 or so. My wife had some spaghetti and meatballs. Said the onion wasn’t cooked, the tomato sauce wasn’t rich and the meatballs tasted of ketchup and it had some random frozen peas in there. Neither of us finished and we managed to grab the bill and get out to have a drink and ice cream at home. They do say on the menus that it’s unpretentious and you may have to wait a long time. They say that’s because it’s being cooked fresh but it’s because they’re understaffed. If one guy is cooking different dishes for 100 people, he’s going to have to take shortcuts and it’s impossible for him to make nice food.

Beautifully decorated, lovely staff and a hidden gem in peckham ❤️

Lovely restaurant been coming in for years but moved out of peckham. Still come back when we can

We came here yesterday for a family meal (4 of us) and we had a great night and some delicious food. The waiters were great and very helpful in slightly changing a part of the menu as one person doesn't like spice. The restaurant is a small and cosy place but definitely big on flavours. Starters included a vegetable stuffed & baked mozzarella, a garlic pizza bread, a crostini with pepperoni and a spinach and feta cheese filo parcel. For the main course we had 2 creamy mushroom tagliatelle, broccoli pasta bomb and a meat feast pizza. Only 1 desert which was a chocolate melt in the middle pudding while the rest of us had coffe. The chef came out and said hello to everyone in the restaurant which was nice to see. Would highly recommend them and they would love your support as an independent restaurant. We will definitely be back 🇮🇹🍕🍝

Excellent choice particularly the specials on the blackboard - I had the aubergine starter and the tagliatelle al salmone. The food was excellent. Warning: don’t go there if you are in a hurry - we were very happy to have a leisurely meal!

The best pasta in Peckham. Lovely traditional feel and always very welcoming. Will be back again soon (hopefully! )

The food here is absolutely delicious, I would particularly recommend the Tortino or Profiteroles for the dessert as they were superb! The atmosphere is also so welcoming and it is a wonderful place to sit for a few hours in the summer :))

Been here in the past and can't wait to visit here again. Always enjoy my lamb steak and veg on the side with house wine. Affordable and near the station so easy to get there. Thank you

The moment you walk in you feel u r on holidays. Superb food and impeccable service. Great service and not too intrusive. Worth the 45 minutes drive.

This is one of our favourite restaurants for the family and we’ve visited it many times.The customer service is really good ; especially the restaurant owner and chef- Mr Eduardo. He was very friendly and charismatic. The whole atmosphere was really cozy and warm. We can’t wait to go back again and I really recommend it.

Lovely, cosy restaurant. There's plenty of veggie options on the menu, delicious wines, and the staff are very friendly.

Had so much delicious food here that my girlfriend and I couldn't even breathe by the end. Lovely service, lovely menu and lovely atmosphere. A bit on the pricey side but we think it's definitely worth it 💜

food was good but the waitress was terribly rude. she did not make the experience particularly inviting. shame for the chefs who put in effort.

My great affection for this place was tarnished after our recent visit, but I won't easily disregard the '10 years plus' of great experiences here, so I'm sure I'll give them a chance to redeem themselves sometime soon. I used to consider Il Giardino's as a part of the 'secret Peckham': in the 90s, when there was no other restaurant in Peckham, Il Giardino's prove itself to be a lovely local restaurant with rustic deliciousness on tap and where they remember you, by name. I have loved the menu, and the food is ordinarily great. So what went wrong this time? Well it went wrong from the moment we stepped inside; loud, tinny sounding music (like that from a phone's speaker) welcomed us with the sounds of techno house music: the 'music' emanated from a small but loud group of either friends or family, as they sat taking their ease in the public dining area. However their comfort was our discomfort. Note, the owner did remember us, (it had been well over a year since our last visit) and as we sat down, we quietly hoped, now they had paying customers (we were first in), the family would shush down and the awful sounding music (I attached a video giving an indication of the volume and quality of the sound) would cease. That clearly didn't happen, hence the 1 star; we eventually realised that this wasn't going to be the dining experience we were anticipating to celebrate our special anniversary with and after our gentle, repeated requests to turn down the noise were just ignored, an inevitable realisation dawned on me - you simply cannot stop water from being wet! So, under the banner of live and let live, and not willing to be soaked any further, we paid for our drinks and reluctantly went elsewhere. In the past we've always accepted Il Giardino's premium prices in expectation of said deliciousness coupled with supporting local shops. As I said earlier, they deserve another chance, but this experience was so unpleasant it'll be a while.

This has been my family's favourite restaurant to visit for the past 10 years and the food is still as great as ever. I would 928192828/10 reccomend sitting down for a meal here, the food is great and so is the atmosphere. I would also recommend the spaghetti mussels:]

Gorgeous food, cute decor and lovely friendly family run staff, definitely go again ☺

We returned yesterday with excitement, as soon as we found out the restaurant had reopened. It was perfect, just as we left it - service impeccable, food delicious as always (the chef even prepared by request an old favourite which had been removed from the very slightly reduced new menu) and all covid safety procedures were in place to ensure we had a lovely, relaxing evening. Faultless. We are so happy they are back in action and implore everyone to visit and keep them that way!

Food was good but waitress needs a bit of training Reached over me to clear plates while eating wrong drinks ...but food was good