Review

Legare

4 out of 5 stars
A neighbourhood Italian in Tower Bridge.
  • Restaurants | Italian
  • price 2 of 4
  • Tower Bridge
  • Recommended
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    CHARLIE MCKAY
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Bermondsey' neighbourhood restaurant. Try our menu of seasonal antipasti & pasta with an Italian led focus and British produce.
Legare

Time Out says

‘Ah, Legare,’ I sighed to myself before visiting. ‘Yet another spot claiming to be a neighbourhood restaurant in a city where most people don’t even speak to their neighbours.’ Legare, though, has succeeded in uniting Tower Bridge’s throng of chattering workers: on a late Tuesday evening, it was busy and bubbling.

There’s a refined menu: simple dishes made from high-quality ingredients. On the antipasti front, the stracciatella (like the gooey insides of a burrata) with roasted radicchio and mellow hazelnuts was sheer class. Oozing into the surrounding slick of olive oil, the creamy cheese was balanced by the sharpness of the soft chicory, all fragranced with sprigs of thyme. Next, the cuttlefish with white beans and devil’s mortar (a spicy, spreadable British sausage, similar to ’nduja) was a bowl of chilli-infused comfort. Verging on a stew, tender fish chunks were interspersed between hot blobs of the sausage and cooling pulses.

Anyway, on to the main event: the handmade pasta.The pappardelle was meaty, carb-laden goodness. Its broad, al dente ribbons wrapped around the rich ragù of fennel sausage and cavolo nero. Also great: the veggie orecchiette. For pud, the cannoli were bliss: crisp pastry, pumped with ricotta and studded with pistachios.

There was the odd pitfall. The chocolate torte was overdone, and the pasta here isn’t as pristine as at nearby Padella (but, where is?). And the setting is too stark: white walls and tiny exam-style tables gave me flashbacks to my university finals. Still, the minimalism neither dents the atmosphere nor the cracking, hearty food.

Legare says
A neighbourhood restaurant in Bermondsey with a regularly changing menu of seasonal antipasti and pasta with an Italian led focus and British produce.

Our wine list features a range of bottles from small Italian producers that champion sustainable and ethical practice in their vineyards

A stone’s throw from Tower Bridge, and only a 10 minute walk to London Bridge.

Details

Address
Cardamom Building, 31G Shad Times
London
SE1 2YB
Transport:
Tube: London Bridge
Price:
Dinner for two with drinks and service: around £100.
Opening hours:
Tues: 6–10pm; Weds to Sat: 12–3pm / 6–10pm; Sun: 12–4pm
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