Last Updated on June 15, 2024

Italian Classics in the Square Mile

Larch is a new Italian restaurant nestled at foot of the Walkie-Talkie. It’s ideally placed for visitors to the skyscraper’s popular Sky Garden as well as the after-work City crowd in need of a cocktail or a hearty meal. 

The restaurant is housed in a new two-storey building, above the Sky Garden gift shop and cafe. It’s right opposite the entrance to the lifts that whiz visitors up to floors 36 to 38 of the skyscraper to see its famous landscaped gardens. It is worth pointing out that visiting Larch does not automatically get you up there – you need to book your free ticket separately. But don’t make my mistake and leave it too late if you do want to combine your visit.

The Walkie Talkie – real name 20 Fenchurch Street – is an excellent landmark when finding one’s way to Larch. 

We naturally started our visit to Larch with an aperitivo. We had been looking forward to sipping our cocktails on the restaurant’s attractive outdoor terrace and watching the world go by but sadly the weather was far too British for that. I had a well-made Aperol Spritz, while my companion enjoyed her Negroni Sbagliato. 

I was delighted to see caponata as one of the burrata accompaniments on offer at Larch. It’s one of my favourite Italian things to eat and for some reason, I rarely come across it in London. 

The creamy, stringy insides oozed out impressively when we sliced open our burrata. The combination of cheese and the rich aubergine caponata matched very well with the focaccia served with extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic. Together these made for a filling and slightly indulgent starter for two.

The mains menu at Larch is short and straightforward – two kinds of pasta, a risotto, three pizzas and four mains. No one is trying to reinvent any wheels here. I chose the ragú bolognese with malfadine. Malfadine are, I soon discovered, long ribbons of pasta with frilly edges – all the better for trapping pockets of the lovely sauce. I’d been craving a bolognese for while and this was a satisfying and meaty example of the Italian classic.

My companion’s risotto di zucca e gorgonzola wasn’t such a success. It tasted fine but was too swamped in a creamy sauce to be her sort of risotto plus she would have liked more gorgonzola to come through and her rice to be a bit less al dente. It was a rare misstep in an otherwise good meal.

We shared a garden salad, which made for a healthy green accompaniment to our carby mains. I have to admit we settled on this only after talking ourselves out of adding the truffle and parmesan chips to our order…

Like the rest of the menu, the desserts are all familiar Italian favourites. My vanilla panna cotta was light and smooth and offset by a mix of sharp juicy berries.

Tiramisu can be a hit-and-miss affair in Britain’s Italian restaurants but my companion was very happy with Larch’s version. It was rich and creamy with the sponge fingers soaked in strong espresso.

Larch was busy and bustling when we visited on a wet Wednesday in March. When the weather warms up, this will be a lovely place to come and sit on the terrace and work one’s way through the antipasti and cocktails then perhaps stick around for a full meal. The atmosphere is relaxed, the service friendly and the prices are not sky-high at all for the Square Mile. 

Larch 
Sky Garden
1 Sky Garden Walk
London
EC3M 8AF

Looking for something different?  We loved Bar 1790 at the Sandeman Quarter with tapas and plenty of Portuguese wines and port.