Bancone Golden Square: silk handkerchiefs and a counter seat
Handmade pasta at the counter on Lower James Street, with an olive tree in the middle and a silk handkerchief dish worth the trip.
By Only Soho Editorial
Bancone means "counter" in Italian, and the Soho branch is built around exactly that. It is the second Bancone, after Covent Garden, and sits at 8-10 Lower James Street, just south of Golden Square. The pasta is fresh and handmade, and the room is big enough to make a booking feel less of a gamble than at the original.
The room
Hot Dinners gives the opening date as 14 December 2019. The site took over the former Foxlow, which had the ground floor and basement of a former office building. Restaurant Online reported at the time that the space was 4,000 sq ft with room for 90 covers across several counter seating areas, plus a basement with a cocktail bar and a private dining area.
The centrepiece is a fully grown olive tree, with mirrored walls around it and a table wrapped around the trunk. The Infatuation, which scores the restaurant 8.0, describes it as the same food as the original in a bigger and better space. The Good Food Guide calls it more spacious than Covent Garden and mentions a "semi-secret basement that doubles as a cocktail bar". The Infatuation names the basement, with its large grey leather booths and moody lighting, as the spot for groups.
A little history
The original Bancone opened in Covent Garden in 2018. It was launched by restaurateurs Will Ellner and David Ramsey, with chef Louis Korovilas, who trained under Giorgio Locatelli at Locanda Locatelli, in the kitchen. Korovilas has since moved on and now works on Notto with Phil Howard, according to The Nudge.
What to order
Start with the silk handkerchiefs (fazzoletti) with walnut butter and confit egg yolk. Both the Good Food Guide and The Infatuation name it as the signature, and Harden's says flatly that they are the best thing on the menu. A 2024 visit reported by Daniel Food Diary priced them at £11, so expect that to have moved a little.
- Starter: fried artichokes with romesco (Good Food Guide), or burrata and honeyed garlic focaccia (SquareMeal, The Infatuation).
- Second pasta: tagliatelle with spicy pork and 'nduja ragù, or charcoal tagliolini with squid and pickled jalapeño. The Infatuation also points to the bucatini cacio e pepe.
- To finish: pistachio cannoli with candied orange.
- To drink: the Amaresso Martini, their twist on an espresso martini, or one of the keenly priced Italian regional wines.
Gluten-free pasta is available. Some diners on TripAdvisor found the truffle add-ons not worth it, so the plain versions are the safer bet.
When to go and what it costs
Tables turn over quickly, and The Infatuation says it can be rammed at peak times. Reviewers also report it getting loud and the service feeling rushed, and several use it before theatre. Book through the Bancone website, and treat the pre-show hour as the one to plan around. Opening hours vary by listing, so check bancone.co.uk/golden-square before you set off.
SquareMeal puts it under £30 a head, and other listings mark it as ££. Pasta in 2024 ran from about £9 to £15 a plate, per Daniel Food Diary. Counter seats suit a solo plate of pasta or a first date, and the Good Food Guide notes wheelchair access and a private dining room.
For after
Walk the few steps to Golden Square itself. It first appeared in 1675, on land leased from the Crown by Sir William Pulteney, and Wikipedia notes a possible link to Christopher Wren. In the garden stands a Grade II-listed Portland stone statue traditionally identified as George II, dating to about 1720. It is a small, quiet garden and costs nothing, which makes it a fair way to let the pasta settle.
Read more at The Infatuation and the Good Food Guide, or book at Bancone.
