Bocca di Lupo on Archer Street: what to order and when to go
Regional Italian at a marble counter on Archer Street, with gelato waiting across the road for afterwards.
By Only Soho Editorial
Bocca di Lupo is at 12 Archer Street, a small Soho side street a short walk from Piccadilly Circus. It is not on Berwick Street, whatever the map in your head says. The restaurant cooks regional Italian food: small plates and sharing dishes, plus pasta, grill and desserts. The room has a marble counter, tables and a few pavement spots.
A short history
Chef-patron Jacob Kenedy and partner and general manager Victor Hugo opened it in November 2008. It was Kenedy's first independent restaurant, after time as a chef at Moro. Hot Dinners places it in a then-newish wave of London counter-dining restaurants, with the marble counter the first thing you saw on arrival. It turned 15 in 2023, and Kenedy has written cookbooks including Bocca and The Geometry of Pasta.
The restaurant describes its focus as the food and wine of Italy's twenty regions, including what it calls "the obscure and the delicious highlights". A lot is made in-house: gelati, breads, sausages, salame, pickles, mostarda and pasta.
What to order
The menu changes often, reportedly sometimes twice a day with the season and market produce, so treat this as a guide to the style rather than a promise. Dishes that reviewers have singled out:
- Sage leaves with anchovy. The Infatuation says people pop in after shopping for the sage and anchovy fritti.
- Orecchiette at the counter. The Infatuation's pick, followed by gelato from across the road.
- From the grill. The Infatuation calls the suckling pig and sirloin some of the best meat in London.
- Regional dishes. Bagna cauda from Piedmont and Milanese ossobuco "in bianco" have both been mentioned, along with pumpkin risotto.
- Sea bream carpaccio with blood orange and the handmade pasta are noted by the World's 50 Best Discovery page.
The wine list is all Italian. Hot Dinners, in early 2024, found bottles from £29 for a Fiano from Puglia, and a bottle of Aglianico del Vulture "Barilliott" at £46, also by the glass. Sit at the counter if you can: the leather stools have backs, which matters on a long lunch.
When to go
Hours on the restaurant's site, Monday to Saturday: lunch from 12.00 to 15.00 (last reservation 14.45), dinner from 17.00 to 23.00 (last reservation 22.45), with the bar open until midnight. Sunday lunch starts at 12.00, but Sunday hours are reported differently elsewhere, so check the site before you set out.
It fills up: Hot Dinners found it jam-packed on a weekday evening in late January. Without a booking, The Infatuation advises coming outside peak hours. Our suggestion is a weekday counter lunch, or an early dinner at opening.
Prices and booking
Michelin, which lists it in the 2026 UK guide, gives it a moderate price band of "££". A few small plates and a glass of wine sits comfortably in that band. Going by Hardens' averages, a full multi-course dinner with wine runs to roughly £65 to £75 a head before extras, and service is 12.5%. Those are guide figures, not the current menu.
The restaurant takes its own bookings and is not on OpenTable. Ring 020 7734 2223 (lines open 10am to 6pm daily) or email info@boccadilupo.com. Private dining and gift vouchers are also offered. See the restaurant's site and Michelin's listing.
For after: Gelupo
Directly opposite at 7 Archer Street is Gelupo, the sister gelateria and deli, opened in June 2010. It churns gelato and vegan sorbets fresh on site daily. The Infatuation notes an always-shuffling queue and comfy curved booths, and names stracciatella as the signature. Order that, and take it across the road on the way back to Piccadilly Circus.
