Montalcino Restaurant in Richmond upon Thames

I was lucky enough to find this place on a busy Saturday in the summer and get a table with a view of the street outside. There are a few tables inside and a few more outside. The wine, pasta and cannoli were delicious. Bread and olives were given to me while I perused the menu, which was an unexpected and welcome touch. There’s traditional Italian music playing and scenes from Italy on the walls so you can almost imagine you’re not in London at all… The staff - there were 3 waiting staff - were always present without being at all overbearing, and the perfect balance between polite and friendly whilst giving you space to enjoy your meal. The food was truly wonderful and so I’ve no hesitation in recommending this place (while at the same time wanting to keep it to myself…!) My only wishes were small- to maybe tone down the music - some of the tracks seemed so stereotypical they were bordering on cliché and just to get the bill quicker (which is something I find in every restaurant in the world…) But thank you so much to the staff at L’assaggino who gave me a wonderful lunch and a special thanks to the chef who made those heavenly cannoli. Divine!

I felt the BEST Italian food experience with mouthwatering taste, aromatic flavour, eye feasting and hygienic ambience. Best desserts, pasta and alluring wine. Everyone should experience it.

Lovely service. Delicious food. Really nice setting.

Very nice place, located in a cozy small building in Richmond. The staff is welcoming and professional and you can certainly feel and taste the Italian passion for food. Fresh ingredients and interesting menu.

Amazing place in the heart of Richmond, but feels like being in Italy. Great service, everyone was very kind.I highly recommend the dessert "millefoglie".

If you're looking for an authentic Italian, I would recommend this place.It's down a little alley way / lane, where there is a strip of shops.When I stepped in I was surprised with how small it was! It's no more than a few metres wide. It did feel a little bit like everyone was on top of each other, but maybe I'm just not used to small places, which I guess can provide more of intimate settings.We decided to go upstairs instead of take the last 2 seat table downstairs. We climbed the very steep stairs and got a table by the top of the stairs and to the side of restaurant. The tables are quite small and there honestly wasn't room for anything but our phones to go on table.This Italian does not to pizza, just in case you were wondering! Pasta only.The service was fairly quick and the waitresses were quite attentive. They were all Italian and very knowledgeable about dishes etc. When ordering it seemed there were many things not on their menu i.e soft drinks and more of a wider variety of dishes. My date liked fish and there was only one fish (pan fried sea bream) option as mains on the menu, thankfully, otherwise I don't know what he would have eaten. We didn't wait too long for the food to come, maybe between 10-15 minutes. As everything is fresh though and made to order, this is to be expected. I opted for the pasta gambretti with prawns.I had a vanilla ice cream with wafer and my date had a tiramisu. (He is amazing at lighting and took those beautiful food photography shots 😍)Food was tasty.As I looked around it was mainly groups of friends and families that wete eating with a few couples.To get to the toilets, they are on the top floor.All in all, seems like a much loved local authentic Italian restaurant in the heart of Richmond.Decent Saturday night meal out, wouldnt necessarily be my choice of evening eating out, but it was nice to do something different as admittedly I prefer more fine dining.

The staff are very welcoming and made us feel like valued customers after they called us back to get us a space in the restaurant, when it was fully booked. The menu is beautifully varied with a refreshing twist on old classics. Delicious !

What Amazing food! We were able to have a conversation with the chef, Emmanuel, noy only is he an amazing cook, he is super friendly as well as the other staff. They are opening a new place in Norbiton, I Will defo be checking it out and visiting Richmond again very soon :)

Utterly delicious! I ate vegan Spagetti and tiramisu - both were fab. Highly recommended.

An Italian jewel in Richmond.We were watching Ted Lasso when in one scene Ted was passing in a nice and cute alley. Checking in Google Maps we spotted a nice restaurant, L’Assaggino.We booked straight away and the day after we had had one of the best italian lunch since we were in Italy.Highly recommended.