Handmade pipe pasta tossed in a classic amatriciana sauce — guanciale (cured pork cheek), tomato, pecorino, and chilli. Available in a small (8.50) or large (16) portion, which lets you try this alongside other dishes or make it your main. The pasta is made fresh daily, and the two-size option is one of the things that makes Marcella work for both casual lunches and proper dinners.
Tips from diners
Get the small portion (8.50) if you're ordering starters and a main — it's plenty. The large is genuinely large and will fill you up on its own.
A dish that keeps appearing on menus and in reviews as the quintessential Marcella order. The mackerel is grilled whole and served with slow-roasted confit tomatoes and crispy potato cakes. The fish is oily enough to stand up to the acidic tomatoes. Eater London included Marcella in their London pasta roundups, but it's this fish dish that locals cite as the reason to come.
Tips from diners
This is the dish that put Marcella on the map. It's not always on the menu because the blackboard changes daily — call ahead or check when you arrive.
The mackerel comes whole with bones in. If you're not comfortable deboning at the table, ask the staff — they'll sort it for you.
Buttery, mild Sicilian olives served in a bowl as a table snack. At 4 pounds it's a cheap way to start while you look at the blackboard menu and choose your wine. Not life-changing on their own, but a reliable opener that pairs well with the Italian aperitivi on the cocktail list.
Tips from diners
Order these with a Negroni from the cocktail list while you read the blackboard. The wine list is all-Italian too.
A simple Italian dessert — pears poached in wine and spices, served with a generous dollop of mascarpone. At 8.50 it's a clean finish to the meal without being overly sweet. Reviewers note that the desserts at Marcella are unfussy and satisfying, in keeping with the rest of the menu.
Tips from diners
The Sunday set menu (29 for three courses) includes dessert — this or the gelato are usually the options. Good value for what you get.
A seasonal starter that shows Marcella's knack for making vegetables the star. The broccoli is charred until it has smoky edges, then served with a generous smear of taramasalata (smoked cod roe dip) and roasted red peppers. The combination of smoky, salty, and sweet is what makes it work. Reviewers note this is the vegetable dish that converts non-vegetable-orderers.
Tips from diners
Order this even if you don't normally go for vegetable starters. The taramasalata makes it savoury and rich rather than virtuous.
Seasonal ravioli with a pumpkin filling, dressed in brown butter with chestnuts and crispy sage leaves. Available in small (9) or large (17) portions. The ravioli skins are thin enough to taste the filling but sturdy enough to hold together. This appears on the menu during autumn and winter months. Multiple reviews call out Marcella's pasta as some of the best in south London.
Tips from diners
This is an autumn/winter dish — don't expect it in summer. The menu changes with the seasons and the blackboard is rewritten daily.
Opened in 2018 as a sibling to Peckham's Artusi. Head chefs Jack Beer (formerly of The Clove Club and Peckham Bazaar) and Paolo Lancini run a daily-changing blackboard menu that focuses on seasonal Italian and British produce. The pasta is made in-house, the wine list is strictly all-Italian, and the vibe is candlelit, unstuffy neighbourhood dining. A one-minute walk from Deptford station.
The Sunday set menu is 29 for three courses, served 12-4pm. It's one of the best-value set menus in south London and the reason the restaurant fills up every Sunday.
Book online or call for tables of up to 6. Larger groups need to email hello@marcella.london. Friday and Saturday dinner fills up fast — book a few days ahead.
The express lunch deal — a big bowl of pasta, a glass of wine, and gelato for around 20 pounds — runs on weekday lunches. Possibly the best lunch deal in Deptford.
Deptford station is literally a one-minute walk. The restaurant is right on the high street. Don't confuse Deptford with Deptford Bridge (DLR) — you want Deptford (Southeastern trains).
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