MADE IN ITALY, CHELSEA

There are so many Italian restaurants near where I live and I am not shy about the fact that Gola in Fulham is my absolute favourite. However I really enjoyed trying Made in Italy last week during half term. After a trip to St Luke's playground with friends, we were all hungry for lunch and our little friend Bella recommended the restaurant.

Made in Italy in a group of seven Southern Italian restaurants in London and they serve the usual antipasti and pasta however they also make their own mozzarella and they serve pizza by the metre.

The menu is pretty vast and we were all at a loss at what to eat - there was so much to choose from. In the end Arabella and Isabella went for the same - spaghetti carbonara. Not a surprise seeing as it is Arabella's favourite.

No offense to Pascal's carbonara which we all adore, but this was one of the best carbonara's I have ever had. It was more cheesy than creamy but still light with chunky morsels of pancetta. I had serious food envy and was very happy that Arabella couldn't finish off her plate. I was definitely eating for two that lunchtime!!

Fran was being ultra good and had a chicken salad with chicken (obviously), mozzarella, green beans, cherry tomatoes, basil and mixed leaves. This looked lovely and fresh.

Finally Freddie and I both went for the famous metre long pizzas and it is definitely something to write home about. Freddie's half was margarita and I had Capricciosa with tomato, mozzarella, sausage, mushrooms, artichokes and roasted ham.

This was a really good pizza - a crispy light crust, a tasty tomato sauce and plenty of toppings - all really good quality ingredients. We polished the whole lot off (very impressive eating by 5 year old Freddie). Plus it's a real novelty to have the pizza served by the metre rather than the usual round style.

The kids all had ice creams but I forgot to photograph - needless to say they were simple but delicious.

Service was friendly and efficient and the restaurant was very child friendly - they didn't bat an eyelid when the children used hundreds of napkins to make fortune tellers and there were lots of families dining there. There is even a roof terrace in the summer - perfect for people watching - and you do see some sights on the Kings Road! Our only complaint was no hot chocolate and the coffee wasn't the best.

Made in Italy has been going since 1989 and you can see why - the food is very satisfactory, the prices are reasonable especially for the area and it is open all day. I can't wait to go back and have the carbonara again!!! The other restaurants are located in Fulham Broadway, Wimbledon, Kensington, St James, Chelsea and little Chelsea.

Made In Italy

249 King's Road
London
SW3 5EL
Tel: 020 7352 1880