Dalla Terra

Dalla Terra is an Italian restaurant and wine bar on Slingsby Place, in the traffic-free St Martin's Courtyard off Long Acre. It describes itself as an Italian vino brasseria, pairing a deep cellar with a kitchen that prepares seasonal dishes, homemade pasta, antipasti and desserts in-house, and it has been part of the courtyard for around fourteen years.

Wine is the starting point. The list runs to hundreds of bottles from Italy and beyond, including a dedicated selection under seventy pounds, with plenty poured by the glass at the oak bar. The dining room is arranged across restaurant tables, high tables and the bar, and a covered, heated terrace opens onto the courtyard for al fresco lunches, evening drinks and pre-theatre dinners.

An Italian wine bar in Covent Garden for lunch, dinner and the terrace

Meals can start with cicchetti and shared antipasti before moving on to pasta, risotto and grilled fish, with set menus alongside the a la carte and menu items changing with the seasons. Group bookings and private hire are catered for, gift vouchers are sold, and reservations are taken online. The courtyard position keeps it quiet by West End standards while leaving Leicester Square and Covent Garden stations a few minutes away.

What to expect on a visit

Service runs from noon daily, closing at 10.30pm on Monday and Tuesday, 11.30pm from Wednesday to Saturday and 9.30pm on Sunday, with the restaurant closed on Christmas Day. For more places to drink well in the neighbourhood, see our guide to wine bars in Covent Garden, or try Courtyard Wine Cellars beneath the Piazza for a thousand-bottle list under brick vaults.