La Divina Cafe

La Divina is a fairly average Italian trattoria with a worryingly extensive menu which includes such classics as prawns with avocado (read: prawn cocktail) and prosciutto and melon. It’s dated, there’s far too much of it to choose from and you could probably knock up most of it at home if so inclined, but it’s admittedly tasty enough and that has to be the main thing when eating out.
It would have been £41 for two courses and drinks for two, however thanks to Tastecard, it came to a more reasonable £26. The service was slow and disorganised, but the staff were clearly rushed off their feet and very apologetic. A valiant attempt at upselling failed when after trying to persuade us to look at the dessert menu, they forgot to bring us one. This is always a risk where servers don’t seem to operate in sections.
The décor is interesting, with lots of Italian film posters and half a car embedded in the wall. There’s a very student-​y feel to the place, however with being on Upper Street, the prices don’t quite align with that part of the market. The overall ambience is cheesy and old-​fashioned, yet very self aware. Whilst I wouldn’t refuse to go back, there are much better places nearby.

Generally a very poor experience. Waitresses got the order wrong 3 times and as we were in a slight rush there was no time to change the order. There was only 2 of us ordering, not a large group. Ingredients were tasteless and cheap. I’d be very surprised if any of the chefs were actually Italian. If they are, they should be ashamed. It was the kind of ‘Italian’ that you get in America. If you want something more than the taste of a poor microwaved meal then go elsewhere.

Have eaten here a couple of times now, but have not been particularly impressed. The pizza i ordered my first time was the kind of bland pizza that makes you wish you had ordered the pasta, but when we came back (because to be fair my wife loves it) my pesto pasta dish was quite watery. I did enjoy my goats cheese starter, but only that.
The menu set the wrong tone with me too… there is a comment about buying a proper drink if you choose the set menu. I get the point but it came across as a bit unfriendly and pushy to this first time visitor.

It’s rare to find good food in London on the more affordable side. Good sized portions, yummy food, good service, and all for 8−12£ a dish. If you get take away, every pizza and pasta dish is under 5£. Can’t get better quality at this price in the UK!

A friend said that this is her favourite Italian restaurant near us, and so when we were in the area yesterday, we decided to give it a go.
The place has a really cute vibe going, and some fantastic dining specials, so that sealed the deal.
We both ordered the two course meal (£1 more on the weekends, so just £9.95). I got the Mozzarella in Carrozza (Mozzarella in breadcrumbs, served with marinara and a nice little salad with balsamic dressing). I got two good sided pieces, and they were cooked really nicely. Very delicious. For my main, I went with Linguine con Pollo (Chicken breast, spinach, and mushrooms in a cream sauce). The sauce was lovely and rich, and flavourful. I requested not to have mushrooms, and the waiter said it wasn’t a problem at all, which I appreciated.
The set menu (menu with the two or three course options) does say that they would appreciate for people ordering off of it to get a drink that they pay for. I do find the statement to be cheeky, as well as a bit unprofessional. However, as I’m not British born, and am not overly polite– so I’ll order a drink at one in the afternoon if I don’t care to, I ordered Chris and me both tap water. Yes, Chris was too shy to order it himself since the menu explicitly said not to. Haha. No one raised an issue, but I still think it shouldn’t be on the menu.
I will say that Chris enjoyed his starter (something with goat cheese), but thought his pizza (the American Hot) was just okay, and I could tell he wouldn’t be wriggling in his trousers to have it again. We agreed that La Divina was probably a place for starters and pasta rather than pizza in future.
A couple of guys at the table across from us seemed to order every single starter on the menu, and they all looked really nice. My husband only has eyes for me. I’ve never once seen him turn around to check out a woman or even do a sly corner of the eye or over my shoulder check out (he’s the best, and not nearly just because of this). However, the gentlemen ordered a cheese board, and you should have seen the turn Mr. F made in his seat to check that thing out. I guess that I can say that my man only has eyes for me… and cheese. I think I can handle that.
There is a 10% surcharge (tip) added to the bill, which is fine by us, of course, but thought I should mention it. You can also get their food delivered through Deliveroo, which I might have to do at some point.
Overall, I thought it was very good, and I would love to go back soon.

I phoned them up and booked a table for 4 on Saturday night, for my mother’s birthday. On the Friday night, I called again just to confirm. ‘Yeah, yeah, all fine’, I was told. Reached the restaurant at the appointed hour (actually, about 5 minutes earlier) and I was told there was ‘a misunderstanding’, and that they had given away our table. Even though we had not arrived late, and I had already re-​confirmed. We were told we could wait 1 hour for a free table. Absolutely shocking behaviour and I will never go to this restaurant again. It was lucky there are so many good restaurants in Upper Street, otherwise it would have been a very disappointing birthday meal for my mum.

No reason not to give this place less than a 5 star review. Food was great, service was great, and prices were great.
We went one mid-​week evening and it was so full! The atmosphere was great. Despite being full we didn’t have to wait long for our meals.
The pizzas were great and I went for a spinach and ricotta cannelloni which came with gooey bubbling cheese it was so hot. Delish!
They take gourmet society and taste cards :)

It can be hard to find a mid-​price meal in London, without resorting to burgers, sushi or a fast-​casual setting. La Divina is a nice alternative (and it’s close to home), I came here after seeing some positive Unilocal reviews (thanks Unilocal!) when my family was visiting. Luckily, we were not disappointed.
The decoration and ambiance here is pretty special. My sister, a total theatre geek, was thrilled to see the walls covered with old memorabilia from the stage. It was a bit loud, but in a lively and not unpleasant way. I’m not sure I’d come again on a crowded evening with my family, but it definitely seems as though it would fit the bill for a cosy date night or dinner with friends. The service was excellent.
La Divina offers a large selection of Italian fare for right around £8−12 per main. My sister and father got aubergine parmigiana and a pasta dish, respectively, and they were both thrilled with their meals. I had the lamb shank and it was very tender and lovely.
All in all, I am excited to check out this neighborhood joint again! I’m pretty sure they’ve got a deep discount for takeaway pizza or pasta so maybe that will be on the menu sometime soon.

La Divina is a solid choice if you’re looking for good quality Italian food on a budget.
Always busy, starters are around £5 and mains around the £8−12 mark. Good variety of classic italian dishes with big portion sizes.
I ordered the chicken wings to start. Pretty standard although the BBQ sauce had a good flavour. Lamb shank for main was huge, great quality and came with mash and veg which were done well.
I’ve come here quite a few times with friends, mainly because the restaurant accepts Taste Card (up to 2 people’s food is half price) which makes it super cheap (tonight, I had two courses, a coke and tip and it only came to £12.50!).
This would get a 3 stars if it wasn’t for Taste Card. But it’s so cheap, good quality food and service and in a central location, I’m sure I’ll eat here again.

Very average Italian restaurant. Reaches for a higher status, but can’t quite get there.
Starters of chicken wings were basically doused in barbeque sauce. My veal was quite salty, an overwhelming flavor. Risotto, on the other hand, somewhat bland.
Dessert, warm brownie was dry and a little tough.
None of this was inedible, just a lack of attention to detail. The price was right though. I might stop in fur a quick cheap pasta, but certainly wouldn’t take anyone out there.

Came here at around 1pm for the lunch deal
a couple of weeks ago. 2 courses for £9
The food was tasty. Though my friend had garlic mushrooms for starter — small portion and looked very oily — Le Sacre Coeur on Theberton St did better.
We both then had pizzas which were very tasty indeed!
There was only one lady serving about 8 tables so it was quite slow going.
Worth popping in if you’ve already tried Le Sacre Couer and Mem & Laz round the corner, but not a place I’d go out of my way for.

I’ve really enjoyed having pizza here with friends, and the interior décor is pretty cool too.
When I went here with my boyfriend, our table for two was extremely cramped (if the two of use had been slightly fuller I don’t know how we would have coped,) and was basically an extension of the front counter… super hectic and not at all romantic!
However, what seemed to the head lady of restaurant made efforts to move us to a much nicer front-​of-​restaurant table, complete with lovely velvet chairs. We were very happy! I ordered the marinara risotto.
On our walk home, I started to feel a bit odd. The walk ended up becoming a bloody sprint. My Fitbit calculates that it was a sudden burst of ‘very intense activity’. It was not wrong! What started as a nice meal turned into a very traumatising run home to my toilet. Thanks La Divina!

La Devina is the perfect spot for an easy date or to catch up with a few friends. It’s cozy, very charming, friendly service, and simple yet outstanding food. And you don’t need to stand in line, which is becoming a rarity in London for simple food (do book a table up front).
The restaurant is decorated in all Vespa /​Italian style which immediately gives you the feeling you’re located a bit more southern than rainy and windy London. Their menu has simple Italian dishes such as pasta, pizza, risotto’s, meats … Don’t be mistaken here: the menu is quite long and you have a lot to choose from. Since I cook quite a lot of pasta’s myself at home, we went straight for the pizza’s (before some appetiser) which were … amazing. Big in size, full in flavour.
This is also the reason I’d really want to recommend this place: If you live close-​by, don’t feel like cooking but don’t feel like going out either: ALL pizza’s are £4.95 take-​away! What an amazing and valuable offer. We live quite close and although this first time we wanted to go out, we’d definitely come back for the take-​away option as well!
La Devina is one of those places that are hard to find in London these days: unpretentious, family-​run and amazing quality for a very reasonable price.

Living fifteen minutes away from Angel station is a real blessing, especially having the walk via Upper street as the way home. We pass by this place all the time and it’s always packed, so wanting a chill and easy night we decided to come to La Divina for a Friday night dinner.
Our reservation was for 7:15 and the restaurant quickly became completely full as the evening went on. I loved all the Italian décor on the walls… really made the place perky and fun. We sat closest to the door which had the side of a red car hanging close by, that was my favorite decoration. The staff were all super friendly and the service was fast.
We ordered fried calamari as our starter and each a pizza for the main (sausage, the other mushroom). It was all very fresh, especially the calamari which came in good chunks and the dressing of tartar sauce was very nice. The pizzas were quick big and I initially thought we would have to doggy-​bag, but we ended up finishing absolutely everything. I loved the mushroom one, really cheesy with chunks of mozzarella and parmesan, YUM!
To top it all off, we ordered dessert… molten cake with vanilla ice-​cream. We were ridiculously full but we quickly polished that off too. As always with these combinations, too little ice-​cream! All-​in-​all, a wonderful hearty meal :)
Can’t wait to try take-​away, pizzas are only 4.95 which is almost half of the normal prices!

Great location, really good food and polite and friendly staff. There’s nothing really negative to say about this place. It’s a real nice local Italian restaurant with an Italian décor which includes vespa tables and iconic photos.
The menu includes the pizzas, veal escalope and vegetables (these can be changed for any bolognese), lamb shank, pastas and a selection of sea food dishes. My favourite is the lamb shank or veal.
They also accept taste card which is valid Sunday to Friday for a total of 4 people, the deal is by 1 get 1 free on food dishes.
All in all a very good restaurant that won’t let you down.
I’ve been here on numerous occasions with various people and I’m yet to find someone who dislikes it.

Quickly become my pizzeria headquarter in Angel. The pizzas are just perfect, £5 to take away. The atmosphere is really nice and the service amazing.

One of the best Italian restaurant in Angel. We used to live 2 minutes from La Divina and without exageration it was very hard to resist the half price takeway on the whole menu.
The Campagnola pizza was by far my favourite. Combine that with a Spaghetti Carbonara and you won’t be disappointed.

Not a café, but in fact a wonderful Italian restaurant. Great atmosphere, always busy, friendly staff and most important of all yummy food. Wine wise, the prices are average, and the quality about the same. If you can get the taste card discount you’ll struggle to find better value anywhere.

The café looked promising, but we did not enjoy our visit. The olives on the «olives and bread» were not very nice, and our drinks (tap waters) arrived 20 minutes into the meal. The cinquenento pasta was wonderful, with jalapeño, but the linguine con pollo (with cream sauce, spinach, and mushroooms) that my boyfriend had was tasteless. It took a long time to get salt and pepper and the bill. Overall, we were disappointed.

Nice and pleasant restaurant. Bright and airy. Friendly and welcoming.
Plenty of tables filling this narrow-​ish Italian with plenty more pictures hanging on the walls, some current theatre posters at the front and pictures of films and other miscellaneous Italian whatnots occupying the rest of the wall space.
The staff were all friendly and chatty, prompt too, and enough of them to account for a busy restaurant. Helpful — no-​one likes waiting longer than necessary and at La Divina, you won’t. Marvellous.
The food was good — which is also helpful — we only had pasta dishes but they were done well and quite sizable.
Prices are pretty average for a decent restaurant.
I feel I shall return and in an area with restaurant choices everywhere, that’s quite a compliment.
Hooray for La Divina!
Ian