Tom's Pasta

Drawn in by the hum of happy diners before you’ve even turned the corner, Tom’s Pasta feels like a neighbourhood classic in the making. Tucked beside Hackney Downs Studios, this friendly trattoria began life as a lockdown bike-delivery service by founder and chef Tom Haydon, before opening its bricks-and-mortar doors in 2021.

Now reimagined by House of Dré, the expanded space channels playful Italian charm with a vintage twist: buttery, tiramisu-toned walls, chrome table lamps casting intimate pools of light, walnut and stainless-steel accents nodding to old-school Italo-London cafés. Booths and banquettes invite midweek pasta pit-stops as easily as long, wine-soaked Friday catch-ups, while rotating works by local artists keep things rooted firmly in east London.

The menu is short, scrawled and straight to the point - as all good things are. Start with burrata and sourdough slicked in parmesan butter, then brace yourself for what might just be London’s finest lasagne: beef shin layered generously with cheese, or spiked with n’duja for a fiery twist. There are other beauties - sausage, leek and n’duja rigatoni, pumpkin and ricotta ravioli in sage butter - but lasagne is the undisputed star. And even if you swear you’re full, make room for the cloud-like tiramisu.