Albertini Restaurant

You're walking down Chalton Street in that bit of King's Cross that's quietly brilliant—all independent bookshops and decent bars—and you spot this place doing honest, unpretentious Italian. The menu reads like someone's been to Italy and come back wanting to cook what they actually ate, not what they think London wants. Expect proper handmade pasta, crispy-bottomed pizzas from the wood-fired oven, and Italian wines that won't bankrupt you. It's the kind of place where you can turn up in your work clothes and feel completely at home, but it's good enough that you'll also want to take someone you actually like there.