La Bottega Italiana

You'll walk into Market Street and catch the smell first—proper cured ham hanging in the window, fresh basil, the kind of intensity you don't get from the supermarket. La Bottega's the sort of place where they know what they're doing, whether you're after fresh tagliatelle for tonight or a wedge of parmigiano that's been aged correctly. The locals rate it hard: 4.8 stars across 171 reviews tells you this isn't just tourist fodder. You can grab lunch components here and build something actually memorable, or chat to staff who seem to genuinely care about their stock. It's become the kind of spot Watford people mention when they want to prove the town's got decent food.