Il Molino - Wandsworth

Really authentic Italian food, coffee and warm service. Outside seating. Great for people watching, dreaming, scribbling in notebooks.

I 'm in Wandsworth each 4 5 weeks and have been here each time for the last year or so. The order has always been the same: a black Americano, a 'Pastel da Nata ' (Portuguese egg custard tart) plus a flapjack to take away. Coffee is excellent and this is one of only a few places that sells genuine Pastel (I worked in Portugal for close to a year so can tell the difference). They also sell a wide range of sandwiches, paninis, cakes and light meals. There are a few tables and chairs inside and outside. There 's a lot going on and the cafe is popular always busy and with lots of offerings available early in the morning they clearly have a high turnover. That said, it is rather cramped and has a somewhat quirky/ disorganised feel. Service sometimes a bit slow but always friendly and efficient in my experience. With the above in mind I had wondered about the Food Standards Agency Hygiene Rating which is very important to me. The last review was in March 2022 with a rating of 5/5, the top mark. Excellent. The single toilet is clean but small and dated. Overall I could imagine that they would like a lot more space; might a move to larger premises be the answer?? I 'm surprised to read a really mixed bag of reviews on TA. There are almost as many 1 star 'Terrible ' reviews as there are 5* star 'Excellent ' ones!! But there are only 46 reviews in total with just one in 2022 and none in 2021. More are needed. This isn 't a multi star restaurant and there are no pretensions to be so!! But having spend a good time here on each visit my view is that they are trying hard and have built up a good local following. My very limited purchases have always been very good.

Went to this place as it is my local. Customer service was great, but my bagel was stale and salmon in it, brown and dry. Coffee was okay, but definitely not the best in the area.

An antidote to the hipster cafes close by, Il Molino is an honest little cafe (very little sometimes cramped! with pastries and cakes, sandwiches and good coffee and tea. I enjoy coming here to work, grab a coffee and watch the world go by.

With a slightly chaotic feel Il Molino offers a very good selection of sandwiches, try the chicken and pesto or the Brie with Speck. Good bread and coffee too. Charming staff and comfortable variety of seating.