Italian restaurant near Exmouth Market, Clerkenwellan 18-minute walk to Fiena

Exmouth Market is a partly pedestrianised street in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington. It takes its name from the Exmouth Arms pub in the middle of the street, and it has been a market place since the 1890s. A number of its buildings date from the 19th century.

For years the area had a run-down reputation, but since the late 1990s it has been steadily regenerated. Today it's home to restaurants, cafes and bars, independent book, record and gift shops, design and architecture firms, and the travel publisher Eland. Almost every cafe and restaurant on the street has outdoor seating, which gives it the feel of a pavement cafe street. The street market was revived in autumn 2006, and its food stalls now run on weekdays, mostly at lunchtime.

Halfway along, opposite the Exmouth Arms, stands the church of Our Most Holy Redeemer, built in 1887. It's London's only church built in the style of an Italian basilica, so it's worth a look before an Italian lunch. It stands on the site of the old Spa Fields Chapel.

At the south-east corner of the street was the London Spa, one of Clerkenwell's most famous resorts, dating back to 1730. The street has also appeared on film, in A Private Function and in Madonna's first film as a director, Filth and Wisdom. Background from Wikipedia's Exmouth Market page.

Just behind the market is Spa Fields, today a small park popular with office workers and families. It was once a 14-hectare open common, mostly built over from the 1830s. In the 18th century it had a rough reputation for duck-hunting, prize-fighting and bull-baiting, until the Countess of Huntingdon opened the Spa Fields Chapel in 1777. It later gave its name to the Spa Fields riots of 1816, and between 1821 and 1824 it was home to a cooperative community inspired by Robert Owen. Background from Wikipedia's Spa Fields page.

It's about 1.4 kilometres, around 18 minutes on foot (walking route from OpenStreetMap). The route crosses Farringdon Road, follows Calthorpe Street to King's Cross Road and Cubitt Street, then crosses Gray's Inn Road onto Sidmouth Street and Hunter Street, up to Judd Street. Making a day of it? See our posts on the Postal Museum and Mail Rail, Gray's Inn, the Charles Dickens Museum and Argyle Square.

Morning: breakfast is served daily from 08:00 to 14:00, with coffee all day. See brunch near King's Cross and Italian coffee.

Lunch and dinner: the main menu starts at midday. Try the Linguine Fiena, with chicken, mushrooms, garlic and cream, a Diavola pepperoni pizza with spicy nduja, or the Whole sea bream, grilled. For something lighter, there's the Goat cheese salad with walnuts. Finish with Tiramisu. See our pasta, the grill and our outdoor seating.

Guests are often pleased to find us off the main roads. Celia wrote: A hidden gem not far from Kings Cross or Euston - will definitely be visiting again in the near future. (Celia, Google review) And John, back from Italy: I was in Napoli last week and the food wasn’t far off from the real deal. (John, Google review)