Barbarella Restaurant London Review: Big Mamma Brings 1970s Italian Glamour to Canary Wharf

June 23, 2026

Barbarella restaurant in London is not subtle, and it does not want to be. That is the first thing to understand.

This is Big Mamma Group’s sixth London restaurant, set inside the YY Building at 30 South Colonnade in Canary Wharf, right by the water at Eden Dock. The group already knows how to make restaurants that people photograph before they even sit down — Gloria, Circolo Popolare, Ave Mario, Jacuzzi, Carlotta — and Barbarella pushes that formula into full 1970s Italian cinema fantasy. Think mirrored surfaces, velvet booths, palms, chrome, and a silver-toned lounge upstairs. A little bit Cinecittà, a little bit disco spaceship.

The clever thing is that Canary Wharf suits it. Among all those clean glass towers, Barbarella feels excessive. It gives the area something louder, softer, stranger. This is Big Mamma’s sixth London restaurant, set among the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, while Canary Wharf’s own listing places it inside the YY Building, opening onto Eden Dock.

This is a restaurant for a fun night out, not a quiet catch-up or a minimalist Italian supper. The Guardian’s Grace Dent described the room as part of Big Mamma’s familiar world of flamboyant interiors, energetic service and “forced fun” theatricality, which is fair, but also slightly the point. Barbarella works best when you lean into it. Order the large cocktail. Let the pasta be twirled. Accept the drama.

Barbarella Restaurant London Menu

The menu is big, playful and very Big Mamma.

The headline dish is the one-meter-long truffle-coated spaghettone, twirled tableside and made for sharing. It’s the restaurant’s “showy-offy” pasta stunt. Ridiculous, but exactly what people come here for.

There is proper comfort too. The menu includes homemade Mezzi Rigatoni alla Norma, Spaghettoni al Ragù di Agnello with lamb ragù, salsa verde and pecorino, and Lobster Spaghettoni for the table that wants to go richer. Big Mamma also lists Cod alla Mediterranea, wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas, crispy-thin pizzas, and a daily-changing pizza selection.

The starters keep the Italian holiday mood going: Prosciutto di Parma, a caramelized Italian tomato tatin with Parmigiano cream, and the kind of generous antipasti that usually go well with a spritz or Negroni. For mains, Barbarella goes big. Very big. There is a 1.2kg T-bone steak, sourced from Philip Warren according to Big Mamma’s own menu description, alongside the Cornish lemon sole, filleted tableside.

Drinks are part of the show. The pistachio espresso martini is the obvious order, and Big Mamma says Barbarella has its most extensive cocktail list yet, plus a particularly long Brunello di Montalcino selection.

Barbarella understands escapism. The food is indulgent, sometimes knowingly over-the-top, and the room does half the work before the first plate arrives. Go for the spectacle. Sit downstairs if you want the full effect. And please do not expect quiet sophistication. This is Canary Wharf after dark, wearing gold velvet.