When it comes to glitzy ingredients, often incorporated into dishes to add a touch of opulence, truffle shares the top spot with caviar. Sourced from European countries including France, Italy, and Spain, as well as certain regions of the United States, truffles lack the luxurious beginnings one would assume, instead growing underground near the roots of trees such as oak, beech, birch, and pine. This edible fungi varies in colour, size and type, but it’s white Alba truffles that are the prized cherry on the often cheesy, pasta-shaped cake. 

Famous for their delicate, musky flavour and relatively short season, which runs from September to December, it’s perhaps no surprise to Londoners that the city’s Italian trattorias, Michelin-starred restaurants and innovative eateries have compiled menus to satiate the appetite of any mushroom-mad client. Read on for our pick of the best truffle menus and events in London. 

Franco’s, St James’s

Open since 1945, Franco’s is one of London’s oldest Italian restaurants and will be shining a spotlight on the prized truffle this season. Offering an indulgent selection of dishes across its breakfast and à la carte menus, kick off your morning with The Prestige Breakfast includes a delicate porcini and pea open omelette with summer truffle, as well as creamy scrambled eggs with summer truffle. For an extra flourish, five grams of shaved Périgord truffle can be added to any breakfast dish. For lunch and dinner, truffle dishes include a velvety cauliflower, chestnut and black truffle soup, pumpkin gnocchi with mixed wild mushrooms and black truffle, and the porcini mushroom risotto. 

61 Jermyn Street, SW1Y 6LX, visit francoslondon.com 

Murano, Mayfair

On 6 November, Angela Hartnett’s restaurant Murano in Mayfair will host its annual white truffle dinner in celebration of their long-standing partnership with truffle supplier, Meera Cortesi. Cohosted by Hartnett herself, Meera – who made history in 2005 by becoming the world’s first female truffle dealer – will share her expertise and passion for white truffles with guests, who will enjoy a special truffle-led menu. Priced at £395 per person, this one-off experience will begin with canapés and a glass of bubbles on arrival, before five courses including some of Hartnett’s signature dishes such as the papparelle. 

20 Queen Street, W1J 5PP, visit sevenrooms.com

Sale e Pepe, Knightsbridge

On 22 October, Italian dining institution Sale e Pepe will launch its white truffle and it has something to satisfy every craving. The exclusive menu will be available a la carté, featuring four seasonal dishes, each topped with either black or white truffle. Expect beef carpaccio with rocket and sun-blushed tomatoes, linguine with butter and parmigiano, followed by a tender beef fillet with red wine sauce. Even the dessert – a feather-light vanilla semifreddo with strawberries – will be topped with the Piedmontese special. To complement the richness of the truffles, each dish on the menu has been carefully paired with Italian wines from Massolino, one of Barolo’s most prestigious wineries. Bellissimo. 

 9-15 Pavilion Road, SW1X 0HD, visit saleepepe.co.uk

The Dining Room at The Twenty Two, Mayfair

The Twenty Two has just launched its seasonal truffle menu, bringing luxurious autumn flavours to the elegant restaurant in the heart of Mayfair. New dishes will offer the chance for truffle lovers to be truly indulged as they pick from a menu featuring champagne and aged parmesan risotto with freshly shaved white truffle, Clarence Court egg with wild mushrooms and truffle, or white truffle fettuccini. Over on the a la carte, however, truffle appears in a variety of forms, from toppings on creamy mash potato, crisp artichoke salad, and on a beef burger finished with comte. 

22 Grosvenor Square, W1K 6LF, visit thetwentytwo.com

Bacchanalia, Mayfair

Described by the ancient Greeks as the ‘food of the gods’, truffles unsurprisingly feature on  the menus at Mayfair’s Greco-Roman restaurant, Bacchanalia, in the form of a piled-high plate of truffle tagliatelle in mushroom butter. Created by head chef Athinagoras Kostakos, who has sourced the black truffle directly from Italy via renowned truffle supplier Alfredo Romani, this dish makes for a cosy yet opulent autumnal meal. Other highlights include lobster paccheri pasta with truffle and creamy bisque and the indulgent truffle pizzetta with gorgonzola.

1-3 Mount Street, W1K 3NB, visit bacchanalia.co.uk

Bocca di Lupo, Soho

As autumn sets in, Soho trattoria Bocca di Lupo is looking to Italy for this season’s inspiration: white Alba truffles. From October onwards, chef and founder Jacob Kenedy is inviting guests to BYOT – bring your own truffle – to shave over dishes at the restaurant. Each day, the team marks the dishes on his menu which are best suited to a dusting of pale gold slices, including beef steak tagliata, veal battuta – a hand-chopped tartare dressed simply with lemon and nutmeg and served with crostini – to golden, yolk-rich tajarin: a Piedmontese variant of tagliolini topped with raw duck egg yolk and parmesan. 

Guests can purchase whole fragrant white truffles from sister gelataria Gelupo – which sources the mushroom directly from Piedmont, northern Italy – and bring them across the street to Bocca di Lupo to be gently cleaned, then shaved over their choice of dishes by the chefs.

12 Archer Street, W1D 7BB, visit boccadilupo.com

Big Mamma Group, across London

Image: Lateef Photography

Image: Sam Harris

Known for its viral truffle pastas and pizzas, the Big Mamma restaurant group – comprising the Insta-famous Circolo Popolare in Fitzrovia, Shoreditch’s Gloria, Jacuzzi in Kensington, Carlotta in Marylebone, and the newest addition to the portfolio, Barbarella in Canary Wharf – has plenty to tempt any truffle lover with many exciting dishes on its new autumn menus. From truffle croquettes to the TrufflePuff pizzas, and Circolo Popolare's mafaldine al tartufo – a creamy mascarpone pasta with black Molise truffle – to Jacuzzi and Barbarella's spaghetti al tartufo, with ultra-long homemade pasta parmigiano reggiano foam and fresh black truffle served in a pecorino wheel, book early to sample a number of delectable delights before truffle season comes to an end. 

Visit bigmammagroup.com

Read more: The best pasta restaurants in London