Is the hype deserved at Bottarga, Chelsea? Very much so

Bottarga Chelsea has been everywhere lately. It’s one of those restaurants that feels impossible to ignore, popping up all over my TikTok. We’ve been curious for a while, especially because it comes from the London Pachamama Group.

It’s the same group behind Nina, which we visited recently and left feeling… a bit underwhelmed. Lunch at Nina was fine, but nothing lingered.

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So today, expectations of our lunch at Bottarga London are mixed.

Still, we’ve just finished a boxing class, we’re riding that endorphin high, and we’re here on a well earned sister date. If there’s ever a moment for good food to land properly, this is it. We step into Bottarga Chelsea hoping for great Greek-inspired cooking and hoping that the hype is deserved. Spoiler – it is.

Quick info on Bottarga Chelsea, London

• Restaurant: Bottarga Chelsea, London
• Cuisine: greek-inspired Mediterranean cooking
• Best dishes to order from the Bottarga menu: spicy feta dip, bottarga orzo with XO oil, dry-aged rib eye on the bone, chocolate burnt basque cheesecake
• Best for: long, indulgent lunches, sister dates, celebratory meals (although it might be a struggle to get more than a group of 5 here)
• Atmosphere: lively, confident, busy, but still polished
• Portion sizes: generous but well suited to sharing
• Service: friendly, professional, and impressively fast
• Price point: on the higher end, but justified by quality and execution
• Overall verdict: Bottarga gets a rare 10/10 from us. It’s one of the best recent restaurant openings in London

First impressions at Bottarga Chelsea, London

We arrive at Bottarga in London red-cheeked from the brisk December day and ready for lunch. The dining room is buzzing and gets busier as our lunch progresses – clearly it’s a popular restaurant. Bottarga is also at the quieter end of Chelsea, the end furthest away from Sloane Square. If it’s this busy, I’d say a fair few diners are locals. Which is a great sign that the meal is going to be decent.

Tables are close together, chairs are on the smaller side, and our table feels a little exposed at first. Still, as the room fills and plates start landing everywhere, that self consciousness fades into the background.

Service kicks off warm and efficient at Bottarga London. It’s friendly, professional and very quick.

Two rounds of the warm pita

We order the pita bread, and then when it runs out after being used to dredge up the dip (more on that later), we order a second helping.

The pita at Bottarga London is outstanding. Puffy and crisp in all the right places, lightly charred, and warm enough to steam when you tear it open. It’s a fantastic start to our journey through the Bottarga London menu.

Which brings us neatly to the dip.

The viral spicy feta and red pepper dip

We’ve heard a lot about the dips at Bottarga London, and choose to go for the spicy feta, red pepper and chimichurri one. It’s a combination that works beautifully. The feta brings salt and creaminess, the red pepper adds a gentle heat, and the chimichurri cuts through with freshness.

Paired with the charred pita, it’s dangerously easy to keep going. And we would, except there are so many other delicious things waiting for us from the Bottarga menu.

A surprisingly excellent courgette tempura with black garlic aioli

We don’t expect to love the courgette tempura quite as much as we do. It arrives light and golden, with a shatteringly crisp tempura coating that somehow stays delicate rather than greasy.

Each piece is airy and moreish, and the black garlic aioli alongside adds depth and sweetness. It’s rich without being heavy, and it makes the crisp courgette taste even better than it already does. Just one more round before we head to the raw fish section of the Bottarga London menu.

An exquisitely balanced yellowtail with yuzu and jalapeno

Then comes the raw yellowtail, dressed with yuzu and jalapeno, and this is where the Bottarga menu really starts to flex. The fish is fresh and clean, the yuzu brings brightness, and the jalapeno adds a surprisingly delicate frizzante of heat. It accentuates the yuzu, and both enliven the yellowtail without any one component dominating.

The whole dish is light, zingy, and balanced, and it works especially well after the richer starters. It’s another dish we’d happily order again from the Bottarga menu.

After years of eating out at restaurants, this one yellowtail dish showcases just how skilful the cooking is at Bottarga. It’s an altogether too rare thing, even in London.

Moreish bottarga orzo with XO oil

If you’re wondering what to order on the Bottarga Chelsea menu, this next dish is non-negotiable.

The bottarga orzo with XO oil is exceptional, and probably the signature dish on the menu.

The orzo is cooked al dente, giving it far more texture than you’d expect, and it’s coated in an umami-rich sauce that leans deep and savoury without tipping into heaviness. The bottarga brings salinity, the XO oil adds warmth and complexity, and together they create something really memorable.

It’s comforting and interesting at the same time. A proper 10/10 dish.

And now the showstopper – dry-aged rib eye on the bone

We move on to the main event: the dry-aged rib eye on the bone, served with bone marrow stifado jus.

This is an excellent sharing steak. It’s cooked perfectly medium-rare, well-charred on the outside, sliced thinly, and full of flavour. The fat melts under heat, turning soft and glossy, adding richness to every bite. The bone marrow alongside is indulgent and accentuates an already-brilliant mouthful.

It’s one of the best steaks we’ve had in London, genuinely comparable to the Galician steak at Lurra. There’s depth, care and confidence. It tastes like a steak that’s been treated properly from start to finish.

And trust me when I say how easy it is to spend a lot of money on a sharing steak and be disappointed. Ahem, Kudu, ahem.

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The one dessert you need to get at Bottarga Chelsea

By the time dessert arrives, we’re getting quite full. Still, we’re glad we ordered the chocolate burnt basque cheesecake.

It’s draped in a hot salted caramel chocolate sauce at the table, and we eagerly spoon it up.

The Bottarga London cheesecake is rich, soft, and deeply satisfying. At £15, it’s steep, but enough for two to share, and it lands as one of the best chocolate desserts we’ve had in a long time.

Final thoughts on our lunch at Bottarga Chelsea

Lunch at Bottarga Chelsea is a genuine surprise, in that it actually lives up to it’s hype. Everything we eat is excellent.

Food and service both score a rare 10/10. Dishes arrive quickly, cooked with precision, and served with warmth.

Most importantly, Bottarga proves something we weren’t sure of after visiting sister restaurant Nina – this group knows how to deliver great food.

If you’re deciding what to order on the Bottarga Chelsea menu, I actually don’t think you’d go much wrong with anything. Or you could guarantee yourself a good time and just order what we did. After all, we don’t just hand out 10/10 rating willy nilly.

We’ve had a fantastic lunch at Bottarga. This is one of the best restaurants to open in London in recent years, and one we’ll be thinking about for a long time.

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Bottarga, Chelsea
Address – 383 King’s Rd, London SW10 0LP
Nearest Tube – Sloane Square