Chelsea, Italian Restaurant Guide

2018 Review: “You’re always assured a good welcome when going to this lively Italian” in a quiet Chelsea backwater, which serves a “limited, primarily Sardinian menu”. “Gold star to them for making visits with children and/or grandparents so relaxed!”

Hit and miss feedback on this Italian three-year-old, in a posh side street opposite the entrance to the Chelsea & Westminster hospital. On the plus side, all reports rate the cooking as good or better. But it can also seem pricey for what it is, and meals don’t always run like clockwork: “the management and the regular clientele were treating the place as the most remarkable restaurant in this part of the world, but our service was very up and down, to the extent they gave us free puddings”.

“Romantic, quaint and cosy basement” near Chelsea & Westminster Hospital that earns high marks across the board for its “classy and delicious” Italian cicchetti, plus a seasonal menu of larger plates and 250 wines (also available as off sales). “The owners really take care to look after you” and “clearly put everything into this place”.

The flamboyant owner, Bucci, creates “a great atmosphere” and helps present a “really good menu for both meat and fish lovers” at this “fun” World’s End trattoria. It’s a real “favourite” among locals: “I love, love, love this place! Been going for 20 years and it’s like walking into a family gathering”.

“So civilised” – this Chelsea stalwart was founded in 1967 by Daphne Rye, the theatrical agent who discovered Richard Burton; and a couple of decades later found fame as Princess Di’s favourite haunt. But beyond a local well-heeled crowd its social caché is more limited nowadays, and, despite being part of Richard Caring’s Caprice group, it generates only a middling amount of feedback. The Italian cooking is somewhere between dependable and unexciting… especially at the price: “we go for old time’s sake, but really the food is average”.

Thanks in part to its “beautiful garden”, this “very friendly”, old-favourite trattoria (est 1966) in a posh and pretty Chelsea sidestreet has attracted more than its fair share of Hollywood A-listers and royalty over the decades, and is particularly popular with the well-heeled locals as a place to bring the little darlings (“as the name says, it is good for families, but it’s very busy at weekends”). Opinions split somewhat on how its long service has affected the realisation of its “real Italian cooking”: “unchanged for 40 years – just lovely” vies with “hasn’t changed in 50 years, very uninspiring”.

An “intriguing concept” – ‘A rotation of Mammas’ from 20 different Italian regions per year provide the hearty scoff at this welcoming Chelsea yearling, where handmade pasta is something of a feature. By all accounts, the formula works, delivering “interesting dishes not found in your typical Italian restaurant” to a consistently good standard, and – for the ’hood – it’s not especially pricey either.

“The diner is transported straight back to the 1960s, not least because of the breadsticks and very old-fashioned service” at this traditional Italian, close to Harrods. “No doubt because of the location, it’s not exactly a bargain” – the “pricey food, although good, does not quite live up to expectations” – but it’s popular (opening a branch in Dubai two years ago), and “when busy, it’s pretty much shoulder-to-shoulder”.

“It’s easy to go too often” to this “friendly” Fulham Road Italian, that has built a strong local following over 15 years. “The menu changes regularly with the seasons” and “portions are generous”, but what is “spectacular value” at lunchtime becomes “expensive in the evening for almost the same menu”.