Bottarga King's Road Chelsea review: Tasty, vibey and great

Located on London’s iconic King’s Road in Chelsea, Bottarga has got a new year-round terrace upgrade with an inside with dripping candles, music, cocktails and food.

It’s the latest opening from the Pachamama Group behind Pachamama Marylebone, Pachamama East and most recently Notting-Hill favourite zephyr.

(Image: Immy Share, Newsquest) Which, after my visit to Bottarga, are the top of my list to visit before Christmas.

It’s one of those places I’d seen on TikTok, and everyone had raved about, but I didn’t realise how good it’d be until I went.

It served as the perfect Friday date night, and there’s the choice to either sit at the bar and watch the chefs at work in the open kitchen, or sit on one of the tables inside or on the enclosed terrace.

We sat inside and our table was lit by a dripping candle – a vibe I absolutely love, it gives authenticity and atmosphere.

(Image: Immy Share, Newsquest) Our waitress was lovely and she was helpful with her recommendations.

I don’t eat much meat, and mainly fish, and the menu had a good mix of salads, vegetables and fish to cater to my (maybe fussy!) needs.

I’d recommend Bottarga if you fancy sharing – as then you get to try a bit of everything.

Some highlights on the menu include the saganaki tapioca bites which are basically gooey cheese coated with sesame and thyme honey – heaven, a bread basket with pita, grilled sourdough and crackers with a whole host of dip choices, and burnt butter potatoes.

I absolutely loved the courgette tempura and charred tenderstem broccoli and grilled vegetables and it was nice to accompany these with main courses.

Raw fish at Bottarga (Image: Immy Share, Newsquest) I love raw fish so I couldn’t resist but try all four of Bottarga’s offerings, including the seabass with lemon dressing, bluefin tuna and roasted red pepper and lemon, yellowtail with yuzu dressing and bluefin otoro toast with gyros spices.

Extreme and unnecessary to have all four? Yes. But did I enjoy them? Yes.

My favourite was the yellowtail with yuzu and you could tell that every ingredient was fresh, and every flavour matched each other perfectly.

My boyfriend had the dry aged rib eye on the bone and boasted about how it was one of the best steaks he had ever tasted.

Chocolate cheesecake and caramel tart (Image: Jessica Wang)

We drank rose and red wine over our food and put the world to rights as we spoke.

If you’re looking for a little pre-Christmas celebration, a pick-me-up in the new year, date night or friend catch up, Bottarga is London’s hottest new spot.