11 Park Walk, Chelsea -Bottarga Heaven

A while ago, there was a lot of chatter on twitter about a great place to have Spaghetti a la Bottarga. A few days later, I had to meet friends at the Antiques Fair in Duke of York Square and we decided to give this place a go.

11 Park Walk opened where Aubergine used to be. This new Italian is co owned by Roberto Pisano (Edera)  and John de Stefano who also owns Zafferano and Allora. The head chef of Edera, Sardinian Giancarlo Usai,  is now overseeing the kitchen at 11 Park Walk too.

This newish restaurant is conveniently located just of the main stretch of Fulham beach. On the evening we were there, the crowd started arriving about 8ish and they seemed to be more Chelsea than Fulham, with most of them looking like they qualify for a freedom pass.

The place has been set up like a smart casual local Italian restaurant where the tables are quite spaced out so you are not crammed in like some other places nearby. Check out the loos, miles of marble in there.

As you enter the restaurant, you can’t help but notice this enormous tray of black truffles on the bar. We soon found out that there was a black truffle tasting menu in addition to the ala carte offerings.

We ordered a familiar dish, the Endive Salad, as seen at Zafferano and a Frittura Misto to share. The fresh seafood and fish was delicately battered and fried until crisp. As good as the any I have had in Italy and a very generous portion for a starter. The crisp endive salad was subtlely dressed and provided a good foil to the fish.

Next of course was the decadent Spaghetti a la Bottarga, al dente pasta cooked in fish broth and richly coated  in the umami filled bottarga. The last time I had this was at Edera in Holland Park and it has left an indelible taste memory.  Each mouthful just made your senses tingle and your tastebuds sing. This is not a flavour that many people will like, as my friend politely said, “that is quite an interesting flavour”. I am now an addict, thanks to Gasto1, its all his fault.

My friend had the Malloreddusu with Italian sausage and tomato sauce. Very rich sauce, liberally spiked with pieces of the sausage and the al dente hand made pasta. It was very good too.

We didn’t have space for pudding this time but I am sure we’ll be back again very soon. So many more dishes to try on the menu like the salt crust baked sea bass / Branzino.

The service was attentive and not overly fawning. The food is faultless and is a great new addition to the growing list of great Italian restaurants in London. The prices here are very reasonable too, considering the standard of cooking and the location. I think this is a keeper.