POLPO Italian Restaurant Chelsea — Restaurant in London

olpo is a bacaro serving up small Venetian inspired Italian plates designed for sharing and accompanied by classic spritz and cocktails. Polpo prides itself on maintaining the authentic Italian atmosphere and food and it definitely shines through at the Chelsea branch. With only around 35 table covers and a few more at the bar, it felt quite special to get a table! The USP of the Chelsea branch is also its larger L-shaped terrace in Duke of York which would be so perfect for sipping on spritzers in the summer.

We started off with a couple of cocktails at the bar (where you can also enjoy the small plates) which felt very Italian in style. We had the Limoncello Fizz (Wyborowa vodka, Pococello, POLPO Prosecco) and the Clover Club (Beefeater Gin, raspberry syrup, lemon, egg white) which was beautifully presented. There are also a number of spritzers to chose from (obviously)!

The menu is split into Cicheti (Venetian Snacks), Pizettes, Meatballs (so many choices!), Meat & Fish and Vegetables and Salad.

We were recommended to have 2-3 each so, given that we were hungry, we ordered 7 (!) but three from cicheti so surely that’s actually only 5…. We starred off with the Nduja & mozzarella arancini, Potato & Parmesan crocchette and Focaccia & olive oil. The arancini was fantastic (I wanted to order more!) and the focaccia was so addictive as it had a perfect level of salt.

Following this we had a Pizzette – Buffalo mozzarella & tomato and, the Spicy Pork & Fennel meatballs which were the dish of the month and extremely flavoursome with a generous helping of sauce and Parmesan.

Lastly we chose the Crab & chilli linguine which really did pack a punch and a dish I would thoroughly recommend and the Squash, gnocchi, blue cheese & walnuts which was actually surprisingly light.

We just about had room for a dessert – a Hot chocolate pudding, blackberry, & vanilla ice cream – which was melt in your mouth good!

Not only was the food delicious but the service was also great, which obviously adds to the experience. The plates are generally priced from around £3 – £10 so you can order as much as or as little as you want depending on your budget!

There are four other branches of Polpo in London – Covent Garden, Soho, Notting Hill and Smithfield – so am looking forward to visiting...

A wonderful addition to the Polpo franchise and the Chelsea area, it works so well it makes you wonder why it took so long for it to happen!

There are plenty of seats outside which make for a lovely dining experience, particularly in the Spring and Summer months of the year. There are parasols over the tables to protect from direct sunlight or rain (it's London so it's possible).

Inside, you'll find a more cozy and romantic setting, with ambience being relaxed. You can get seats at the bar which can make for a friendly experience as the staff are incredibly friendly. Perfect for romantic occasions, especially because you can share a lot of the plates if you so desire.

It's a great place to try a variety of different dishes that you can pick and choose from. The foccacia freshly baked and delicious, the arancini is a must as it melts in your mouth and the rabbit terrine is so flavoursome it would be a crime not to have it.

Polpo is known for it's meatballs, and you'll find all of them in their delicious glory here. Whether it's the classic and traditional allo vedova ones, or the pork and fennel seed kind, each one is fulfilling and full of flavour in it's own way.

Finally for a dessert, you can't go wrong with a classic affogato, especially as it's perfect for a small, after dinner sweet treat. You definitely do get what you pay for here, and whilst it's not extortionately expensive, it is great value for a lovely...

Staff was okay, prices for pizzas are amazing and their quality/taste is on par. All other food servings are very small. We went without a reservation and were seated outside, which was lovely. During the dinner it started heavily raining and our dishes got soaked because the tent rooves weren't good enough. The staff didn't care and didn't offer us anything to help. At our table we had two vegetarians who ordered a margarita pizza each(on the menu as mozarella, tomato and oregano pizza) which came with parmesan all over it. When the pizzas came we asked the waiter if what we saw on top of it was parmesan. He didn't know. He said he'd ask the kitchen for us. 10minutes later in the rain and the pizzas cold and soaking, we got up to get the waiter. Turns out he forgot to tell us. For starters we got potato and mint croquettes. Arrives with parmesan all over it. For dessert we got chocolate salamis (that's their menu title aswell) and it came with nuts inside which one of the guests is very allergic to. There was no way of suspecting any of the dishes had problematic ingredients in them. The vast majority of everything we got was sent back. Not a good service, very bad experience....