All In London Logo

Pescheria Mattiucci

Italian Restaurant in Notting Hill
Pescheria Mattiucci image
Ad
No longer at this address

Our records show that Pescheria Mattiucci is closed.

Address
8 Blenheim Crescent
Notting Hill
London
W11 1NN
Map
Current
Cuisine
Italian
Region
Notting Hill
Nearest Station
Ladbroke Grove
0.22 miles

This family business has branches in Naples and Milan, and is London’s one and only fish boutique. Fish is the star of the show. The family firmly believes in sustainability so all the seafood that reaches the plate is line-caught and expertly sourced – whether from the British Isles or the seas around southern Italy. For the latter, each catch is transported from the fishermen's boats – one of which is the Mattiucci family’s own vessel – in Sicily and Naples to Notting Hill in less than 12 hours ensuring ‘catch of the day’ means what it says.

Pescheria Mattiucci Picture Gallery

Pescheria Mattiucci Picture
Pescheria Mattiucci Picture
Pescheria Mattiucci Picture

All In London Review

This charming Italian fish restaurant is adventurous with food

The trend of restaurants doing mismatched furniture is as overdone as the faux industrial warehouse theme exploited by everyone from fine dining establishments to New York-inspired diners. So it’s unusual when one comes along that we’re instantly charmed by, which is the case with this Italian fish restaurant in the chicest part of Ladbroke Grove. The playfully chaotic décor looks like the inside of the home of an arty lady of a certain age, with style magazines and playing cards on display, distressed wood cabinets and of course, odd furniture. The soundtrack is a mixture of Frank Sinatra and 70s funk, all played on vinyl; the menu is a scrapbook. It’s also as tiny as someone’s living room, and fills up with Italian customers. In short, it knocks the socks off any East London establishment trying to be kitsch.

We start with the crudo (£22), a fantastic appetiser of raw squid, swordfish and tuna, drizzled with rich olive oil. After this dishes take on a more adventurous turn, like their version of ‘nduja (£8), the fiery Calabrian sausage paste. Here pork is replaced with cod and basmati rice, shaped into arancini balls and fried till crispy on the outside; in fact the only thing it has in common with its namesake is its spiciness. Even more unusual is the swordfish, twisted and rolled into a sausage, stuffed with pistachios, black olives, capers and pecorino. They’re both quite a revelation.

A hearty lasagne (£20) arrives in a little paper basket, layered with cod ragù and a creamy blend of Parmesan and Provola cheeses. “Stuffed crab” (£18.50) isn’t so much stuffed as crab meat served in a shell, mixed with tomatoes, mint and crunchy raw celery, a fresh-tasting main course.

The desserts stick to more traditional fare; we try the sfogliatella riccia, puff pastry shaped like a shell (sfogliatella means layers of leaves) and filled with ricotta cheese, flavoured with Christmassy candied orange peel and cinnamon.

Having been open for three years Pescheria Mattiucci should be a lot more famous, as it’s impossible not to be warmed by this captivating little restaurant.

Reviewed by Leila
Published on Jul 1, 2013

User Reviews

There are no user reviews