Review: Arthur’s Market
Review: Arthur’s Market
Being in Arthur’s Market is a bit like being a kid in a sweet shop – if that child happens to prefer meat and fish to confectionery. Counters are loaded with all manner of seafood and carnivorous delights, making it hard to know where to look first.
The venue only opened a couple of months ago, and on our visit, it was doing a brisk pre-Christmas trade. There are two sides to the market: Japanese restaurant ASA Izakaya and Mediterranean-focused Salvador.
We’d booked for Salvador, where you get the best of all worlds – a taster of the sashimi alongside seafood platters and prime T-bones, all drawn from the surrounding counters. Seated on a stool between a fully stocked butcher’s counter and a fishmonger’s display, diners choose their produce before it’s whisked away to be grilled or cooked simply, allowing the quality to speak for itself.
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We started with a seafood platter, which proved more than generous for the four of us. It featured two types of oysters (British and Irish), plump langoustines and prawns, plus lightly steamed clams. The revelation, however, was the whipped cod’s roe: silky and deeply savoury. It’s served with crisps, which are fine, but the excellent focaccia is far superior, so we greedily ordered more to scoop up every last bit.
For mains, a ribeye arrived cooked rare as requested, well seasoned and beautifully marbled. A chat with the butcher revealed they’ve opted for revered Galician beef, typically from older cows and prized for its deep, unctuous flavour. Two fat Barnsley chops were similarly full of character. Iberico Secreto, a marbled cut from between the shoulder blade and loin, was less successful: thinner and lacking the heft of the lamb or beef, it also would have benefitted from slightly gentler cooking.
Side dishes alone justify a visit. Salads are vast: a Caesar came generously topped with fat anchovies and plenty of Parmesan and croutons. Radicchio with orange was a scene-stealer: striking to look at and perfectly balanced between sharp, citrusy sweetness and bitterness. This being Chelsea, the option of a potato purée prompts the question – with black truffle or white? We chose white, and the rich purée came lavishly topped with shavings of the prized fungus. A Basque cheesecake was a fittingly indulgent end to a great meal.
There are a couple of things to bear in mind. With its big neon sign and brightly lit meat counters, the atmosphere is casual, yet prices reflect the postcode, especially when ordering meat and fish by weight (from £8 to £50 per 100g). That said, it’s easy to dine more moderately: a standout salad for £12 or a handmade pasta for £22 would make for a very happy meal. Arthur’s Market is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and you can also shop for meat and fish to cook at home.
The best way to experience it, though, is to browse the counters and let your dinner choice be guided by appetite and curiosity. It’s a clever concept – fun, unstuffy and rooted in excellent produce. Service is impressively attentive, relaxed and friendly, and in a city full of increasingly samey restaurants, Arthur’s Market feels like a genuinely welcome addition to London’s dining scene.
Arthur’s Market
279 King’s Road
London SW3 5EW
