Azzurra

For a group that trends towards sky high dining, it’s quite the novelty to be in an Aqua restaurant at ground level. Despite the firm footing, Azzurra is very recognisably Aqua - mood-lighting, smart service, extravagant interiors, it’s all here. The theme this time around is seafood, albeit through an Italian lens, which you might have guessed from the mermaid door handles, iced seafood display and huge fishing nets hanging from the ceiling.

The most striking thing about Azzurra as you walk in is the size. It’s a huge, cavernous restaurant with high ceilings and tables as far as the eye can see. As is often the case with restaurants of this size, Azzurra feels a little vacant unless it’s full, but as it gets busier the room fills with gentle chatter and smooth jazz. Staff buzz around the room with lots of energy, and are always on hand to help you pick through the menu.

That’s useful, because there’s plenty to parse on a menu that spans crudo, antipasti, pasta, risotto, pizza, and then main courses, and dessert. There is clearly a huge amount of effort going into the food here - pasta is made fresh, thin-crust pizzas are baked to order, fish and seafood is conscientiously sourced and lovingly displayed at the raw bar. There’s choices galore on the drinks menu too, from excellent signature cocktails that riff on classic mixes, to a hefty wine list. If anything there are almost too many options and Azzurra wants to be one too many things, perhaps an attempt to market itself to the wide spectrum of people that come through Sloane Square.

It’s hard to find fault with the food though - crudo plates are smart, fresh and seasonal, and pizzas are fantastic (a white pizza with pistachio, mortadella and burrata proving also that Azzurra is not just a seafood restaurant). To finish, a tiramisu made table-side begs to be ordered, available with a twist of hazelnut or pistachio cream, or the more traditional classic mascarpone. These are the little touches where Azzurra excels, and you certainly leave feeling well looked after.

Azzurra is an Italian fish and seafood restaurant in Chelsea created by Aqua Restaurant Group, championing fresh British seafood across a menu of crudo, pasta, pizza and more.

The Aqua Restaurant Group is famed for luxury hospitality concepts across the globe, from Hong Kong and Dubai to New York and Miami. In London, it runs the likes of Aqua Shard and Aqua Nueva.

Azzurra is inspired by the bounty of the sea, combining Italy's love affair with fresh seafood together with the best sourcing across the British Isles. Across the menu, special attention has been paid to methods which naturally elevate flavours using a selection of salts and oils, sourced from Sardinia, Sicily, and up to Tuscany.

As well as an a la carte, Azzurra also serves a set lunch menu and a separate bar menu with snacks. The a la carte is split into a traditional Italian format, starting with antipasti, and moving through a range of pasta and pizza dishes, with fish and seafood mains and desserts to finish. Pizzas are all freshly baked on site and made with super-thin crusts, rather than in a more chewy Neapolitan style. Mains include a catch of the day at market price, as well as dishes like grilled Dover sole with salsa vergine, and halibut fillet with roast salsify and crispy oyster.

Crudo dishes are also a big part of the Azzurra experience, serving a variety of raw and cured seafood plates, such as sea bass with bottarga and basil oil, and red prawn with blue salt and Oscietra caviar.

Meanwhile the drinks menu includes Azzurra signature cocktails - twists on classics like a Negroni or a Spritz, as well as house mixes and a hefty wine list.