Volta do Mar in City of London, Westminster

Tucked away in a side-street close to the famous Daphnes, this could not be more different ... it's not glamourous, brash or noisy, no bling on display, instead we found cooking from the heart, and service as if we were visiting old friends. Dishes are hearty and Portuguese-influenced rather than Portuguese, we had a Brazilian fish stew and a West African (maybe Cape Verde?) rice dish, both excellent, unusual, warming and filling. Left happy.

Because we were soon to travel to Portugal we decided to try out Volta Do Mar. We had an early dinner before the wait staff had come on shift and were served by the owner himself. He was delightful and, as we were unfamiliar with both the food and wines of Portugal, he explained the menu and recommended matching wines, which he allowed us to taste before deciding. All in all a wonderful experience and highly recommnended.

Absolutely fantastic service and food-a hidden gem in Chelsea. Crab scrambled egg with quails egg and ham croquettes delicious followed by piri piri chicken - the best chicken ever tasted and Mozambique rice just so flavoursome followed by home made pasa de nata outstanding. A beautiful ambience with fantastic chef and front of house staff. Very reasonably priced for the high quality of food.

Had an amazing time @ Volta do Mar restaurant. Food is absolutely delicious, staff is friendly and the ambience is cosy. They have amazing signature cocktails. A must to try in London.

We had a fabulous meal last night at this relatively new restaurant. Very interesting menu and everything we had was delicious. I highly recommend the prawns starter and the hake special. We will return!

We had a lovely evening in this new embodiment in south Ken. Shame there weren’t more diners there appreciating the gentle atmosphere and delicious food and drink. But it’s early days and January. Full disclosure: our guest is a neighbour of the owner who started us off with complementary bubbles - which is always cheering. It’s a Portuguese/Portuguese empire/sphere of influence place, as that’s where the cook comes from. The menu is short and quite treif but has vegetarian options. Between us we had three of the four starters: I didn’t try the huge prawns - because I don’t - but Judith loved them. And both the chicken wings and beetroot carpaccio were tasty with contrasting textures. And also very pretty. The vegetarian chickpea curry was good, the piri piri chicken succulent and flavoursome and the potatoes - half way between a chip and a crisp - , worth a journey on their own (had to order my own when others complained bitterly about my pinching theirs…) I had the fruit pie after which was dense and indeed fruity though the ice-cream was uninteresting. The others loved the Portuguese take on a creme caramel. We drank the house red and a medium Marsala and left very jolly.

Excellent restaurant and food is delicious. The staff is really professional, very kind and very polite.

What an amazing place , really nice deco, very friendly and attentive staff and amazing food . Will be back soon for sure .