The Gladwin Brothers are back with another one of their delightfully rustic, wonderfully convivial, farm-powered eateries.
For this one, they’ve taken over one of the oldest pubs in Chelsea and have made it into The Pig’s Ear without making it into a pig’s ear. Quite the feat. In fact we’d go so far as to say they’ve done a thoroughly decent job of it.
For anyone who hasn’t been to one of the Gladwin establishments already or isn’t part of their extended family, they’re a trio of brothers whose mutual skillsets (a chef, a farmer, and a hospitality expert) make them impeccably well-suited to opening restaurants. So, that’s exactly what they do. The Pig’s Ear is now the fifth feather in their culinary cap, which also counts The Shed in Notting Hill & Sussex in Soho, and their success is in large part thanks to how heavily they lean into their countryside roots.
You’ll find The Pig’s Ear on Old Church Street, sandwiched fairly neatly between the King’s Road & the Thames. The downstairs pub overflows with vintage charm thanks to the old fashioned chandeliers dangling above you, and worn rugs draped on the wooden floor below. A nice big horseshoe bar sits at the centre of it all, and there’s a cosy, roaring fire (when the weather calls for it) in the corner. The upstairs dining room is a considerably more refined affair, with crisp white linens thrown over the tables and buttermilk-coloured wood panelled walls hemming it all in.
On the menu, almost everything’s either wild, foraged, grown locally, or taken from the family farm down in Sussex. There’s a hefty array of bar snacks, including wild yeast baguettes with fig leaf butter; salt beef croquettes with English wasabi; oysters with rhubarb vinegar; langoustines with burnt butter Hollandaise; and sizeable tempura elephant garlic stems ready to be dipped in a sweet Bramley apple purée.
Upscaling onto the more sit-down-and-eat-a-meal type offerings, you can get everything from a cured rainbow trout fillet wit chive burré blanc; to Cornish sole with capers & cockles; and an absurdly large 1.4kg tomahawk steak from the Sussex farm, with Cornish truffle Brie. And to finish this feast? There are Sussex strawberries with clotted cream & honeycomb, or cacao mousse with butterscotch & buckwheat.
This being a pub, there’s no shortage of booze, but the Gladwins – you guessed it – also have a vineyard down in Sussex too. And that vineyard produces some pretty lovely wines, particularly the sparkling Nutty Vintage.
It goes well with swine dining.
NOTE: The Pig’s Ear is open now – you can find out more at the website here.
PREVIOUS PERK: Nudge Members enjoyed 40% off the food bill and a welcome drink each from 17th June to 8th July 2024.
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The Pig’s Ear | 35 Old Church St, London SW3 5BS
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