Tue–Sat midday–midnight, Sun midday–6pm, Mon 6pm–11pm
The blurb
Sister restaurant to Shed, Rabbit is a rustic space in the heart of Chelsea that echoes the simpler bucolic life of the Sussex family farm from which its ingredients and some of its wine list are sourced.
The essence of knowing where your food comes from, Rabbit’s close relationship to the proprietors’ farm means there is truly seasonal and responsive cooking here, with menus often changing from day to day depending on what’s available to the kitchen.
The style
‘Calculatedly countryside’, the interior of Rabbit is obviously aiming for a feeling of casual comfort—no one will stand on formality here, and the industrial furniture and naif, colourful accents complement the gentle hubbub of the atmosphere well. However, being able to relax does generally assume some level of…well, comfort, which Rabbit’s stubbornly quirky chairs or precarious stools are unlikely to provide. It is a single glitch in the otherwise unanimously welcoming feel of the place.
The crowd
We visited on a Tuesday evening—not, one might imagine, the busiest time, but Rabbit was packed, more customers immediately filling the gaps of any departing tables throughout the service. No doubt many are locals who live or work nearby, excited to have a new dinner destination in the vicinity.
The food
We started with a couple of ‘mouthfuls’ each—as the name suggests, these are single-bite items like an amuse bouche, flavour bombs to wake your tastebuds at the start of the meal. I was very excited about the mushroom Marmite éclair with confit egg yolk, which was tasty, but my friend and I both agreed the star was the beetroot crisp with goats cheese and quince (each £1.5).
Next you pick your meal proper from a selection of tapas-like menu items, from menu sections Cured Meats, Fast Cooking and Slow Cooking. This is where things could get expensive—there is so much temptation on offer it is hard to whittle it down to two or three dishes each!
Our first plate to arrive was the Paprika cuttlefish with black bean, ink crackers, fennel, almonds and sweet chilli from the fast cooking menu (£8.5), which wasn’t my friend’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed the dense, delicately moreish flesh and earthy accents. The Nutbourne lamb with mint, ironbark pumpkin gnocchi, mint and honey seed clusters (£9) was—if not quite as intensely flavoured as I expected—perfectly balanced and tender; quality lamb treated well.
Our respective high points, though, were from the slow cooking options; she thought the Beetroot and caramel tart with garden pesto (£7.5) was ‘a revelation’—not actually as sweet as that sounds, but unexpected and unctuous. For me the Venison cigars with cranberry and tarragon (£8) were just perfection, little parcels of rich meat like a gift to your mouth. I particularly enjoyed them alongside the slight bitterness of the Shaved Brussels sprout, apple, cheddar and pumpkin seed salad (£6).
The drinks
As well as an ever-changing menu, Rabbit comes up with a new aperitif every day too, the ‘Daily Loosener’ for us being ‘Up the Apples and Pears’ (£9)—a tasty and, as they suggest, loosening way to start your meal.
The wine list has a broad selection from Old and New worlds and, notably, several wines from the connected Nutbourne farm in Sussex on offer, plus French house wines. The Nutbourne whites I tried were both eminently drinkable, a true alternative to the more familiar names.
In all? It doesn’t have that settle-in-for-hours comfort, but it does excite my curiosity, and I think that’s more the point—what were the untested options on the night of our visit like? What new creations are there this evening? How will they play with next season’s new flavours and riff off them? This constant creativity and variation not only provides excitement for guests, but I imagine also keeps the kitchen fresh and interested, making Rabbit perhaps more than a special-occasion destination: somewhere you could genuinely visit every evening and stay enthralled.
