A Carnivores Paradise – Dinner at Macellaio RC Battersea

Last updated: 29 July 2023

Originally published September 2017. Macellaio RC Battersea is the fourth restaurant opened by Italian Roberto Costa. This unassuming shop front is a butcher by day, but by night it becomes a bustling restaurant serving authentic Italian cuisine and spectacular meats to diners across South West London.

Costa prides himself on sourcing ingredients and produce from artisan farmers scattered all around his homeland. With a strong emphasis on beef, the menu includes a range of cuts from Fassona cattle, a breed native to Piemonte in Northwest Italy.

The restaurant’s decor is industrial chic. Masculine and dimly lit, featuring rustic reclaimed timber tables, pendant pulley lights and a lot of black. Black dining chairs and glossy black tiles offset by a corrugated steel feature wall and a pewter art deco ceiling. At the front of the restaurant sits the meat cellar where, from the street, you can see meat hanging and dry aging to perfection. From the inside, whole slabs of raw meat are presented in a refrigerated glass display case.

Menus come in the form of a broadsheet newspaper and the extensive wine list encased in balsa timber. The menu is relatively uncomplicated. Items listed under small bites, starters, charcuterie and cheese all test our Italian language skills, while the offal offerings are pretty clear. For mains, steak dominates the menu but some variations like pigeon and other Italian classics like pasta still make the cut.

The all-Italian wine menu is extensive to say the least, with each addition hand chosen by Costa.  With options by the glass available in red, white and rose, the rest of the list is dominated by reds, categorised by how your steak has been cooked – everything from from blue to volcanic burnt.

Fassona beef, chosen for its flavour and texture, is butchered and dry-aged on-site sourced from the Piedmont region in Italy. The meat is extremely tender, low in fat and cholesterol due a genetic mutation resulting in double muscling.

Diners can choose their preferred cut from the cabinet or simply off the menu.  T-Bone and rib eye are both served bone-in, fillet and rump for those preferring boneless.  I had my heart set on fillet at the time of dining, only to discover it was sold out. I settled for T-bone only to be delighted how it was served – more on that later.

I joined Fiona from London Unattached for a meal Macellaio RC Battersea. Our meal started with a complimentary charcuterie. Following that we succumbed to the soft barrata, and a Tagliere Misto consisting of prosciutto cotto, lardo, Fassona bresaola and salame. Learning from past mistakes, I was careful not to fill up on too much on the entree as the best was yet to come.

The Macellaio staff present my raw T-Bone to me at the table before heading off to the kitchen.  It’s a staggering 730g T-Bone, granted 150g or so is bone weight, there’s still at least half kilo of pure high quality meat.  As a reasonably big eater even I was hesitant at such a large portion.

Fiona ordered the pigeon which was cooked in a sous-vide, commonly referred to as a water bath, and finished with a rich red wine jus. It paired perfectly with a side of seasoned rustic potatoes with flavours of rosemary and oregano.

Meanwhile my enormous T-Bone is dramatically unveiled at the table from under the silver cloche revealing a warmed iron grill keeping my meat perfectly warm as I make my way through it.

I ordered it medium-rare based on chef’s recommendation although that’s slightly under my usual preference of medium. As the cloche is lifted it reveals a bold pink tone throughout the steak. As my knife glides through the aged meat, I nod profusely with every mouthful, it’s delicious and I’m pleased I headed the chef’s advice. In hindsight, it’s perfect dish for two to share, as the steaks are served sliced.

We maintained a steady pace through our mains, plus sides of green beans with bread crumbs and lemon zest, double cooked chips and rustic potatoes accompany our main meals.  It’s almost too much food, and yet we devour it and ask for the dessert menu.

Dessert proves to be another Italian language lesson with staff not quite able to translate what Latte Dolce Fritto actually is. We order it anyway alongside the homemade tiramisu, which is one of my all time favourites.

The tiramisu was superb. Delicately creamy, rich and clearly made with love. The Fritto turns out to be Fried Cream Custard, not dissimilar to churros only with a soft creamy or chocolate filling.

We finish our dining experience with an amaretto and a punchy limoncello and I leave knowing one thing for sure, just like the meat in the front window, I’m hooked.

The Essentials

Macellaio RC Battersea

• Where: 124 Northcote Rd, London SW11 6QU
• Information & Menu: Macellaio RC Battersea
• Nearest tube: Clapham South (20 mins), Clapham Junction rail station (13 mins)