Aqua Kyoto

Having been to WasabiSabi in Hong Kong it was only right that I enjoy a meal at kyoto with my friends during a brief trip to London.

I have to say the atomsphere for such an occasion was perfect; the food was enjoyed by all, and I would certainly recommend such a restaurant for those who like to try authentic Japanese in an impressive central location.

We were very blessed to have come on an evening where some of the guests were able to go onto the heated terrace for a cigarette break, being on the 5th floor this was a huge bonus for the majority of my party.

Fantastic terrace for when the sun is shining. Jalapeno sea bass was exceptional, a little disappointed by the iberico pork but only because I didn't relise it would be ceviche style. Soft shell crab and king prawn tempura were good and the sashimi was of a high quality.

I've been to Aqua Kyoto a number of times, but this is the first time I'm writing a review. I usually head there with my partner for a romantic dinner or treat myself to a lunch with my friends. I've always received excellent service and amazing food. I highly recommend it for any occassion!

This was my wife and I first time at Aqua Kyoto, it will not be the last

Food was very good, service was great

meal for 2 £130 incl 12.5% witch i hate paying

Darren

It's Christmas and Regent Street is awash with men, women, children and all things furry in a panic as Santa's coming very soon. Even the master of the house is out there somewhere laden with bags filled with stuff that will keep me busy for months trying to work out what I should be doing with it. For me, it's time to escape the hustle and bustle for some wonderful food, I hope!

I'm outside the London Palladium where the crowds have gathered to see the musical the Wizard of Oz and Toto the dog who is loved by all. I'm also directly opposite the entrance to a restaurant that I have not visited before. Aqua Kyoto is a Japanese restaurant that I have read and heard a lot about. The majority of reviews appear to concentrate on the somewhat gloomy entrance. My guess is someone had to come up with something different and dramatic for an entrance lobby that comprises a small desk and a lift. Bring out the dark walls and heavy black curtains and a poor greeter who appears to have to stand in the lobby all day. It reminded me of the entrance to a fairground show that promises something wondrous and more often delivers nothing more than five minutes of badly performed magic tricks and a draughty backside. Sometimes restuantants get things wrong. We all do and sometimes we are smart enough to know to change them. Please Aqua Kyoto change the entrance, as I love your restaurant and I know others will too. When I visited, I sat at the Sushi counter and watched the very skilled sushi chef fillet a whole salmon with such respect and patience that I was mesmerised. Why not put on such a display in the lobby, make it a show to match the wonderful Wizard of Oz, so when the audience are standing in the cold queueing they could experience and glimpse such art for themselves. Or how about having a short film playing of this stylish restaurant and bar, just like the fairground shows, but one that really catches the imagination.

I take the lift to the fifth floor and I'm already impressed. Yes there is another desk and greeter, but I like this. I like the attention you receive and why not. Eating out should be a memorable experience and one where you are looked after. I am led through a stylish bar with a cosy seating arrangement to the main restaurant. Naturally, I order the set sushi lunch. The service is impeccable and professional. It is clear the waiting staff really do wish to make your time here a special occasion and everyone knows their role and things seem to run like clockwork. I am given a nice bowl of warm Edamame beans with a sprinkling of sea salt and I am a happy bunny. My sushi arrives beautifully presented on a bamboo plate and the quality is outstanding. It's a dish to savour and enjoy and that I do with a nice cold Japanese beer. I also receive some Japanese pickles and a tasty miso soup.

I cannot wait to return and I scratch my head as to why the reviews have not been better. For me this is one of the very best Japanese restaurants in London currently. Yes, they say first impressions matter, but just click your heels and get past the dark lobby where you will be transported to somewhere just as beautiful as the land of Oz and you never know, order a cocktail from the bar and stroll out onto the stunning terrace and you may even see a rainbow.

I just wanted to share with you my very bad experience as it's a first there.
So I went for dinner with my girlfriend to Aqua Kyoto last night. As expected (and already tried) the food was very good and our waiter both good and nice.
But there was a big problem. Two tables from us was a group of 5 very very noisy drunk girls continuously shouting at each other. It was awful and definitely not up to the standard of such a place and ruined our evening. We had a chat about it with the manager who could only say ‘they are having a good time’. Despite the complaint he didn't make anything to stop it nor offered any commercial gesture. We had to left without having a dessert (even though we wanted one) and obviously refused to pay the service charge (again the waiter was good and would have deserved it).
That's just totally unacceptable from such a restaurant and would never had happened at any other high end japanese place I regularly go to (Zuma, Nobu, Roka, Sumosan, etc).
I don't see any reason to come back and would advice you to not go.

Arriving at Aqua, in the old Dickens and Jones department store building, it is all very swish with the heavy red velvet curtains and subdued lighting. It is here you meet the first receptionist. Then taking the lift to the 5th floor, you come to a 2nd receptionist where you give name and booking all over again, this receptionist take you to the maître d’, who takes your name and booking again and finally sits you down.

It is all very swanky and stylish inside, low lighting and dark woods, the sushi chefs at work in the centre of the restaurant. The bar area and the restaurant full of young and beautiful types, so I upset the tone there!

There is pretty good choice on the menu and they waitress encourages you to share the dishes, as it is more tapas style service with plates arriving when ready rather than coordinated French style of service. So for the four of us, we ordered 4 appetisers and four mains which were more or less served sequentially. This was maybe more down to table size than the kitchen as at most there was room for two dishes at any one time. Interestingly given the lack of space it was only with prompting that it occurred to anyone to take away the empty aperitif glasses away.

The food itself was very good, sweet and moist blackened cod every bit as good as Nobu, soft shell crab tempura, pork belly and Cray fish, beef with foie gras all delicious and memorable dishes. For me all the dishes were excellent, and certainly looked as beautiful as it tasted. It is a bit of an Atkins meal though, as the rice is a little incongruous with the meal as the lack of sauces and its minimalist nature precludes loading up your rice bowl as you might in less contemporary restaurant.

The desserts were equally delicious; I had small doughnuts served on yuzu curd, a thick lemony sauce, with a side dish of chocolate praline mouse. This was super delicious.

From a food point of view I thoroughly enjoyed all the dishes, and the sequential serving and sharing of each plate resulted in a more of a tasting menu experience. Service was a little slow to get started but soon moved fast and efficiently, perhaps a little too fast, they turn the tables and we were moved on before any coffees could be requested.

The ambience for me was a little dark and loud, but if I was single and a little younger I could see how this might appeal. My other gripe would be that everyone seems to make a bee line for the terrace for drinks, despite being mid July it was a chilly evening so the constant coming and goings, door slamming and cold drafts was a little annoying too. Incidentally if you do order drinks at the terrace bar, do take a book or a newspaper as it is a very long wait as the bar staff making the cocktails like to be seen intricately crafting cocktails rather than actually serving drinks, the one I watched getting made involved the glass being turned on the counter for a number of turns for no apparent reason.

For the four of us our final bill came to £440.10, of which £196 was drinks, so not at all unreasonable value. For the food I would return but the trendy ambience i.e. loud and dark, would put me off a return visit.

When paying the bill though do watch out for the double tipping when they hand you the machine, service would have been 7/10 if not for that.

Its a bar/club not a restaurant.

Average Japanese food. Served by staff that are not very knowledgeable.

Wont be going back.

What a swish and glamorous entrance! A dimly lit entrance hallway where you are greeted by a host and then whisked up in a lift to the top floor where we exited into another secondary reception and led into the dimly lit bar. Lovely atmosphere populated by what is undoubtedly a ‘beautiful’ crowd with guys in suits and girls all dressed up for a night of cocktails, food and maybe a little debauchery later on!

I was with a group of six girls and we were definitely out on a mission to have a night to remember. The drinks were lovely with a long list of cocktails and champagne although the house champagne of Louis Roederer was not to my taste. The staff at the bar were really friendly and accommodated us well (might have been the dresses though!)

Dinner was almost as good. Sushi was really fresh and delicate and the scallops were heavenly, being fat, juicy, balanced with the stickiest of sticky rice. Crab rolls were also great. A shame then the miso soup was quite insipid, the miso cod way over cooked even for us girls and the beef fillet chewy. Some great, some average then. However the biggest disappointment was the staff who were just horrid. Not only did they not care, they practically threw our dishes onto the table, they left empty glasses cluttering up all the space and looked down their noses at us when we raised a complaint. Really wasn't what any of us were expecting and one of our party just wanted to leave.

The receptionist on the way out was very nice though and had the decency to listen to our comments and said she would pass it on to a senior manager. Whether or not it will happen I don't know, but it makes me pause for thought when I think about going back again. Maybe just for the drinks at the bar. Oh, and the view over Oxford Street is such a wow factor it's worth going just for that.

I wanted to take my girlfriend out for lunch and was recommended aqua Kyoto; I wasn’t sure if this was the best place to go for lunch but was pleasantly surprised.
We went on Tuesday, the weather was chilly but sunny (which makes a change), this meant we could be outside on the terrace and look across the skyline of central London with a very tasty tumbler of the 43 flowers cocktail each.
This place has style , huge amounts of it. we did feel as if we were in a different country to be honest. we sat down and decided to go for the crab rocket salad with spicy yuzu vinagrette, this salad was towered like a little volcano dusted with crab everywhere and a dressing that is delicious, it looked brilliant and tasted great , we also ordered the twice cooked pork belly with langoustines, this must have been a popular one as I could see a few tables had the same, highly recommended! I had heard that there was a sushi platter with each individual piece wrapped in cucumber, this was the tataki sushi platter and we loved it.
If you want to go somewhere that makes you feel special with food that is very moorish, I highly recommend it.