Marco's Reviews

Good Food in Comfortable surroundings. However it is OBSCENELY priced!!!

2 sirloin and 2 glass of red wines = £120!!! And that was for lunch too!

The restaurant is not even near the quality you would get for similar or even less amount of money at Hawksmoor, Goodmans and even touristy Gaucho!

What i find extremely irritating was that everything seemed set up to skim the numerous bankers that crowd the place at lunch time with their clients. I took a friend out there for some quick food and never expected to pay Michelin price for an average meal in brassiere style surrounding.

Portion of olives £4!!!

the steak comes on its own, add a couple of sides (all above £5) and you get to the hefty £120

TO AVOID AT ALL COSTS. UNLESS YOUR COMPANY PAYS. and even if your company pays choose a much better venue pls

120 quid buys you lunch at almost any Michelin Star restaurant in London

I believe it is important to read a review before heading out to the actual place. Doing so, you avoid going to the wrong establishment on the wrong occasion… I mean why take your first date to a sophisticated underground gourmet, and vice versa take your best mate to a romantic Oriental club in Mayfair.

And this exactly what you should keep in mind before approaching Aqua Nueva. It is not a place to impress your gourmet friends, yet if you are trying to get some action with a lady well, this is it! So for your first date needs, this venue tick all the boxes. Probably the most stunning interior and location (especially on a sunny day) around Oxford Circus, however the glamorous bar does not actually serve food, so perhaps I should not get myself influenced by the bar in the restaurant review

Anyway the restaurant: First of all do not confuse aqua nueva with aqua kyoto, as the 2 experiences are completely different.

Let’s stick to topic, aqua nueva… it is made of the tapas bar and the more formal dining restaurant. I' d avoid the restaurant, I didnt eat there, but it feels like it could easily consume you £200 for a good but not excellent experience…So if you are looking for top class upmarket food go somewhere else…

I decided to sit at the tapas bar – here is where it gets more funny; closer to the ladies, closer to the bar, more enjoyable and less formal. And I have actually enjoyed my night at the Tapas bar. Why? Ok ignore the service, (quite sub-standard and not the sort of warm attentive service you'd expect from your local tapas bar) – yet if you have a passion for food it is interesting to observe how the chef prepares and composes the plates. Very tidy and well organized open air kitchen, that feels almot like a laboratory. Anyone with the slightest experience in a restaurant kitchen would appreciate that

And what about the actual food? The results are good (yet places like brindisa or el pirata de tapas deliver better value for money). My selection included a… More