Aqua Kyoto

I dined at Kyoto last week with clients. We have never been before but had heard about the venue. We couldn’t go to the terrace as it was raining so we started with cocktails in the indoor bar, all so delicious!

I had one with gin and elderflower with sage which was recommended by the barman. By the time we moved to the main dining area it was almost full, very nice atmosphere for a Tuesday.

We let our waitress to decide from the menu, she really did a great selection for us and explained the dishes. The black cod and the grilled courgettes were my absolute favourites and the desserts wow, especially the sake creme brulee.

My clients were very impressed with the service and the experience, so it was a very successful evening. I will definitely be visiting again soon.
Comment on this reader review

felippe da silva
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, July 20, 2012

13 JULY 2012 Were with a group of ten, had to wait for our table for 1/2 hour. Food was not served at the same time, portions very small, I had the baby chicken, just some chicken at £16.50 with NOTHING added to it on the plate The bill came to £468.00 incl hefty 12.5% tip. Nice view from the terrace on 5th floor though.

RIP OFF big time.
Comment on this reader review

2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 0
Saturday, July 14, 2012

I love Japanese food and I have been to a couple of great restaurants in London. I had a look at the Aqua Kyoto webpage and I liked what I saw. After reading a couple of reviews I decided it might be better just to go for a drink and a nibble in the terrace. We arrive at 12.30 ish on a Saturday and the place was totally empty. There were plenty of receptionists, waiters and other staff. We found our way to the outdoor terrace located on top of Regent Street.

The bar was well staffed about five people were hanging around, but no none was making an effort to bring us the menu. After 10 minutes we walked up to them and asked them for the menu. A couple of minutes it was dropped off at our table. We made our choices, but no one came to take our order. … The whole restaurant looked fairly new, but suffers from poor maintenance - tables are wobbly, seats are wet from the rain. We were waiting for another 10 minutes and then decided to leave the place. No one bothered that we left.
Comment on this reader review

jensk
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Sunday, July 08, 2012

Visited sat 24.3.12,confused, peculiar use of such a space. Abundance of reception staff (for what?) Lovely and lively bar, noisy intrusive, thoroughfare of a restaurant, mediocre food at best and the terrace bar, please, please do have a few planning meetings and then turn it into a beautiful spot.
Comment on this reader review

4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, March 28, 2012

This is a pretty good choice for a fun, casual, buzzy dinner out. It is noisy because of the busy bar and music but not so loud that you can't have a conversation, it would be great for a group of friends before a night out.

The food is good, not amazing but satisfying enough. The spicy tuna rolls were good and also the scallop and prawn tempura. The food came before the wine, which was annoying, and the service a bit hit and miss as you have to try to catch the waiters' attention as they whizz past!

But overall it was a good experience and I may return in future.
Comment on this reader review

7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Monday, February 27, 2012

Youll love it here. Amazing drinks and a great space to people watch. The food is no better than you would get in Cha Cha Moon, but its all about the atmosphere.. which you pay over the odds for. Have pre dinner drinks on the balcony if you can.
Comment on this reader review

DellJ - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 6
Friday, February 24, 2012

i went here last week, the food was not that great, the service was appalling. at the start of the evening i ordered a bottle of wine. my bottle didnt come, the food came. after 30 mins of ordering the wine i asked the staff about my wine, she said she had forgotten to order it. I wanted my wine first, the service overall wasnt good, the price of the food and wine was tooooo expensive. Dont go there.
Comment on this reader review

duncan greenaigh
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The restaurant was far too dark.

We made the mistake of going on a Friday night where the restaurant sits inbetween two overly packed bars (terrace and indoors). Which was a strange experience. When you want to use the bathroom, you have to take a ticket when you leave so you can get back in (like a club). Once out of the restaurant, you then push through hundreds of posers, and return to your pitch black table.

Watch out too, as the waiters/waitress use the classic scam where by the tip is already added to the bill, but they still pass you the card terminal, knowingly with 'would you like to leave a tip' on the screen.

On the plus side the cocktails were great, food was tasty. A little too expensive, but basically ruined by the hundreds of people continually walking through the restaurant to either bar. Very strange for a 'high end' establishment.

I would recommend you 'pass' on this place. There are many better.
Comment on this reader review

DVC - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Saturday, September 10, 2011

We went to Aqua Kyoto to celebrate a birthday. The service was good as the waitress offered to fill up our teapots with more hot water. The food was very expensive and therefore I would have expected better quality. The flavours of the dishes did not come together as well as what I would have expected. Although, it wasn't bad.

I particularly enjoyed the taro and miso beans dish and the sushi dishes are very good. However, having been to places like Roka and Nobu, it doesn't reach this standard yet.

The decor is impressive and the bar with a terrace is a big attraction and is no doubt a stunning place to impress friends.

I would probably come here more for drinks and the atmosphere rather than for the food.
Comment on this reader review

foodie - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Sunday, July 17, 2011

My experience of Aqua Kyoto was of a well run restaurant with a great selection of food on the menu and what we selected was all excellent.

I liked the way when we got up to the 5th floor, the reception staff welcomed me by name. We there then shown through to our table and led through what is a very attractively designed restaurant, of the style & slickness you tend to find in miami/vegas/L.A. There is plenty of space in the room with tables not too close together, there is music on but not too loud. Yes, the bar is lively but that is surely a good thing if you fancy a couple more drinks after your meal ?

We had the spicy crab soup, chefs selection of sushi (portions noticeably bigger than zuma and nobu), blackened cod, and some prawn and crab rolls, with mandarine sorbet for desert...all of it excellent. Our waitress was polite & faultless.

And of course there is the lovely terrace that sets it apart from a lot of trendy shiny room restaurants that just want your money but don't really offer anything special back.

Whoever designed this place has thought about it and created something, slick, modern and very appealing. Its not cheap, but I felt I got a good experience in exchange for my money, which is often not the case in west end London restaurants.
Comment on this reader review

pablo
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Sunday, June 12, 2011