Aqua Nueva

Had the misfortune of being taken for lunch to this sorry place yesterday. I can honestly say it was a totally miserable experience we will do our best to forget as quickly as possible; having said that if it was me who chose this place I would be ripping the hair out of my head. The lunch menu selection was very limited, which alone may not be a problem if the food is good. Well this food was absolutely pathetic - starter of dry meats was ok, but nothing more then what you can get from any supermarket; main course - that was a shocker - duck (which I normally love) cooked (or rather roasted) by somebody who does not give a damn, because it was bland, dry, hard and awful - and served with a half a shallot, that was it.. The worst lunch we ever had, it was absolutely awful. Then a very very average pudding. The staff was awful, they could not care less (and we were the only guests in there, apart from us not one table was taken which also gives a clue about how "popular" or "liked" this restaurant is. I complained to the manager who - like there rest of this place - truly did not look like he was interested in the slightest... What a sorry waste of time, total fiasco, we so wish we went somewhere else...
Comment on this reader review

2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Saturday, July 30, 2011

Shockingly over priced. My wife and I went there yesterday to have a special meal. People with earphones greet you and check your name against the reservation list, then you take the lift to the 5th floor. There is a huge extremely loud bar area, and then through a long corridor to the restaurant section. The restaurant section is a bit less noisy, but still way too loud to hold a normal conversation. We ordered roast vegetables to start with , and you get a few vegetables, some of them stuffed with cheese, not worth the £9. This person comes along and offers one small roll of bread, and never comes again. For mains we ordered lamb and oxtail. The menu described the lamb as coming with new potatoes, in reality it came with one half !!! of a small new potato, the oxtail was supposed to have pumpkin mash and asparagus, it came with one spoonful of mash and two small asparagus heads. The dishes were so small we ordered some sides. The food itself was not bad, pretty good even, but my oh my, I thought the days of nouvelle cuisine with huge plates and small portions were over, I was wrong apparently. For 26£ you expect to get a bit more than a piece of meat and nothing else. The service was good, and the food was descent, but way overpriced, portions too small, restaurant too noisy, and the place pretentious and smug beyond belief. We also ordered one of the cheapest bottles of wine for £36, also over priced. Over all we paid £120 , of which £85 were for food which should cost no more than £35-40 in my opinion. We will not go there again, not good value for money.
Comment on this reader review

5 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Saturday, July 30, 2011

Las Vegas is wonderful for many things, among them a real sense of pomp and circumstance around the art of eating. Sure, you can grab a burger, or queue up at the trough of an all you can eat buffet to feed your face with the best of them, but there are plenty of places where flair is key. I was reminded of this as I entered the slightly schizophrenic entrance of Aqua, two restaurants for one, in the old Dickens and Jones store on Argyll Street. Heavy red drapes, suited flunkys and confusing mirrors remind you more of the circus house in Twin Peaks than luxe dining. A lift to the loft disgorges you into another welcome annex, with yet more floating staff, and by the time you enter the main bar you feel thoroughly confused.

The main bar is decorated in a generic international style. Chinoise fabrics, opulent drapes and tall banquette tables surround the semi-circular bar - occupied by skinny pretty girls and the braying suits who pay for them flood the space. From the main bar, the space leads off to a Japanese restaurant on one side and a Spanglish restaurant with its own bar on the other end of a long corridor. It's owned by a consortium of Chinese businessmen and seems determined to pick and pinch from every cultural influence it can.

The Spanish side of the space is very separate and feels lighter in style, like eating in the lobby of a Four Seasons hotel rather than chowing down in the nightclub. The international feel carries on, with French and Polish staff treading their way carefully round the menu. Our stumped 'sommelier' finally recommended a Rioja as being the most Spanish, desperate as he was to veer towards the upper reaches of the list. Tap water wasn't offered.

The menu has a Spanish twist, but in the loosest sense of the phrase. We tried to do tapas, but you'll fare just as well going for starters, main course and desserts. The plate of Iberico ham was thickly and badly carved, chewier than it should be against the grain, and a stretch at £18 for around 125 grams of the rich, gamey meat - even in Borough Market you'd be pushing it to pay more than a fiver for that quantity. Other starters of octopus, sliced sausages and croquettes were acceptable, but not exactly memorable, though they did have a grassy and tart extra virgin olive oil I could have almost drunk neat.

The mains followed a similar vein. Monkfish 'adobo' was a pleasant piece of fish, but bore no trace of the titular marinade, a spicy Latin American base of peppers, oregano and cumin. Of the other mains, a beef tenderloin was a well cooked yet dainty slab, served simply with pimentos de padron, a simple if incongruous side to the dish. The boiled 'confit' tomatoes were left untouched. We'd attempted to order the peppers as a tapas plate and had initially been told that they weren't in season. To be fair to the restaurant, when we pointed out that they were the side of one of the main dishes, they did offer to cook an extra portion as a side, though charged us prettily for the pleasure of the simple salted peppers.

For a Wednesday night in November, pre party season and a year after opening, both sides of the restaurant and the two large bars were buzzy and busy. It's an impressive state of affairs considering the punchy prices and determinedly inauthentic concepts. But this place doesn't appeal to or aim at the determined foodie. If you want to eat authentic Japanese and / or Spanish, there are a dozen better within walking distance. But if you're entertaining clients, models or proving to friends that you are in the know prior to a night jousting with AMEX Black cards in nearby Movida, then you may just have found your new go to destination of choice.
Comment on this reader review

www.grumblinggourmet.com - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Saturday, November 20, 2010

This place is shockingly bad. Let me summarise:

1. Food of quite abysmal standard - truly awful. A starter of '20 market vegetables' was simply a pile of root veg (halved brussels sprouts anyone?), boiled and put on the plate - no dressing, nothing. 'Salmon in a citrus sauce' was dry overcooked cheap salmon, dressed in a sickly custard. I didn't bother with pudding, I just couldn't face it.

2. We were seated underneath a speaker belting out bland dance musak (what year is it I thought: 1994?) which was so loud it precluded conversation with anyone not sat directly next to me.

3. It seemed as though the extractor was blowing the air from the kitchen INTO the dining room. An awful smell of grease and frying pervaded the dining room and my clothes stank afterwards.

4. The waiter was straight from Fawlty Towers: surly, couldn't understand the Spanish dishes on the menu never mind explain what they were. Either impossible to find or else topping up the wine glass before I'd even drunk from it.

5. Last but by no means least: the prices are stratospherically expensive. I spent £187 for two of us with just two courses and wine.

Please please please don't waste your hard earned money on this place; there are a thousand better places to go to in London. If you want some glam, go to Zuma, Roka or Hakkasan. Whilst not perfect they at least have great food.
View/Add comments (1)

Chris Hayes
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, March 14, 2010

Truly impresive and glam decor .Feel good atmosphere ,bit expensive but

you are paying for all the bits i mentioned.we had a good night and will be visiting it again and again .we had dinner at NUEVA ,next mission is dinner at KYOTO orginally wanted to book this one but was fully booked.

Terrace is good; cant wait for summer to sit and enjoy drinks and the view or have tapas outside

The spirit bar is amazing before and after dinner or just for drinks. I recommend ths restaurant if you are going to have fun and dinner ,but if it is only for food perhaps choose another venue.
Comment on this reader review

S.Misiri London - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 7
Thursday, February 25, 2010

Don't waste your money or time!

First impressions were good, the decor is impressive and the service was above average with very polite staff. Unfortunately the food was a complete and utter let-down.

When we were handed the menu I was very surprised how limited the choice was but I assumed that their opinion was to offer less dishes but make them outstanding.

Outstandingly average I'm afraid and expensive to boot.

We had starters, main and dessert and all were average at best. I am happy to pay for good food but this was definitely over-priced.

Basically this place is just for show, the bar does have a nice buzz so I would suggest to go here just for drinks.

If you want an authentic Spanish go to Tenidido Quatro in Parsons Green where the food is outstanding, service pleasant and decor warm and inviting.
Comment on this reader review

6 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Sunday, January 10, 2010

Called on Saturday evening at 8 to try and book a table at the Kyoto (Japanese) and was told it was fully booked but we could try the sushi bar. When I enquired about the Nueva (Spanish) I was told it was the same situation. As we had to be in the area, we decided to give it a try anyway. At 9:30 the Japanese restaurant was pretty full, but we were pleased to see the sushi counter 1/3 empty - until we were told that there was a queue and we had to wait 45 mins at the bar.

We made our way down the corridor to the Nueva (Spanish) and were surprised to see the restaurant half empty ( "we had a lot of cancellations" was the lame explanation). We could have had a table, but decided to seat at the tapas counter (also pretty empty), where we had a good meal.

The staff was very helpful, and a bottle of Prado del Rey Ribera del Duero 2007 was excellent value at £19.50.On the other hand the jamon iberico wasn't worth £18. Also the extraction system, despite looking state-of-the-art , didn't work well enough and we soon could smell the flavours of Spain on our clothes. By the time we left at 10:45 the restaurant was busier, but there were still tables available. Going by the sushi bar on the way out we noticed how it was still 1/3 empty - and we ate too quickly for other customers to have sat down and left in between. It drives me crazy when a certain kind of London restaurants make a point of not giving you a table if you call late or just show up. What are they trying to prove? There are much more succesfull restaurants in town (say the Wolseley) that despite being genuinely full all the time will still try and accomodate you at the last minute
Comment on this reader review

Julian Jacobson - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, November 08, 2009

It started off well with the venue and the greeting staff setting the scene perfectly for a few fun drinks and dinner on a week night. It was quickly ruined by the bar staff who were rude, slow and unhelpful. One of the bar staff offered our drink to a random stranger to try, when paying £10 per cocktail it's not what I expected!

The food was good but slow, overall a little disappointing!
Comment on this reader review

7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Went Saturday night and had a fabulous time!! Stunning interior, really cool vibe. Bartender was great, and treated us to a couple of totally unique champagne cocktails before dinner. Great bread options, fabulous, friendly service. Decadent appetizer (the scallops) and dessert. Very good wine- all at reasonable prices-not too over the top, so refreshing for such a good restaurant in London! Will definitely be back, and also look forward to trying the Japanese side.
Comment on this reader review

10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, November 02, 2009

Went to Aqua Nueva last night for the first time. Very impressed with entrance and service staff - up until we actually sat down and wanted to eat. They were slow with service, spilt a glass of wine on the table, we had to ask 3 times for bread, when asked to describe one of their signature dishes, the answer was simply: "its very good...its meat".. Menu is in spanish but if you order something by its spanish name, the waiter asks you to repeat it in english!

A real pity as the food was very good! I had some excellent foie gras, followed by beatifully cooked deer in berry and red wine sauce.

Very good wine list and good prices overall too.

Get better waiters and i'll come back!
Comment on this reader review

RC
6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Sunday, October 25, 2009