All reader reviews by Anonymous

Aqua Nueva

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

Sunday, November 08, 2009
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7