Aqua Kyoto

Aqua London Set at the top of one of London’s’ most iconic buildings, the former Dickens and Jones department store on regent street, Aqua London epitomizes destination dining with its blend of cutting edge cuisines, uber-chic interiors and breathtaking views.

At the heart of this extraordinary venture is Aqua Spirit Aqua London, managed by award winning Tim Halilaj. A hip addition to London’s dining scene, it is the ideal hot spot for pre dinner drinks and night caps.

for reservations for Aqua Kyoto visit www.velvet-pr.com

great venue. fantastic during summer time. prices are ok for central London.

Went here last friday after watching a show across the road, was a little unsure of the place at first because it has a high end appearence. but my girlfreind insisted we should go in because she had heard of the place when researching roof top bars in London which she enjoys going to because of the views. so we went up in the lift and was greated by very attaractive but also helpful hosts who took our coats and pointed us in the direction of the bar. I really like bars that  have a great cocktail list and this place does one slight downer was it was abit too busy but it was a friday night in the city so I suppose that goes without saying. so we waited for aroung 15 mins for our drinks which I had a manhatten unfortunatly there was abit too much rosso in it but I drank it never the less and my girlfreind had a nice girly cocktail which she loved, we drank them outside on the rooftop bar which was very impressive and had some great views of city although the drinks were quite abit I would say it was worth it.

This place is a showy expensive place – but WELL worth the visit. I somtimes bring first dates here (whoops, cat’s out the bag). The trick is to take them through the corridor and out to the second roof terrace – it’s very cool.

Great food, great drinks and an amazing view! highly recommended!

Visited Aqua for an after work drink. Only one of the rooftop bars was open so needless to say it was absolutely packed outside, both at the bar and in the standing area. Needless to say we only stayed for one drink. The cocktail I had was delicious but pricey.

The venue is beautiful and trendy. The service is top notch. Would definitely this place for a good time and delicious food!

Loved the decoration, the ambiance, the stile, the music, THE FOOD, I love Japanese food anyway. The service...hum! Can be improved. I will definitely go there again.

So glad I found this place! I went there for drinks with some friends and was impressed by the decor and the roof terraces. The clientele was good earlier in the evening, then it took a dive. Luckily there were 3 roof terraces to choose from and it was better once we moved.
The cocktails were a bit pricey - £10 and upwards, but the staff was nice.

Gourmet Belly had the joy of celebrating a Hen Night at Aqua on the weekend, and have to say, the second time around dining at Aqua Kyoto, the place still impressed!

The food was lovely and gorgeously presented, and special mention has to go out to our waiter Jimmy, who exceeded our expectations ten-fold in looking after us and the 'bride to be', with some light entertainment and laughs with the staff. Even He-Man made a guest appearance!!

Not overly expensive at about £60 per head given that we had the private dining room, suffient food and drinks flowing.

I would definitely recommend this venue for a fun night out. The staff in particular are wonderful - even allowing lots of fancy dressed groups into the venue in the spirit of Halloween. A rare find in London for a fancier bar.

Aqua has transformed the old Dickens and Jones tea terrace into a sundeck for events one of which I attended last night.

We didn`t have use of both sundecks as Bernie Ecclestone had commandeered one for his daughter`s 26th birthday. Oh Dad!

But one was enough.

Not much room to move around, mind, and I kept getting kicked by people who tried to pass in the narrow spaces...still it was fun.

Great views. Friendly staff. Good booze. Not crazy about the canapes though.

What really sticks in my mind is the Kubrick-style entrance to the arena. You have to walk quite a way in pitch dark (and are escorted by a staff member) It seems like something out of `Eyes Wide Shut`......very weird.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel....

I was hesitant about booking Aqua Kyoto for a family party having had mediocre reports of its soft opening from a knowledgeable friend, but I should not have worried.

You enter through a dark cavern of an entrance opposite the Palladium and take a lift to the top of the old Dickins & Jones building where you are greeted by name - as the result of giving it to the doorman at the entrance - setting the scene for a seriously impressive experience. True, the decor is more Hong Kong nightclub than Japanese, but we were immediately taken with the space and lack of crowding - though the room was full. We sat at a comfortable banquette table where talk was eminently possible and were served by a Japanese waitress who explained the dishes to us carefully, Zuma-style, but also managed to impress my wife, who is herself Japanese, with her knowledge.

We had a dazzling array of dishes; so many that I can't recall exactly which they were, though the dobin-mushi (fish soup in a kettle) stood out as entirely authentic and delicious and the crab and other sushi dishes were uniformly excellent. The black cod was every bit as good as Nobu and twice the size and the beef was succulent melting perfection. The most important ingredient - the rice and tofu (about which we agree with sherlocksteel) were impeccable, causing us to recall similar great meals taken in Kyoto and Hong Kong. Importantly too, we were able to chose a good dry sake from the short list that was exactly what we wanted and wasn't impossibly priced. An unexpectedly fine experience; and not at all expensive for this quality at £280 for five.

I went to Aqua for my birthday in late October. We went on the Japanese side as opposed to the Spanish side as the restaurant offers two types of cuisine. The restaurant is gorgeous and it is the perfect place for a date. We had a nice cocktail by the bar and then headed to our table. The service was horrible. It took 15 minutes to be acknowledged and have the menus on our table. Once we placed the order, it took for ever to get our food. We could tell that the whole staff was disorganised. We spent 3 hours in this restaurant and could not wait to get out. We complained to the waitress who was apologizing and mentioned that they just opened etc. We had to pay full price ( and believe me it is not cheap) for good food in a complete chaotic service. I am not ready to go back for food. I will though have a drink and enjoy their superb terrace in the summer time.

Aqua Kyoto belongs to the asian high-end restaurant chain aqua. It opened just recently a branch in London with 2 separate restaurants and a bar: aqua kyoto (japanese/asian cuisine), aqua nueva (spanish), and aqua spirit (bar).
The venue is located in a former department store (hence the impressive large entrance), the setting is very spacious and stylish, with the bar and kyoto restaurant (haven't visited the nueva yet) entirely kept in red velvet and black lacquer with sophisticated dim lighting, which is directed at the table (i.e., the food) and not at people's faces.

There is a great variety of starters, open sushi, sashimi, and entrées, as well as desserts.

The professional and friendly staff recommends to order several starters to share, which we did. From tofu to tempura shrimp to sashimi, everything was absolutely delicious. Tofu for me is usually a good indicator for the quality of the kitchen: this one was crispy from the outside and velvety soft on the inside, just as it has to be, absolutely perfect. As a main course, among other things, we shared one of the sushi platters (the "innovation" platter), which was one of the best sushi I ever had, and definitely the most innovative one. Especially the crab meat sushi was totally mouthwatering.

For a group of 7 people, with 4 cocktails, a bottle of wine and lots of food, the bill was GBP320. For a posh place like this we found the pricing ok.

I will come here again and would recommend the place for a date and for dinner with friends.