Arros QD Restaurant — Restaurant in London

So here's the thing: food will be 5 stars but got disappointed with the experience. We booked this restaurant we've been wanting to try for long time because It was my boyfriend and mine's 15th year anniversary together. I'm actually from Valencia, so imagine how exciting is for me to eat good paella in London. Also, we had paella on our first date, so it was perfect. We knew it wasn't going to be cheap, but to eat good paella, in Quique Dacosta's restaurant, and in our anniversary, it was worth the ocasion. We booked over the phone and they asked for a debit card cause if we didn't let them know at least 24 hours in advance we weren't going to come in, they would charge us 25£ pero person. Listen: we would have lost £50 even if I woke up that morning feeling sick. And in times of covid? Wow. I've given my card before for reservations but they were really small restaurants, only few tables, and they weren't charging that much. Again, we thought the ocasion was worth it, so we booked and let them know it was our anniversary. We wanted to book for 13:30-45 but they said they only had tables from 14:00 onwards. We got there, about 10 mins late because of traffic. The woman that showed us to our table was really nice and she thought It was really sweet that we were celebrating our anniversary there. The place looks really good, so we were excited! But you know what I noticed? Restaurant was half empty. Why would you charge 50£ for not showing up when lots of space available? On a Thursday afternoon? That's bad. I understand done people don't show up and you tell customers you are fully booked, but it's a big place, wasn't busy and restaurants have been managing. Also, 25£ pero person is crazy. That made feel bad straight away. Anyway, they took our order and we ordered the lunch menu. Then the waiter came back saying lunch menu was only until 2. It was like 2:15, and remember they didn't let us book before 2? Oh well. We said if there was any chance as it was our anniversary but she said she told her manager about our anniversary and that he said no chance. How lovely, right? If it was any other regular day I would have said well fair enough but not being able to give us the menu on such special day felt a bit odd. You are expecting them to be nice, have a gesture. The waiter was lovely I have to say. Food was amazing though: we had the tuna tartare and the Valencian paella and it was so so so good. We asked for the check and they only wrote on a plate Happy anniversary. The waiter was actually a bit embarassed that was the only thing they gave us. It's true they don't need to do anything special, we weren't there for the freebies, but we have celebrated our anniversary in lots of places through the years and they have always been nicer to us, even in way cheaper places than this one. After that, seeing that I was going to get charged 50£ when they had half empty restaurant and not being able to have a nice gesture and being flexible, although food was amazing, it felt disappointing and underwhelming specially on such special date for us. Don't think I'll be back, maybe one day just for another paella, as it's not a restaurant I can afford on my daily basis, but won't definetely book in advance in case I have an emergency and won't go on any...

We booked a table at Arros QD last Friday for a birthday dinner and it turned out to be a really fun night.

I actually called ahead earlier in the week to ask about bringing a cake. They said it’s £4.50 per person for cakage unless you also order desserts from them. In the end I didn’t bring one, but good to know if you ever want to do a proper celebration there.

The restaurant itself is gorgeous. It is quite dimly lit which feels dramatic when you first walk in, but it makes the whole place feel cosy and a bit fancy. The open kitchen is amazing. There is so much fire and movement that it makes the whole restaurant feel alive. They even do a chef’s table right by the kitchen which sounds like such a cool experience if you are into seeing the action up close.

The service was honestly perfect all night. Everyone was warm and friendly. I have to shout out the Spanish sommelier because she was a whole vibe. She is very high energy, which just adds to the buzz of the space, and her dessert wine recommendation for me at the end of the night was spot on. I liked it so much I looked up the bottle afterwards, although the markup made me do a double take.

We started with Olive Oil Coca Bread, Traditional Allioli and the Valencian Kale Salad. These were fine but nothing I would rush back for. Worth mentioning that the allioli is very light on garlic which some people might prefer. The Tuna Tataki though was amazing. The Bluefin Atlantic tuna had a lovely meaty flavour and the whole dish felt really fresh and clean.

For mains we had the Presa Ibérica, Paella Valenciana and Mediterranean Rice. The pork was perfectly cooked, beautifully pink inside and really tender. The leek ashes added this subtle smokiness that made it extra special. Both rice dishes were packed with flavour, but the rabbit in the Paella Valenciana was a bit on the dry side. The Mediterranean Rice ended up being my favourite dish of the night. The rice was cooked just right and the sea bream on top was meaty and so satisfying.

Dessert was an easy choice because we had to try their Basque cheesecake. They add Gorgonzola to it which sounds unusual but works so well. The salty blue cheese lifts the flavour without overpowering the sweetness. I am absolutely stealing this idea for my own home baking. The dessert wine I had with it tied everything together perfectly.

Random side note, the bathrooms are upstairs and when we went up there we realised the second floor is absolutely stunning. It feels like such a shame they did not seat people up there because it was a great dining space.

The bill came to just under £400 for five people which worked out at about £80 each. We are not big eaters or drinkers so that felt like a lot for what we had. Still, considering it is a central London restaurant with gorgeous interiors, flawless service and a proper special occasion vibe, it felt worth it. The birthday girl had a great time, which is what...

I hate to leave a bad review - I realise operating a restaurant requires enormous amounts of time, effort, and upkeep. Unfortunately everything was pretty horrendous and I wouldn't be able to recommend this place.

Firstly: I don't have a lot of money. I work 60+ hour weeks and most Londoners will understand how much of it evaporates on rent, bills, etc. I say this only because I planned coming to this restaurant for a very long time - over a year in fact - and had saved up for a special occasion (a surprise birthday dinner for my girlfriend).

6 months before the reservation I emailed to ask about some dietary restrictions as one person in the group of 6 had allergies that meant he couldn't eat many of the rice dishes. I reached out and got a friendly reply from someone called Jaime saying that it wouldn't be a problem at all, that they could just add some other meats on top of a vegetarian paella.

Based on this reply I made the reservation, only to be told on the night that this was impossible and that "Jaime works in marketing, he should never have even sent that email". The manager did not offer a single word of apology, instead (much like someone else seems to have experienced 5 months ago based on their review) proceeded to lecture the table on how the chef had 7 Michelin stars and we couldn't possibly tell him how to cook his food. Finally he told me that if we wanted to, we could order an extra meat dish (easily £25+) and have that on the side.

His demeanour was on the whole quite brusque and unapologetic, which obviously reflects terribly on the restaurant. Definitely could have handled it much better.

In any case, this could all have been ok if at least the food was as amazing as you would expect from the price range. Unfortunately, and this is coming from someone who has spent a LOT of time in Valencia, the quality of all 3 rice dishes we ordered (paella Valenciana, vegetable rice, and creamy mushroom rice) was just... bad. All 3 were very bland, and the vegetable rice actually had raw cauliflower and beans. Sure the socarrat was very well done but that's not really worth much when it has no taste.

Our server was lovely though, can't fault her but she was the only bright side to an otherwise very...