Aqua Roma | New York — Restaurant in New York

I was very intrigued to try Aqua after passing it multiple times and reading about it.

The concept of Italian and Japanese food served in the same setting seems weird but I think the execution was well done.

I stopped in on the night of the Super Bowl (on purpose! I don't watch the Super Bowl and I enjoy the empty streets and businesses every year on that day).

As expected, the restaurant was pretty quiet with a handful of parties seated. The restaurant is MASSIVE. Like, it kept going all the way to back when I didn't expect it to.

I was alone, but since the restaurant was not busy, they gave me a 4 person table so I had plenty of room.

The menu is pretty extensive in both Japanese and Italian offerings. I opted to do the Restaurant Week special. For $60, edamame, miso soup, appetizer, entree and dessert which is a great deal.

I am a vegetarian and the server told me the miso soup was not vegetarian so I could not partake in the soup. I suggest reworking this to be vegetarian in the future.

The edamame was good and a nice start to the meal. For my appetizer, I had the seaweed salad which was presented with the spinach actually cooked together in a rectangle shape that you had to break apart. The sever poured the sesame dressing over the salad at the table.

I had the eggplant pasta dish for my entree. It was very good! Really enjoyed this. Very flavorful.

For dessert, I opted for raspberry sorbet. Standard sorbet, but good. Although, not sure if this was intentional or a mistake...but at the bottom of the bowl, there was parmesan cheese sprinkled? I stopped eating the ice cream half way through once I started eating into the cheese. Sorbet and cheese do not go together, lol .

For a drink, I had the Hana Collins, which I assume is a play on a Tom Collins. I also enjoyed this drink. Drinks were $19+ and up.

From the host to the server, I thought the staff was all friendly and attentive.

Because the restaurant was pretty empty, management was very visible, walking around and asking how everything was. I think they were probably too visible though to the point of being awkward, kind of just standing there and staring at tables and staring at the staff. I guess it is good they are being present, that's important.

Overall, I really enjoyed my meal here and would certainly come back. I like the idea of having Italian and Japanese food in the same meal, and it is not as weird as you would think. Both cuisines seemed to compliment each other.

The restaurant itself is also gorgeous and large, which is not something you come across too often in Manhattan. This would be a good spot for a quick dinner, but also good for groups and dates. Something for everyone.

One thing I suggest is to please put purse hooks on the bathroom doors. There are currently no hooks available and I had to put my bag...

Aqua for the ambiance but do not recommend. I really wanted to love this place, but this is not what a birthday dinner should have been like. From the jump, service was slow. It took forever for a waiter to come to our table, and when he finally did, he just asked if we were ready to order. We hadn’t even gotten water yet, and all they gave us was a pre-fixe menu. Since I’m allergic to some items on it, we asked if there was another option. That alone felt like a task. Getting water refills the whole night? Another battle.

When we did try to order food and drinks, the waiter disappeared again and we ended up waiting almost 20 minutes before flagging him down. At that point I was already frustrated, but it was my friend’s birthday, so I tried to let it slide and let her sister handle most of it.

The menu looks great on paper and has variety, but execution? Not the same story. The waiter assured us they’d avoid shellfish for me, which I appreciated, but the whole process dragged on until almost 9pm before anything came out. We were starving by then.

Food started trickling in: miso soup, meat, sushi (the only thing that looked as good as it tasted), and pasta. The sushi was delicious, but everything else? Small portions, bland, unseasoned, and nowhere near how it was described. Presentation was just… there. The kind of food you forget about as soon as you put your fork down.

Dessert was another letdown. The menu described dark chocolate, but they brought out milk chocolate instead. We were disappointed. The birthday girl and her sister were dreaming of the dark chocolate. On her birthday with one candle thrown on top which was cute .She ended up asking them to wrap it up because the sushi had filled her, and their response was basically, “we can make an exception for this once.” Why would you say that to a guest on their birthday? My tiramisu was also a disappointment the liquor was so strong and bitter it overpowered everything.

I will say my drink was good, but even that didn’t match the description.

Seating was odd too we were tucked in a corner instead of a booth, even though we had five people. And then, to top it all off, they charged us for six people. I even have photo proof of us being five. It felt shady, like they assumed we wouldn’t notice or tip.

In the end: beautiful setting and backdrop, but the food is not worth the price, the service drags on like a movie runtime, and the staff seem to check in only when they feel like it. The manager came by twice, but never stepped in to fix how slow and frustrating everything was. On a birthday night, that’s just unacceptable.

Between the wrong charges, the tip issue, and the two-hour wait for mid food, it’s...

Restaurant Review: Aqua ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5)

Visited Aqua on just their second day of opening, and it’s clear they are navigating the tricky waters of catering to both influencers and genuine food enthusiasts. While the experience had its highlights, it also left room for improvement.

The Positives: Hospitality was top-notch. Every staff member—from the host to the busboys—was attentive and well-coordinated without being intrusive. It’s a remarkable feat, especially given how early into their opening this was. The ambiance and lighting were also well-considered, creating a welcoming and pleasant atmosphere.

The Food: • Astice Davide Pizzetta: Lobster medallions, bottarga, dill, and lemon zest served on a thin yet firm crust with a delightful citrusy note. However, the bottarga was either forgotten or present in such a minuscule amount that it went unnoticed. • Mafalde: The pasta was perfectly al dente, with a flavorful slow-cooked oxtail ragu, Nero d’Avola, and winter truffle. Unfortunately, the dish was marred by undercooked pieces of oxtail, which detracted from an otherwise excellent dish. • Pork Belly Robata: Nicely charred and well-seasoned, but it arrived at the table cold. The tiny, wilted pickle garnish added little to the dish. • Seafood Fried Rice: This was the highlight of the meal. The combination of sea urchin, scallop, shrimp, snow crab, and scallions was a symphony of flavors. It’s the dish I would return for. • Crystal Sushi: Scallop, caviar, and kimchi jelly presented as a visual treat but fell flat in execution. The rubbery texture of the “kimchi jelly” felt more like a gimmick than a culinary innovation. • Sweet Caviar: The dessert was a pleasant surprise, with espresso tapioca pearls and Valrhona chocolate mousse offering a delightful play of textures and flavors. • Espresso: Unremarkable and forgettable.

Service and Timing: The coordination between the two distinct kitchens is clearly a challenge, leading to all the dishes being served at once. This resulted in some dishes arriving cold by the time we were ready to enjoy them—a disappointing oversight.

Overall Verdict: Aqua has potential but, at this stage, it feels more like a place focused on presentation and influencer appeal than a serious culinary destination. While the seafood fried rice and sweet caviar dessert were memorable, the inconsistent execution and awkward serving pace made the experience feel less refined. In a city teeming with exceptional dining options, Aqua needs to elevate its game to earn a repeat visit. For now, it’s a pretty face with a bit more work needed beneath...