Aquavit London

Really enjoyed this restaurant - the staff were outstanding and the food was excellent. Highly recommended for a great breakfast or brunch option outside of the usual 'brasseries' in the area. Will definitely be back for lunch/dinner.

Excellent food, service confusing as we had 3 different people serving us. Took a while to take our drinks order, not Michelin star service experience, the food made up for it though!

The interpretations of Nordic cuisine at Aquavit were excellent, but boy is this place expensive! Good quality ingredients cost, of course, but these are quite simple dishes and you really are paying for the location. Good (if definitely not Scandinavian) service was welcome. Slightly peculiar decor felt more 1960s Berlin than 21st Century Stockholm. Biff Rydberg was superb but at that price it ought to be.

This was our first visit. We decided against the pre-theatre menu as the choice was limited. We had matje herring to start followed by the cod and the venison served with a cabbage side and a potato side. For dessert we shared a cheese plate. We also shared a bottle of Argentinian wine. The food was nice and well presented - we ate it all. The service was efficient though on occasion we did struggle to understand what the waitress was saying. Our table was by the window which we liked as we had a good view of the local street scene.

This was our first experience of Scandinavian food, not sure we would hurry to repeat the experience though. However if you like this sort of food we sure it's fine.

Our overall view was that it was quite expensive, especially the wines. Not the best value we have had in London.

We went to Aquavit to try the Nordic afternoon tea. We’d seen photos of it and read reviews and it looked like fun. When we got there and asked for it, they looked bemused (which was strange really, because it’s advertised on their website), but they eventually came back and said it was available. In fact that’s not what we got. We were brought a plate each of rye breads with toppings and then a plate each with a couple of pastries/cakes. Add tea to this and a glass of bubbles and it came to £40 each plus service. Nice enough food but certainly not afternoon tea as advertised and very overpriced for what we got. The restaurant itself was pleasant enough but the service was slow and underwhelming. Would we go back again? Probably not! In summary: “meh”.

I’ve been a few times and it’s always great. The wine is however on the pricier side compared to similar style restaurants with not much quality selection between £60-100

Absolutely love this restaurant, great for Fika too. Service was 2nd to none, fab atmosphere and everything was delicious - not to be missed.

💘 valentines! Perfect meal

Delicious healthy lunch accompanied by an excellent wine. A great value dining experience , would definitely eat in Aquavit again. While there are lots of serving staff, service is very pleasant however could be sharper.

Could not fault food or service. Smorgasbord dishes outstanding. Relaxed vibe. Expensive but not outrageous.

Visited for the pre-theatre menu. Absolutely delicious and couldn’t believe the amount for the price. My partner and I said that we will be visiting again and will be highly recommending it to our friends and family!

Outstanding decor, amazing service, and delicious food!

Amazing food! Excellent explained by the very friendly staff.

Service standards have deteriorated significantly. Two particular members of staff came very close to getting a mouthful of me but decided they won't worth ruining the day over ...
Massive massive huge decline in service bring back old staff.

Amazing fika and we weren't rushed out of the door :-)

Great quality, excellent service and all at a reasonable price in central London

Exceptionally good food, very attentive and helpful staff, impressive Aquavit-selection.

Food and service were exemplary. Great ambiance as well!

I had meaning to visit Aquavit for a long time and believe me it was worth the wait. I think we'll back much sooner. The pre-theatre menu is great value too

Top quality food and very good service. Trout was delicious. Drinks could be a bit cheaper. Overall would be happy to recommend and visit again.

Location, nice space, excellent food, quiet, friendly stafff

Very nice business lunch. Fresh and light food. Would go again.

The meatballs were particularly ordinary - IKEA ones are tastier!

Food was good, but service was quite disappointing. The waiter would forget about our table and even our drinks took a long time to arrive (we order beer and wine!). To make things worst, one of the main courses came wrong - not what we ordered! The food is really good, so we were still happy with the wrong dish, but it shows how the service level is poor.

Portion was very small given the price paid, walked away with hunger after paying nearly 80EUR. Service was slow, took about 10min before order was taken and 30min between the first course and main course. First course (pickled herring) was not up to expectations for a star restaurant. Main course (lamb) tasted very well but portion was too small for a main course.

Daytime visit in January was fairly quiet so the vibe was low. Very pleasant venue, nice food and we had a friendly server who was happy to educate us when we asked about dishes on the menu.

Stick to the Smörgåsbord, starters and side dishes and you can’t go wrong. Main courses a little disappointing and you don’t need them. Interior design fantastic and a brilliant atmosphere. Great staff and drinks list, including fun non-alcoholic options. Worth a visit!

We had dinner at Aquavit for my husband's birthday. It was a revelation! The atmosphere is relaxed and warm; you can even see from the outside the pleasant golden light from their beautifully designed interior. He loves Swedish food, and he wasn't disappointed! Neither was I. We had a three-course meal which was delicately presented but in sizeable portions so we left feeling satisfied. We were unsure about some of the items on the menu and the staff were very happy to explain. Go for the aquavit pairings with the smorgasbord items - it was my first ever taste and it was an experience! Also, for those with a sweet tooth, if you want to try something new, go for the Arctic bird's nest for dessert. Wow!

The brunch was amazing! We loved it

A lovely lunch

The service of the staff is excellent, food is very fresh and tasty. This my 5th time in Aquavit and I am sure I will be back soon.

Never got as far as eating here. Booked a table for lunch and was promptly shown to my table. Thereafter everyone forgot I was there. Sat there for 20 minutes before I left. I certainly do not have that kind of time available for lunch service.

We used to come here a lot, but the service at this restaurant has become so bad that they're not likely to see us again. We sat for half an hour waiting for someone to acknowledge us, even after I had told someone that we were ready to order. The same thing repeated itself as we sat with our dessert menus.
This is not the first time this has happened to us at Aquavit, and it doesn't seem to matter how busy they are, the service is always extremely poor.

Service was a little slow and lacked attention but the food was amazing. Cocktails were great too. Some of the staff were a little surly, but others were incredibly helpful. We will eat there again.

We only had an hour before the theatre and had a wonderful meal that was beautifully prepared and once the guys knew we had limited time they were very accomodating so we could experience more than a pre/post theatre meal. Having a starter, main and desert with side dishes. Definitely coming back to sample more of a great menue and savour the experience

Another fabulous meal, but sadly let down very badly by a mix of staff who were generally non existent, a somelier who offered alternatives to my choice of wine which were double to three times the price! (I don't mind an upsell but!!!) and let glasses regularly go empty for the whole table with wine in the bucket and on the table! It also included staff who described the Michelin quality burger with Skagen as a poor combination and not recommended (two of us had it and was sensational) to another who simply couldn't describe the desserts!! Have had several great experiences here, and while I repeat, the food was stunning, the overall experience with friends was a near embarrassment and was observed by all!!

I loved the herrings and the salmon dish! Really really rich in flavour.

FIRST OF ALL THE VAT IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE MENU PRICES AND NO ONE WARNS YOU ABOUT IT SO BE READY FOR AN AWEFUL SURPRISE AT THE BILL!!! Now about the food: Ordered the set lunch menu. The first dish was very good, we both had the gravadlax tartare. For the second dish I had the chicken and my date had the cod. The chicken was outsanding in flavour and textures; however, the cod dish was the most tasteless and plane dish we both ever tasted. Nothing had flavour and no different textures!! The cod, sauce, shrimps, beetroot etc were absolutely plane and flavourless and everything soft, it was like eating baby food. The dessert and tea were great.

Excellent food, excellent service - Aquavit continues to impress with every visit.

Great food, amusing and very well informed service. Could have done with a couple more staff. Absolutely lovely setting.
For a “classy place” the background music was very uninspired.