Restaurant in London, United Kingdom
Dacosta's rice done right — book it.
Quique Dacosta's London rice restaurant delivers serious Valencian paella technique in a theatrical, open-kitchen setting in Fitzrovia. At £££ and with OAD Casual Europe recognition (ranked #570 in 2025) and a Michelin Plate, it is the most focused Spanish rice cooking available in Central London. Book two to three weeks ahead and ask for a ground floor table.
If you are visiting London and want a serious Spanish restaurant that goes well beyond tapas and pintxos, Arros QD is worth booking. Quique Dacosta's Fitzrovia rice house delivers a focused, theatrically executed Valencian paella menu in a large, striking dining room — and at £££ pricing, it sits at a more accessible point than most of its Central London competition. The format rewards first-timers who want spectacle alongside substance: an open kitchen, wood-fired flames, and a menu built around one of Spain's most technically demanding dishes. Book it for lunch or a mid-week dinner and you will have a direct experience; leave weekends for when you have more flexibility on time.
Arros QD occupies a large, strikingly decorated room on Eastcastle Street in Fitzrovia. The scale is the first thing that registers: this is not a tucked-away neighbourhood spot but a full-scale restaurant with serious kitchen infrastructure built around wood-fired cooking. The atmosphere during service is energetic and somewhat loud, particularly as the evening fills out. If conversation matters to you, arriving at opening or booking an early lunch sitting will give you a calmer room. Later in the evening, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays when the kitchen runs until 11pm, the energy is high and the noise level follows.
The ground floor is where you want to be seated on a first visit. From there, you can watch the open kitchen directly, see the flames from the wood-fired stoves, and follow the progress of the rice dishes as they come together. If you are placed upstairs or offered a room away from the main floor, it is worth asking whether ground floor is available — the kitchen theatre is a meaningful part of what you are paying for. This is one of those rooms where table placement changes the experience enough to ask about it in advance.
The menu is anchored in rice, specifically Valencian paella in multiple forms. Dacosta built his reputation at his three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Dénia, on the Costa Blanca, where rice dishes are treated with the same precision applied to a tasting menu. At Arros QD, that technical knowledge is channelled into a format that is more accessible but no less considered. The rice selection moves between traditional meat-based preparations and more contemporary options including tofu and sea lettuce , a range that reflects the kitchen's willingness to extend the format beyond its Valencian roots. Beyond rice, the menu includes cuts of meat and fish cooked over fire, which broadens the offer for tables where not everyone wants paella as a main event. The OAD Casual listing (ranked #570 in Europe for 2025, #514 in 2024) confirms this is a kitchen taken seriously by informed diners across the continent.
For a first visit, concentrate on the rice. Order one of the more traditional preparations alongside one of the fire-cooked dishes to get a read on the full range. The rice is the technical centrepiece and the reason the restaurant earned its credentials; the other dishes support rather than define the menu.
The scale of Arros QD makes it one of the more viable options in this part of London for group dining. The large main room accommodates bigger tables without the awkward reshuffling that smaller restaurants require, and the theatrical open kitchen means groups have something to engage with beyond the food itself. For private dining specifically, the room configuration at a venue this size typically supports semi-private or fully private arrangements, though you should confirm availability and minimum spend requirements directly when booking for groups of eight or more. The format of the menu , shared rice dishes designed for the table , works well for groups, where communal ordering suits the style of eating. If you are comparing options for a corporate dinner or a celebration in London, Arros QD gives you a more distinctive, conversation-generating setting than a standard fine-dining room. For a direct comparison: Dinner by Heston Blumenthal can accommodate larger groups at a similar theatrical register, but the £££££ price point makes Arros QD the more practical choice for groups watching overall spend.
Book two to three weeks ahead for a standard weekday table. Weekend slots, particularly Friday and Saturday dinner, will go faster given the restaurant's profile and OAD recognition. Sunday lunch runs a tighter window (12:30–3:30pm only), which limits flexibility but makes it the quietest session of the week. The Michelin Plate recognition from 2024 keeps this restaurant on the radar of visiting international diners, which puts added pressure on peak slots. Moderate booking difficulty overall, but do not leave a Friday or Saturday booking to the week before if you have a fixed date.
Quick reference: Monday to Thursday 12–10:30pm, Friday to Saturday 12–11pm, Sunday 12:30–3:30pm.
Arros QD occupies a distinct position among London's better Spanish and Mediterranean restaurants. For pure paella and Valencian rice technique in London, there is no direct competitor at this level. If you are weighing it against London's broader upscale dining scene, the decision comes down to format preference. CORE by Clare Smyth and The Ledbury both operate at ££££ and deliver tasting-menu precision; Arros QD at £££ gives you more flexibility to order to appetite without committing to a set progression. Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay both skew more formal and more expensive; Arros QD is a better fit if you want high-quality cooking in a livelier, less ceremonial room.
For visitors also considering Spanish cooking beyond London, the broader context is useful: Dacosta's flagship in Dénia sits in the same constellation as destinations like Le Bernardin in New York City and Atomix in New York City in terms of chef pedigree, even if the London outpost operates at a more relaxed register. Closer to home, if you are building a broader UK dining trip, The Fat Duck in Bray, L'Enclume in Cartmel, and Moor Hall in Aughton represent the tasting-menu end of the spectrum; Arros QD fills a different brief , a specialist room with a specific culinary argument to make.
Google rating: 4.4 from 1,323 reviews, which at this price level and profile suggests consistent delivery rather than polarising reactions. That is a useful signal for first-timers uncertain whether the concept translates into reliable execution.
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| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arros QD | Rice, and lots of it, is what you can expect to find at this huge, strikingly decorated restaurant from the mind of Spanish Chef Quique Dacosta. Specifically, the menu offers an array of takes on the classic Valencian paella, from pork knuckle to tofu & sea lettuce, but plenty of other dishes are available too, including several cuts of meat and fish cooked over fire. There’s a real theatrical element to the place, so ask for a table on the ground floor where you can watch the action in the open kitchen and see the flames from the wood-fired stoves.; Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe Ranked #570 (2025); Rice, and lots of it, is what you can expect to find at this huge, strikingly decorated restaurant from the mind of Spanish Chef Quique Dacosta. Specifically, the menu offers an array of takes on the classic Valencian paella, from pork knuckle to tofu & sea lettuce, but plenty of other dishes are available too, including several cuts of meat and fish cooked over fire. There’s a real theatrical element to the place, so ask for a table on the ground floor where you can watch the action in the open kitchen and see the flames from the wood-fired stoves.; Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe Ranked #514 (2024); Michelin Plate (2024); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe Recommended (2023) | £££ | — |
| CORE by Clare Smyth | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | ££££ | — |
| Restaurant Gordon Ramsay | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | ££££ | — |
| Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | ££££ | — |
| The Ledbury | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | ££££ | — |
| Dinner by Heston Blumenthal | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | ££££ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Arros QD and alternatives.
The menu spans a wide range of rice dishes, including a tofu and sea lettuce paella alongside meat and fish options, which signals reasonable awareness of different diets. check the venue's official channels at 64 Eastcastle St before booking if you have specific requirements. Gluten-free and vegetarian diners are likely better served here than at most Spanish restaurants in London, given the menu's documented breadth, but confirm ahead for anything more restrictive.
Yes — the large main room is one of the more practical group dining options in Fitzrovia for a Spanish restaurant at this price level. For bigger parties, request the ground floor so the group gets the full open-kitchen theatre. Book well ahead for weekend evenings; a £££ restaurant with a well-known chef behind it fills quickly for large-table slots.
The rice dishes are the reason to come. Arros QD's menu is anchored in Valencian paella in multiple forms, from pork knuckle to tofu and sea lettuce, and that is what Quique Dacosta built his reputation on. Meat and fish cooked over fire round out the menu. Skip the rice here and you have missed the point of the restaurant.
At £££, Arros QD sits in the mid-to-upper range for London dining and delivers a credible case for the spend. It holds an OAD Casual Europe ranking of #570 (2025) and a Michelin Plate, which puts it in well-regarded but not two-or-three-star territory. If Valencian rice technique and fire cooking in a theatrical room sounds like your format, the price holds up. If you are looking for a tasting-menu-level fine dining experience, the comparison shifts.
Arros QD is primarily a rice and fire-cooking restaurant, not a classic tasting menu destination. The venue is better suited to à la carte dining where you can order across the rice menu and grilled sections. If a structured tasting menu is your priority at this price point in London, CORE by Clare Smyth or The Ledbury are stronger choices for that format.
Weekday lunch is the low-competition window: the restaurant opens at 12pm Monday through Saturday, and you are less likely to compete for good ground-floor seats with a view of the open kitchen. Sunday is lunch-only (12:30–3:30pm), making it a natural fit if you want the full experience without a late night. Dinner on Friday or Saturday is the hardest booking and the liveliest room, which suits groups more than quiet meals.
Two to three weeks ahead covers most weekday slots. Friday and Saturday dinner will go faster, so push that to three or four weeks if you have a fixed date. Sunday lunch is an easier booking given the shorter service window, but it still fills given the restaurant's OAD recognition and Michelin Plate status.
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