Best Paella London

Book a Table at Arros QD – The Best Paella Restaurant in London

Known in the Spanish restaurant industry for his innovative, forward-thinking approach to food, Quique Dacosta now brings the best paella London has seen to his Arros QD establishment. Based in the heart of Fitzrovia, you can order large pans of authentic rice dishes, as well as an extensive range of Mediterranean delights from our menus.

We want to transport you into another world, combining Spain’s heritage and tradition with new concepts to ignite the senses and fulfil the soul. We love the art of cooking over wood fires, the theatre it creates and the flavours infused into our recipes.

In the stunning surroundings of our restaurant, created by interior designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán, join us for any occasion. Whether it’s pre-theatre dining, a corporate event or a dinner with friends and loved ones, we operate a lunch and dinner service.

Our delicious menus have something for everyone, including vegetarian options, steaks, seafood and more, including our famous paella pans. We also have incredible wine and cocktail lists to complement your food. Order to share, creating an experience like no other in London.

Want to dine with us and eat London’s best paella? Book a table at Arros QD now.

 

 

Blending the Tradition of Paella with Innovative Recipes

 

The history of paella goes back centuries, and there’s no doubt it found a home in the port city of Valencia. It started as a simple dish for labourers, combining rice, meat and vegetables. Over hundreds of years, we’ve seen the dish evolve, continually pushing the boundaries for what’s possible. It’s no surprise seafood is now one of the most popular additions to paella menus thanks to the influence of coastal regions in Spain.

 

Quique Dacosta has spent decades in Spain, nurturing his love for cooking and rice dishes, always looking for ways to inspire new generations. With the launch of Arros QD in 2019, we were able to bring this authentic Valencian gastronomy to the heart of London, reaching new audiences and impressing those who have sampled the delights of Mediterranean paella. Our aim is to help rice cooking adapt and evolve just as it has done throughout history, and we want you to be a part of that. This is what makes us one of the best restaurants paella London has to offer.

 

One of the greatest parts about paella is the social aspect which comes with such large pans of food. It’s often the centrepiece for gatherings all over the world, with everyone tucking into the rice at celebrations, sit-down meals and even festivals. At Arros QD, we love to see tables sharing our paellas, uniting people for a short time to share in the pleasures of our dishes.

 

The Secrets of the Best Paella

 

We often get asked about the secrets of the best paella, but there’s no simple answer. It takes multiple elements coming together to create the perfect recipe. This includes fresh ingredients, spices and expert cooking techniques. A paella made with love and passion is going to knock a standard dish out of the ballpark. Valencian paella is unlike other variants, understanding the essential elements which are going to raise the bar.

 

We use wood fires to help create depth in the flavours, with the rice, stock and spices all coming perfectly together with the meat, vegetables or seafood added. One of diners’ favourite parts of paella is the toasted rice at the base of the pan. This is called the socarrat. It’s a thin caramelised layer of rice, which is rich in flavour and texture alike.

 

Our expert cooking techniques mean our rice dishes are authentic, exciting and packed full of flavour. We separate them on our menu between traditional rice and contemporary rice dishes to give you a sense of the type of recipes we’ve used. For example, in our traditional paella menu, you’ll find everything from our authentic Paella Valencia to those with lobster, black ink rice or Iberian presa. On the contemporary side, there’s smoked eel, wood pigeon breast and Quique Dacosta´s black ash rice. However, our menus are updated seasonally to provide you with the freshest available ingredients.

 

You can also order socarrat as an individual menu item.

 

What Makes a Restaurant the BEST?

 

For those looking for the best restaurants London has, you only have to look at the team behind the name. Every single person who works at a restaurant should have a common goal – to provide you with the experience you want, whether it’s through the food you eat, the setting in which you dine or the people you meet on the way. You should feel at home at the establishment, evoking feelings of comfort, luxury and happiness through your time at the venue.

 

Here are some of the aspects we feel makes us one of Londons top restaurants.

 

Incomparable Menus

 

Too often, diners go where they feel comfortable, placing their faith in the same menus time after time. However, if you want to truly experience the top restaurants in London, you need to look for something unique. Look at their menus. Does they look like the ones you regularly see elsewhere? What different and innovative ideas do they bring to the table? We want to inspire diners when they see our menus, whether it’s trying dishes they’ve only ever had abroad, a spin on their favourite or something completely new. The look on our customers’ faces as they tuck into dishes they can feel offer them something unique is unforgettable.

 

Delicious Food

 

We don’t compromise when it comes to the quality of our food, including fresh, seasonal ingredients to enhance each dish. Our customers understand the passion and soul which goes into our food, taking them on a journey through Spanish cuisine and flavours. Every one of our chefs has a passion for rice cooking, understanding the best methods to create out of this world dishes, while adding delicate finishing touches to ensure you’ll want to devour the whole plate.

 

A Talented Restaurant Team

 

Quique Dacosta has never been afraid to try new things and put a modernist twist on traditional recipes. Chefs like Quique don’t come around often, much to the benefit of Arros QD and those who dine here. However, it’s the team we’ve put together which makes the place such a success. That’s why we’re building a reputation for excellence within the industry.

 

When diners visit us, they know they can expect a consistent experience throughout. Not only do we hire talented chefs to make our menus a reality each night, but our waiting team are highly knowledgeable about our menus. For a restaurant to be considered the best, they should have a team who can recommend some of the highlights on the menu, answer questions about the dishes and help diners have the best experience possible.

 

An Inviting Setting

 

The setting of the best London restaurants should be carefully considered. We all know how it feels to enter an establishment and already have a judgement before you’ve even tasted the food. Whether it’s through the cleanliness of the space, the décor and the ambience achieved, you can get a real sense of whether this is going to be a restaurant you like. Our luxury décor is something we’ve put hard work and thought into. The spaces have been expertly designed to reflect the feelings we hope you experience when eating our food. This includes private dining areas, as well as an exciting ground floor in which our open kitchen can be viewed. Dishes are cooked before you over the wood fire stoves.

 

Expert Management

 

No great restaurant would be complete without expert management ensuring everything runs smoothly. Consistency is key in the best restaurants, as we all know how much an establishment can slip down our favourites list when it can be hit or miss as to what type of experience you’ll get when dining there. Our excellent management team work hard to ensure you have a positive experience which exceeds your expectations every time you visit Arros QD. From the training implemented to our seamless processes, we ensure quality remains high, standards are perfected and that you get value for money.

 

A Fantastic Location for Fitzrovia Dining

 

Fitzrovia is one of the most diverse areas of London, blending a multitude of cultures and establishments, from retail outlets and homes to offices, bars and high-end restaurants. The architecture found here is beautiful, making it a popular district to work, live and spend time in. Fitzrovia includes a number of famous Streets, including Tottenham Court Road, Goodge Street and Warren Street.

 

We’re lucky to have found the perfect setting for Arros QD here, set in the ideal location for those searching for the best restaurants Fitzrovia and best restaurants Soho. We’re based conveniently close to Oxford Street, so we’re the perfect spot after a bit of shopping or before a night at the theatre.

 

We’re open seven days a week at both lunch and dinner, so you’ll find a variety of suitable options when planning your visit to us.

 

Why Dine with Us?

 

We love welcoming both regular diners and those who have never experienced the delights of Arros QD menus before. Whether you’re searching for the best for lunch in Fitzrovia or joining us for dinner, we aim to make this a place you’ll want to come back to time and time again while introducing others to the secrets of the best paellas in London. We want you to feel you’ve had a global experience, made possible by the multitude of details our team has brought together at the restaurant. Here are just a few of the reasons to dine with us.

 

Experience the Taste of Valencia

 

Thousands of people travel to Spain every year to experience the sun, friendly locals, beautiful towns and cities and of course, the food. We want our London restaurant to give visitors a taste of Valencian cuisine, blending recipes full of soul and history while offering something new. Quique Dacosta’s dream has become a reality at Arros QD, exporting Valencian flavours to the heart of London. Our Mediterranean menus deliver a wide selection of treats, from our paellas to wood-fired meats. Our impressive wine and cocktail lists are the perfect accompaniment to your meal, bringing together some of the globe’s best offerings. Our large sizzling paellas are a highlight, but you’ll also find plenty of other options on the menu to entice you.

 

Fresh, In Season Menus

 

Just as our paellas evolve, so do our menus. We don’t want the dishes we offer to drop in quality as the year unfolds, so you’ll find fresh, seasonal offerings to ignite the senses. We believe in using local suppliers wherever possible, sprinkling our Mediterranean magic over classic British ingredients. We hope that we can inspire you through the quality of our food, the delicate seasoning we add to the dishes and our carefully selected recipes.

 

Wood Fired Cooking

 

Our 6-metre wood-fired stove is the heart of our open kitchen, with our chefs using specialist techniques to boost the flavour of dishes, create some theatre in the restaurant and cook food to perfection. Our paellas are prepared in this way to create a dish full of tender rice, a crispy socarrat base and delicious stock, mixed with your choice of vegetables, meat or seafood.

 

Menu Selections for Everyone

 

We want our diners to have more choice when they browse our menus. We have an eclectic mix on our distinguished tasting menu, from truffle oil and mouth-watering salads to an array of skewers and crispy beef tartare. It’s the ideal way to sample a whole range of dishes. Or if you’d like to put your own meal together, try our lunch or a la carte menus. You’ll find everything here from our famous paellas, dishes cooked over charcoal and fire to desserts, sides and starters. We have options ideal for sharing, group dining, individual dishes and event menus.

 

A Beautiful, Dramatic Setting

 

We don’t just want you to feel the Spanish heritage in our cooking but be transported to another world thanks to our dramatic setting. Be amazed by the glazed wine cellar walls, the open fires, luxury seating and mood lighting. We’ve thought about every part of the décor and fittings to give you an unforgettable experience.

 

Our two floors provide more choice for your dining experience. Classical private dining takes place upstairs, where you’re more tucked away from our ground floor area. The latter is where the entertainment of seeing our wood-fired cooking takes place, creating a buzz and excitement which makes visiting our establishment so unique.

The Arros QD Team

 

Arros QD’s success is only possible thanks to having roots in both London and Valencia, so it makes sense to have a team from both locations.

 

Valencia

 

The Valencian influences are of course down to our owner, Quique Dacosta. He’s spent years learning his craft, finally bringing his passion for rice cooking to British shores. Not only is he famous for being a huge influence in the Spanish restaurant industry, but he’s leading the way across Europe, appearing on prestigious ‘best restaurant’ lists thanks to his Michelin-starred culinary achievements.

 

Our interiors have been created by designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán. His bold style is apparent throughout our restaurant and kitchen, with striking colours, shapes and furnishings throughout to draw diners in from the moment they step through our doors. Putting his stamp on our establishment, we feel his interior designs have put the heart of Valencia into every space.

 

London

 

Our London team is the secret behind what keeps our Fitzrovia restaurant at the top. We have a large group who make everything possible from our expert management to our talented chefs and knowledgeable dining team. Bringing together extensive restaurant experience includes the likes of Aurelien Pottier, Richard De La Cruz and Jose Balado.

 

Aurelien’s family are in the restaurant business, so his roots are firmly placed in delivering incredible experiences to diners. He’s worked all over the world, including projects which have taken him to the US and the Middle East.

 

Richard has worked in some of Spain’s best-known Michelin-starred restaurants, including Denia with Quique Dacosta. It’s during this time that the restaurant earnt its third Michelin star.

 

Jose Balado is a wine studies expert with years of experience, boasting some phenomenal qualifications. This includes London qualifications for the Certified title in the Court of Master Sommeliers and a WSET Diploma in Wines. He also achieved a Diploma from Escuela Española de Cata in Madrid.

 

Contact Us Now

 

We’d love to meet you at our restaurant, whether you’re looking for a romantic meal, exciting night out with friends, booking a corporate function or private event. Speak to our team about your requirements.

 

Book a table if you’d like to reserve a spot at our restaurant. However, if you’d like to speak to a member of our team or have any questions, please call us on +44 (0)20 3883 3525. Alternatively, send a message to info@arrosqd.com, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.