Donostia Restaurant Reviews Summary

Food Quality

Pros:

• "The Burnt Cheesecake is a must try, the cheese melted, creamy, but not heavily nor direct sweet."
• "The food was very good, but could have been elevated by using slightly higher quality ingredients in some cases."
• "Terrific food and a wine list full of rarities."
• "Lovely food, especially the acorn fed pork steak which was truly delicious."
• "The food is good quality, lovely flavours."
• "Every single dish was just super scrumptious. I could taste every freshness of crab, prawns, squids and even meat tomatoes."
• "The food was amazing."

Cons:

• "The food itself was mediocre, and certainly did not warrant the price of it."
• "The food was ok."
• "None of the food was anything special or particularly delicious."
• "They sell you a wrong concept of 'tapas': low quantities and big big price."
• "The only vegetarian option they had was a tomato salad."
• "They served the worst steak I’ve ever had. It was chewy and completely unseasoned."
• "But portions are tiny and for the high price it's not worth the experience."

Service

Pros:

• "Good hospitality friendly staff who could advise on food."
• "Attentive service."
• "Consistently delicious food and great staff."
• "Excellent service and very nice, chill vibe."
• "Service excellent."
• "The staff was very attentive and friendly."
• "Very considerate and friendly service team."

Cons:

• "The staff wasn't wearing any masks on the counter behind the barra."
• "The staff needs more training, e.g. how to clear a table professionally."
• "Terrible service."
• "The service was borderline adversarial at time, and we were almost booted out before being offered coffee."
• "The service let the experience down for us."
• "The service was simply terrible."
• "We were disappointed with the service."

Ambiance

Pros:

• "A pleasure to sit outside in the Summer and imagine you're somewhere more Med than Marylebone."
• "It felt like we had escaped to Spain for the evening."
• "Eschewing the trend for rudeness in great restaurants, Donostia serves up top notch Basque tapas in a buzzy but not oppressive atmosphere."
• "Wonderful music and atmosphere."
• "A perfect venue for date dinner with an another half🥰."
• "The atmosphere is perfect for catching up with friends or a date spot - chic and cosy."
• "Warm and bustling atmosphere."

Cons:

• "The small tables were very tightly packed and small which meant there wasn’t much room for more than 2 plates at a time."
• "The kitchen was an open type, so it was also a bit noisy."
• "Interior is cheap looking."
• "Finally, the atmosphere is a little odd - there were regular sounds of crashing cutlery and crockery nearby."
• "Sitting near the door in the current weather is FREEZING."
• "The dining room is bright and the atmosphere is lively."
• "The floor downstairs was very slippery; that’s a bit dangerous."

Value

Pros:

• "Very reasonably priced, shared 5 dishes, a bottle of wine, 2 coffees and a desert for just over £50.00 per head."
• "Lovely tapas restaurant with reasonable prices (for London at least)."
• "Price is highly justified with the taste."
• "Great value will be back next time we are in town."
• "We went with lot of expectations and came with lot of good memories."
• "Great restaurant tucked away from the madness that is Oxford Street."
• "Exceptional food and wine."

Cons:

• "We went there as a group (15), paid 50£ each and went TO EAT SOMEWHERE ELSE AFTERWARDS."
• "Given our experience, I cannot recommend this establishment."
• "They ran out a lot of the dishes."
• "The spanish ham was good but not the best quality for the price."
• "On arrival they weren't checking on Covid-19 rules."
• "It's totally overpriced and the portions are a bit ridiculous as a Spanish Vasc tapas restaurant."
• "The quantity of the food has changed so much. For the same dish we got a thin piece of meat that was half the thickness of what we used to get a year ago."