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Summary
“Top-notch Basque food in a great location” in Aldwych has earned much-improved ratings this year for chef Eneko Atxa, whose home restaurant Azurdmendi is a regular on ‘world’s best’ lists. It’s “so wonderful to be able to taste some of his adventurous flavours in London” – “wasn’t sure of the basement setting” (a recurrent gripe), “but loved the open kitchen and the food was extraordinary”.
Summary
“Top-notch Basque food in a great location” in Aldwych has earned much-improved ratings this year for chef Eneko Atxa, whose home restaurant Azurdmendi is a regular on ‘world’s best’ lists. It’s “so wonderful to be able to taste some of his adventurous flavours in London” – “wasn’t sure of the basement setting” (a recurrent gripe), “but loved the open kitchen and the food was extraordinary”.
Summary
Eneko Atxa’s subterranean two-year-old, in the basement of No 1 Aldwych, is, on numerous accounts, something of an “undiscovered gem” thanks to its “interesting Basque cooking”, serving “imaginative” dishes that are “expertly cooked and presented”. The main sticking point on this site, is the “below-the-streets space” which – when under-patronised – seems “echoey” and “like a bit of a mausoleum”.
Summary
Fans of this year-old régime of a much-fêted Spanish chef, hail this Aldwych basement as an “undiscovered gem” with “inventive Basque food” that’s “very modern, but not over-complex”. However, even though “they’ve evidently spent a lot of money on refurbishing the old Axis site” (RIP), the venture can still seem “rather let down by its unconventional and rather uncongenial space”, and even many supporters have concerns about “inflated prices” and food that’s “a mix of the incredible and the rather boring”.
For 30 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Eneko Basque Kitchen & Bar?
Restaurant details
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pretheatre | £25.00 | £28.00 |  |
|
|
Traditional European menu
| Starter | Main | Veggies | Pudding |
|---|---|---|---|
| £10.00 | £21.00 | £8.00 | £9.00 |
| Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £35.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £3.40 |
| Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 12.50% |
1 Aldwych, London, WC2B 4BZ
| Number of Diners: | |
| Required Time: | |
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | 5 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Wednesday | 5 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Thursday | 5 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Friday | 5 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Saturday | 5 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Sunday | CLOSED |
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