Ok I liked this place, good ambience and good wine, however:
Food is not like in Donostia, I felt like it was a London adjusted version.
Said that, it was still very good and had a nice quality/price ratio.
I don’t have a favorite dish to suggest, I tried only three or four dishes when there.
Between Lurra and Donostia (same owner I believe, one in front of the other) I prefer Lurra, especially for special nights. Donostia is a lighter and simpler version for a good dinner out, maybe during the week maybe.
Recommended to try!
Great Spanish restaurant. It is one of the few Spanish restaurants I would recommend in London. Nice atmosphere and the food is good as in Spain. Amazing jamon serrano, the appetizers are very good and also the specials they have as main courses.
Good wine selection of Spanish wineries.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
We think restaurants are all about the people that run them. Good people create good restaurants. They care more about quality ingredients and they customers having a good time with good food and good wine, more than they care about PR, marketing, fancy foams and pretty decoration; they focus on hospitality. Donostia is one of these restaurants. It's a casual restaurant that serves up Spanish tapas and family-style mains in a light and modern restaurant in which everyone seems welcome. The best seats are at the bar, overlooking the carving of the Spanish ham off the bone and chatting with owner Nemanja and his young team. They started off importing wine, so the wines are great and well-priced. This is the sort of restaurant where you might bump into the butcher having just delivered the cuts for the daily specials. On the night we were there, there was an amazing slow-cooked lamb rack on offer that would look at home on a Spanish family's dinner table. It's just far enough from SoHo to escape the hype. We like it, and we would be regulars if we lived in London.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
San Sebastian, or Donostia to use the Basque name, is the best place on earth to dine. The backstreets are lined with pintxo bars, and a traditional bar crawl here stretches dinner across as many restaurants you can manage. It makes dining into an event, and with food so affordable it is one the locals seem to do every evening. It took less than a day in San Sebastian for me to start questioning whether life in the rat race in London is really worth it. Grafting your balls off for an Itsu or Pret to take home with you at the end of the day. In just three days I tried fifteen different restaurants and around fifty different dishes, not one of them hurting the pocket. It was such an inspiring gorge that it made me consider packing it all in and either moving there or opening up a restaurant of my own. The owners of Donostia in London had this same sentiment and took the leap and opened up their very own place. Housed on Seymour Place, which with Vinoteca, The Lockhart and the recent addition of Lurra (by the same owners) is as close as you can get to one of those San Sebastian foodie backstreets. Try a food crawl here though and you’ll soon be broke.
From Donostia Social Club food van at Kerb festival. Those seared scallops were incredible and anyone that's generous with cheese is a winner to me. A great selection of tapas and super generous portions.
Very interesting menu which fulfilled it's promise. Some very rich flavours and all the dishes were excellent. Don't sit close to and with your back to the door - draft !
So much Spanish food in London is greasy and bland - Donostia on the other hand serves delicious food from the Basque Country using fresh and high quality ingredients.
The aged jamón ibérico is to die for. Recently tried the monkfish on squid ink rice, which is excellent.
Service is impeccable and our waiter had some great recommendations for sherry pairings in addition to being very knowledgeable about the sources of the dishes and drinks on the menu.
Miho @ Wander To Wonder
+4
After raving about another Spanish restaurant not too long ago, when our friends Y & P invited us for dinner at Donostia, I knew it would be hard to compete with that recent, delicious memory... but I think this place beats Morada by just an inch! . These friends really know their food, so of course I knew that the meal would be great, considering that they are very regular customers there. But E and I are both impressed beyond expectation, and also just loved the atmosphere of the place - casual but classy and simply the perfect vibe for a tapas dinner.
Excellent service with knowlageable staff. The tappas were delicious, and we had great wine as well. Highly recommended!
When we visited Donostia the first time we were impressed how well the owners and staff had settled into their new surroundings only weeks after opening its doors to the public. Donostia has moved on since then and received much critical acclaim from some high profile reviewers and we couldn’t agree more.
The sourdough was so-so; olive oil didn’t have many layers of taste. The seafood croquetas was quite good; it had balance between the sauce on too and the croquetas itself. Beef was okay.
The service was excellent. We went there on last Saturday and the waiter was very kind and always had a smile on his face.
The atmosphere was okay… the floor downstairs was very slippery; that’s a hit dangerous. Even the staffs needed to walk slowly so that they don’t slip.
Nice restaurant near Hyde park, we order prawns, beef, tomatoes and other small dishes, all of them taste just right. Service is excellent as well, we take a seat before the chef, and can see they prepare our dishes with every detail cared. Recommend this restaurant to everybody, remember to book in advance, we come without booking only to get a seat with time limit.
I would recommend this tapas restaurant 100%. My friend and I went there last Thursday and we had such a great time.
The food was very good, the service provided by Francesca was flawless. We really enjoyed. Thank you so much for the Donostia team. You're a good egg guys! Cheers!
Delicious Spanish food! We tried the prawns which were delicious saunteed, the tomatoes which were plump and bursting in juices and flavour, as well as the pork which were absolutely delicious. We were also tempted with Basque style cheesecake for dessert, which was rich and creamy and definitely satisfied our souls. I highly recommend the cheesecake. The service was also excellent. Will be back again!
Stumbled across the little hidden gem while my daughter was at an event. I wondered around and came across this amazing gem. I was greeted by Alex, who kindly offered me a seat at the bar or outside as was busy. Opted for the bar where Bartek kindly offered me to try some wines, very knowledgeable, and I tried the rose, then a white wine.
The care and passion from him was evident and shown through. I had the crab and caviar followed by the octpus
Both are full of flavour and fresh.
I had to collect my daughter, and on our return, she tried the croquet smoky and full of flavour..then she had the octpus.then the brunt cheesecake, sweet and tasty.. Thanks to Bartek and Alex, not only world-class food but staff, you should be proud of
I am looking forward to a return visit
LOVED everything about Donostia. The staff are simply wonderful - they do more than serve you - they genuinely look after you. The food is SPECTACULAR … we ordered the pulpo, black rice with monkfish, tomato salad, salted peppers, and the all the little tasters we could … and every single dish was just mouth watering. I could eat there weekly with ease and never tire of it. Wines are beautiful and so reasonable for the quality.
This gets 10/10 from someone who’s lived in Spain and is a major foodie! You’ll regret not coming here if you’re thinking about Donastia versus XYZ someplace else 🍷😊👏
![4]( "Recensione")
I found this restaurant on Michelin website 20min before arriving, and confirmed there were every 15min slot available for reservations. But when I walked in, the waitress said they can’t serve, the restaurant is at capacity, which I knew it was not true. I said the website shows there are available on website, but still the waitress rejected me. I opened the website on street side and booked the reservation within literally 1 min, then walked in the door, now another waiter served me.
If the restaurant is mentioned by Michelin guide, I would expect more hospitality. As a service industry, it’s better to let customer feel you are helping, rather than you are rejecting. If the waitress said “Yes, would you mind booking a reservation online now, I will prep a table for you.”, I would feel much better.
Feedback aside, the 5J Jamon Iberico de Bellota is pretty good! It is fatty, nutty, rich, and flavorful. The flavor stay in the mouth for a while after chewing. The Pan Con Tomato is really juicy and refreshing. Good pairing with the Jamon. The octopus is soft, easy to chew. Last but not least, the Burnt Cheesecake is a must try, the cheese melted, creamy, but not heavily nor direct sweet.
Good spot for Basque fare - the appetisers (pan con tomate and crab + caviar pintxo) were delicious, and the mains (sirloin w patatas bravas and octopus) were good. The basque cheesecake was really yummy, though a bit firmer than expected. Excellent service and very nice, chill vibe. Will be back!
Very typical Spanish restaurant with about 10 appetizers 12 Tapas and 3 Specials on the wall. The atmosphere is very good and when we went there it's relatively quiet probably because it's lunchtime. The seafood dishes were all very fresh. We ordered one of the special, scallops pinchos and I'm very impressed with the freshness of the scallop. The squid was also very tender and nice. Gambas and sirloin were also delicious. In general the experience here was very good.
Hands down my favourite Spanish restaurant in London. High quality ingredients, delicious food, friendly service in an unassuming, easygoing environment. Great for a casual date and for small groups.
Cheese cake is unmissable.
Lurra across the road is great too but altogether a different vibe.
Make a reservation
Order online
Find the best restaurant in London
An error has occurred! Please try again in a few minutes