Arbequina

Just a really great tapas place and just generally one of the very few great restaurants in Oxford. The dishes are unique, change regularly and just prove the exceptional ingredients that are being used. Some dishes are incredible, some are "just" good. Sadly, many dishes lack spices and thus just focus on the (honestly) great raw(/cooked) materials. Atmosphere is casual, but intimate. Perfect for a date of two; maybe not so ideal for bigger groups. You are, however, really close to the kitchen counter, which means that you will leave with quite smelly clothes. Service is really friendly and relaxed, which doesn't match the reservation system that might be quite confusing. Places seem fully booked weeks in advance and then suddenly open up again on the very same day...

This is the rare occasion when a restaurant lives up to its hype. Critically acclaimed and loved by locals, Arbequina offers Spanish style tapas and creative dishes. Our favorites includes the tortilla (best we’ve had outside of Spain), roasted aubergine, and the chickpea salad. The staff was warm and knowledgeable and our server at Arbequina was one of our favorites throughout our time in the UK. TL;DR - Highly recommend, lives up to the hype, can’t wait to go back!

A tapas restaurant in cowley. The food was good, but not amazing. It was pricey, as we spent almost £50 and I didn’t think we ordered too much. I would say you can get better food in Oxford for this price. The service was okay. One staff was really friendly and helpful, whereas the other one was quite cold faced. Hence, overall an average experience with the service.

Superb! Great food, wonderful staff. Came in at Saturday night without reservation and got a seat at the bar (which we loved because you could look into the kitchen). The kitchen staff just seemed to be having a great time, obviously recognized in the food. Lovely service too. Great food, great recommendations by the (kitchen) staff as everything on the menu looked amazing. The chickpea salad and the salmorejo were amazing! Thanks so much

Lonely food in an intimate setting - well worth the wait (you have to book a week or more in advance if you want a dinner table at a normal time). The only slight on an otherwise perfect evening was finding another bottle of wine on the bill versus what was ordered, but this was removed without any questions.