When we talk about Spanish restaurants in Beijing, the "there garden" in Sanlitun is absolutely indispensable. It is said to be a "garden", but it is actually just a courtyard-style six-story building, but it is such an inconspicuous small building, but it occupies almost half of the Spanish restaurants in Beijing. There are six or seven Spanish restaurants of all sizes densely distributed here, and Agua Spanish Restaurant is one of them.

But Agua isn't just "one of the Spanish restaurants in the garden there", it's part of Hong Kong's top restaurant group, Aqua, and the only restaurant outside of Hong Kong and London. Aqua Group owns some of the most avant-garde restaurants in Hong Kong and London, including a Michelin star for its Chinese restaurant Hutong, and the Queen of England at Aqua Shard in London. In 2008, AGUA was born at No. 23 Qianmen in Beijing, which became an outstanding representative of Spanish restaurants in Beijing, as opposed to the top French restaurant in Beijing at that time. Compared to the other Spanish restaurants in the garden, agua is closer to a fine dining, and thanks to his background in Hong Kong food and beverage management, the quality of service is impressive.

Former chef Jordi Valles Cloverol brought agua a high-quality Spanish cuisine that conquered the taste buds of countless people in the capital and made agua famous. Agua has always been associated with Jordi's successes, and during Jordi's seven years at the helm of agua, agua has won all of Timeout's Best Spanish Restaurant awards from 2012 to 2015, as well as Cityweekend Magazine's Best Spanish Restaurant awards over the years. Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal has visited agua for two years in a row, and Ferran Adria, who is known as the best chef on the planet, has also made a special trip to visit here.

However, chef Jordi left Beijing in 2015, which also put agua in a slump. In June 2017, agua welcomed a new chef, Alberto Becerril, who from Madrid has a very impressive resume, just after graduating from the culinary school, he joined the two-Michelin-starred restaurant El Portal de Echaurren, and quickly grew into a chef supervisor, with a high starting point in his culinary career. Alberto has since worked at two other Michelin-starred restaurants. In the three years he has been in Beijing, he has managed the Spanish restaurant Carmen and the Peninsula Hotel JING restaurant to earn a lot of reputation, which has also made Alberto one of the most sought-after young celebrity chefs in Beijing. Alberto's arrival has undoubtedly injected a shot in the arm for agua.

Alberto has brought a lot of new changes to the menu of agua, and the new signature tapas are worth trying. For example, the ink sandwich with fried squid rings, which is a very popular street food in Spain, the black ink bread is specially made by the chef with a unique recipe from a professional pastry restaurant, which is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, while the squid rings are crispy and delicious, and the sweet parsley sauce is very refreshing. Grandma's fried potato chips with Iberian ham and eggs are another classic and innovative dish, with homemade potato chips salty and crunchy, bright ham and a sweet and non-fishy egg wash. Pan-fried baby squid and onion with pan-fried duck liver, crispy fried ink seafood balls, etc., all have their own highlights.

In addition to Tapas, Alberto also brings more innovative salads, tartars and rice, the salad with cold octopus mango, which seems to be a special combination but has a wonderful effect, the sourness of mango removes the fishy smell of raw seafood, but leaves the fresh sweetness of octopus and the rich fruity aroma of mango, which is a side dish suitable for cooling off in summer, accompanied by a glass of Sangria, the national wine of Spain, is even more pleasant. Raw tuna with kimchi and fresh cherries, the raw tuna seasoned with kimchi sauce is slightly sour and spicy, and paired with fresh cherries, it has a refreshing taste and a sweet aftertaste.

The classic rice dish is also worth trying. Paella is one of Spain's national dishes, originating from the Valencia region of Spain, and is a rice dish cooked in a large iron pot Paellera. Paella de Marisco is a type of Paella, which is basically the most intuitive impression of Spanish cuisine. Agaua's paella is made with Bomba rice, a short japonica rice that absorbs water and is tough enough to absorb more soup and remain strong even after steaming. Agua's paella is fragrant and has a solid texture, the seafood seasoning is just right, and the freshness of the seafood is also very good. Juicy lobster rice is a specialty of agua, and it is also the specialty of former chef Jordi. Compared to other Spanish restaurants, Agua has more paella soup, which is more evident in the lobster rice, and the rich juice also makes the rice softer and more attractive in color, and the unique toughness of short grain rice can be felt when chewed carefully. Topping's whole Boston lobster will make you fully feel the pleasure of eating meat, and the freshness of the meat will come out. The large paella waiter will help the guests share, and will also provide a special plate for lobster portioning, and with lobster tongs, crab needles, crab knives and other tools, the wipes to wipe your hands are always replenished, and you don't have to worry about the slightest indignity when you start to eat lobster.

In addition to the classic paella and lobster rice, new chef Alberto's Iberian pork rice, black sausage rice with fresh mushrooms, crispy salmon rice and more are all pleasantly surprising and worth trying if you're tired of cookie-cutter paella.

Also worth mentioning is the Spanish ham, another of Spain's most famous hard dishes, agua serves 36-month-old Iberian ham from Guijuelo, a famous ham producing region in the Spanish province of Salamanca, and is served with a classic tomato bread with transparent and warm slices of ham.

Agua is located on the third floor of the garden courtyard there, the restaurant area is not large, the pure white wall is hung with a minimalist "agua" light sign, the internal space is elegant and quiet, but the view and landscape are average. The nighttime lighting in the restaurant creates a very dark and intimate atmosphere. The prices of the main meals at Agua are not low, but the weekday lunch is very good value for money, and the weekend infinity brunch is even more value-for-money, with unlimited dishes and drinks, and each dish is of a single-order quality, unambiguous. The sense of service in the restaurant was outstanding, from phone bookings, communication to welcoming guests, every detail was satisfying. The grasp of the scale of the whole meal is also very good, leaving enough private space for customers, looking up at people, quick eyes, gentle and humble attitude, and few superfluous words. Parking in the garden where Agua is located is a little inconvenient, so customers who drive are advised to park in the nearby Taikoo Li basement.