Leicester Square Kitchen is a restaurant located on Leicester Square in London. The restaurant serves small plates from Mexican and Peruvian cuisine.
Location
I initially struggled to find Leicester Square Kitchen as there is no sign easily visible from the outside and google maps has pin on the road behind the build. To make it easy for you, the restaurant is located in Radisson Blu Edwardian Hampshire Hotel with entrance just from Leicester Square. Leicester Square is located in central London and I doubt that any Londoner will need guidance how to get there. For first time visitors, Leicester Square is a short walk from Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and Chinatown, it’s really hard to miss based on the number of tourists visiting it.
When you enter the hotel on the right is both hotel reception and next to it entrance to the restaurant. Theoretically there is another entrance straight from the square but it was closed and not used.
Reservation
I’ve reserved table for 5 people for Saturday 13:00. Many tables were free when we arrived so you can try to just walk in for Saturday brunch. If you prefer to book you can do this on the official website of the restaurant.
Decor
Restaurant is made in industrial style with mix of regular and high tables. There are also seating near the bar. I’m not interiors expert, so I’ll not write much about this, but I felt good there. It was clean and functional.
Service
When we entered Leicester Square Kitchen there was no counter where we could check-in, so I grabbed someone from the service to show us our table. We were handed over 3 times until we get our table. Interesting thing is that check-in desk is in the middle of restaurant what is very confusing and impractical.
Waitress asked about any allergies and offered drinks, which was very nice.
Staff was very polite, to the level where they actually overdid this. We were asked about our experience 7 times during our stay by 7 different members of the staff. I think it would be more than enough, if we were asked by just main waiter and service manager. I think that this also contributed to main problem during this visit. Service was extremely chaotic. I saw waiting staff wandering around whole restaurant trying to find our table. We received some dishes multiple times despite ordering them once only, also we haven’t got few items we ordered.
We’ve ordered 9 different dishes, which were delivered one by one. This was OK for small plates, however it would be better if the next dish was delivered just after we finish the current one and making sure that there is enough food for everybody. Two tiny tacos for 5 people for sharing was confusing.
We’ve ordered nachos as a starter which wasn’t delivered until we asked for it later. Nice touch was that main server removed this from the bill as a compensation. (In general the main waitress was very professional and with good grasp how to make customer feel well cared of.)
Cocktails were delivered after we received a few first dishes. I’d expect them to be delivered way before the food as an aperitif.
Service was attentive during our stay until I wanted to ask for a bill. (I seriously hate when I can’t get attention when I’m ready to pay and leave. Unfortunately this is common situation, too common.)
Food
Food was very tasty and nicely presented. Most of the dishes were spicy about which we were informed before ordering. We’ve tried pretty much all categories they have and can’t say bad thing about it. My personal favourite were chicken wings and chicken tacos. My least favourite was aubergine, it was bland and I’m not a fan of aubergine in general.
Cocktails
Leicester Square Kitchen offers multiple signature cocktails. Cocktails were presented in nice way with some special touch like Hibiscus flower or chocolate bits. We’ve ordered three different cocktails and I liked all of them, they were very tasty.
Hibiscus Margarita 
Cacao Rum Old Fashioned
Summary
Leicester Square Kitchen is on the pricey side. At the time of writing this you should expect 30-50£ per person depending on how hungry you are and how many drinks you want. I liked food and cocktails and can easily recommend this. The problem was with service, I don’t know if it was just my bad luck or it is common case. I’d suggest to management to take a look at organization of work as this was something to improve.
Would I recommend Leicester Square Kitchen? If this is the cuisine you like, if you like to have a good cocktail, if it is in your budget and you don’t mind occasional service glitches, than go for it. If you care about service as much as food quality than you go there on your own risk.
Have you had different experience? Let me know in the comments. Also check my other restaurant reviews.
Wojtek Travels 
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