Aurora (Lexington Street)

My husband and I spent Valentine's Day at Aurora's for old times sake as it was where we spent one of our first dates and our first anniversary. It hasn't changed a bit: excellent food, service is not quite up to scratch.

They had a special Valentine's menu which included some delicious goats cheese bruschetta while we ordered (kindly dumped at my elbow rather than handed to us).

I chose Parma ham, watermelon and feta cheese with a rocket and pinenut salad; great flavours put together, perfect quantities. Had to fight the waitress to keep the plate so I could finish it though. The husband chose smoked salmon and crayfish which disappeared very fast. As it was Valentine's we washed it down with champagne; they have a very good house brand which isn't over-priced by comparison to other restaurants.

For the main course I had bream served on a bed of leeks, potato and pea purée and spinach with aioli. Enormous portion, but all tasting wonderful. The husband enjoyed his lamb which he said was extremely tender. He drank rioja with it which is available by the glass and extremely drinkable apparently.

Finally we went for the cheese board which was slightly unimaginative (didn't we have that goats cheese earlier?). No cheese board is complete without a glass of port and when we ordered one in two glasses and they accidentally brought us two they gave it to us on the house.

It's a small restaurant so you're always tightly packed in but it's done very well so it only feels cosy and not squashed and adds to the atmosphere. And while the service is slightly remiss, I think I'd miss it if they changed that. In summer ask for a table in the garden which is a tiny patio but feels like a secret garden where you can forget you're a stone's throw from The Windmill.
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Bex
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, February 15, 2007

A lovely little restaurant for Valentines Day. Large starters and main courses with a wonderful lemon tart for pudding. Not the cheapest place to eat but if you are looking for a relaxed environment coupled with lashings of food, then this is the place for you.
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Claire Ellis
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 7
Thursday, February 15, 2007

Restaurant serves core classics and inspired specials. On two levels, in a small and comfortable space which includes an outside terrace, One for the summer me thinks
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James Wimble
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Not a bad restaurant i use this for after work eats.

Lives up to its name and loved the Tuna

Wine was reasonable a good little eating hole before hitting town
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Dean Clark
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

I have to agree with the last two posters. The food is fine, not amazing, but good. The service on the other hand completely ruined our visit. While the female wait staff merely seemed mildly disinterested, the male member of team (who spent most of his time behind the bar) was unhelpful, rude, confrontational, pompous, condescending, and generally unpleasant. We won't be back.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Intimate, extremely friendly service, lovely atmosphere and great food.
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Laura Mendelson-Hill
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Food was fine but it was the worst service I have ever seen. We were left at the front of the restaurant for about ten minutes, with staff barging past but nobody seated us. Nobody offered to take our coats and bags, although my friend had a large overnight bag, so we took them to the table where the waitress proceeded to trip over it several times, huffing and puffing all the time. In the end, we had to move it ourselves. We were left for ages without being offered a drink. We weren't told about a substition in the menu, although the next table was. It was impossible to get the waiters' attention - they were sitting down smoking at one of the tables whilst we tried to get the bill (the restaurant wasn't busy). In the end, we went to the bar ourselves to pay and ended up in an argument when we refused to pay for service! The whole experience was infuriating and it's not a cheap restaurant. I booked it on the basis of lots of good reviews on this site, and don't want anyone else to make that mistake!
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, December 12, 2006

unfriendly manager (or if not the manager it was the person in charge), snobbish and unhelpful. Staff were quite casual at the end of the night towards people left in the restaurant.
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T williams
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, November 29, 2006

My Fiance and I visited Aurora the night we got engaged, so it had alot to live up to!

We were seated in the small sub-dining room towards the back of the restuarant, which was absolutley perfect for the occasion. We were served quickly and efficiently by the staff, who were knowledgable about the menu and wine list.

We had Crab Salad and Duck to start which were delicious and steak and stuffed peppers for main, which I have to defend from a previous review. I found them cooked to perfection, they can so often be dry and crispy on top, but these were moist and melted in my mouth.

The atmosphere throughout the evening was magical and relaxed, and when the staff discovered our happy news they presented us with free after dinner drinks.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Aurora and would return with pleasure.
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Carla - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, November 25, 2006

Overstretched staff valiantly provided good-humoured service. The wine list offers great variety at a range of prices. But our high expectations where met by the food. To start, seared squid with chorizo and grilled peppers was delectably tender, but an undressed salad of endive, frisée, broad beans, tomato and feta was redolent of a supermarket chiller cabinet. Next, ribeye steak with superlative chunky chips would please any meat-eater. We also loved our moist pan-fried hake, but found the intensity of the accompanying rice (in rich, squid ink, rimmed with creamy garlic aïoli) overwhelming. A velvety chocolate, date and orange ice-cream saved the day. Always fully booked at weekends, A’s is obviously getting things right most of the time – we’ll certainly try again.
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Joma Tyhra
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, November 15, 2006