Aura Dim Sum — Restaurant in Lisbon

We were really excited for the food given the great reviews and beautiful interior. We love dim sum so we expected creative takes on classic flavors. We did not have a reservation and walked in fine. We were seated quickly. Server was kind and the decor was pretty.

First off, the menu was really hard to read. I understand that they were going for a “fun” format, but it honestly didn’t show enough of what was actually within the food items and split them by method of cooking, which isn’t very common for dim sum dishes. For drinks, we ordered the wasabi mule and mariko-sama. They were just OK. Nothing different or exceptional that rationalized €11-12 for price. We have had much better from local bars at lower prices.

We were then given the chili oil and requested for a spicier sauce because it was not nearly resemblant of any chili oil from Cantonese/Chinese dim sum restaurants and was essentially red pepper flakes in oil. No traditional Chinese spices were included and we were told it was the spiciest sauce they had. No joke, all of the piri piri sauces from traditional shops near us were a LOT spicier and at least had a kick to them. Additionally, Dim sum is meant to have table sauce containing vinegar and soy sauce to dip your food in. We were only given sweet and sour pickles, which did not really pair well with any of the dumplings we ordered.

For food, we ordered a variety of food (around 5 dishes) from the menu. They varied from pork, duck, mushroom and veggie. Some were steamed, some were fried and some were pan fried. First of all, the portions were TINY. I’m talking €9 for THREE bites. Each dumpling was bite sized. And They were all just OK. We had to leave after and grab more food from a local establishment around the corner just to fill ourselves up for the night.

Again, I am truly confused as to why there are so many great reviews for this restaurant as the food was genuinely SO mediocre and we felt like we were paying €74 just for the “vibes”. Got tricked, so people BEWARE and just go to your local Chinese restaurant next time.

It is also clear (from the 1 star reviews) that this establishment is aware of the effect that their reviews has on their reputation. They continue to reply to honest and genuine feedback on how to improve by slandering those who do not give them inflated reviews. In these replies, they are lying about customers “attitudes” and half heartedly “apologizing” to customers while insulting their taste and knowledge. Any good and honest establishment knows that their food will speak for itself - they do not need to belittle their customers on google reviews to defend themselves....

Just way overpriced for the little food they serve there. We didn't like the tactic the hostess/waitress used on us. When we first walked into the door, she asked us if we had a reservation, we thought oh my God are we able to find a table here for dinner? Then we looked around, the entire restaurant only had a couple with two small children sitting in a small table just inside the wide open door, so we thought we were safe. Then she followed, oh you can sit in the small table (right by the couple and children) here, for one and half hour it should be OK, and it's usually for three people but since you only had two people you need to sit together in the bench. Later on we realized she wanted to position us by the door since the door was open and the people outside walking by the restaurant could see there were people inside eating. We were actually used as a bait or live commercial for other potentially unsuspecting customers for an otherwise mostly empty restaurant. The table was uncomfortably small. The whole time we were there we didn't see any new customers came in. Just a bad experience the 1st day in Lisbon, and in Portugal. Worst part yet, the 2nd day afternoon my stomach started hurting, then followed by throwing up all my stomach content then diarrhea. I now think it was the raw salad that came included in the dish I ordered that caused the problem. What a start to my 2 weeks Portugal vacation! Been to Europe so many times this is the first time I actually got...

As we were walking to the restaurant yesterday with 2 children (one in a pushchair) at 9.30pm at night with the baby screaming up almost vertical hills and 10000 stairs we stopped and my partner and I asked each other if there was any chance that this restaurant was going to be worth the hard work of getting there and let me tell you, it was! Arguably the best dim sum we have ever eaten, we went on the recommendations of our wonderful waiter and we weren’t disappointed. Our 3 favourite dishes were the sticky rice lamb balls, the sweetcorn and asparagus dumplings and not to forget the chicken and truffle dumplings! Absolutely incredible. Although the restaurant on first look may seem quite un-child friendly both of my children absolutely adored the food and the staff made them feel very welcome. Especially the gentleman who makes their fantastic cocktails who I am sure my baby actually fell in love with haha. My son (9) was initially disappointed that the restaurant do not serve any soda however this disappointment was quickly overcome when he was offered a homemade iced tea of the week which we all thoroughly enjoyed. Genuinely cannot say a bad word about this spectacular restaurant, we will be back every time we visit...