Restaurante Aure — Restaurant in Nerja

We had great anticipations for the restaurant, given the plain 5 star record. And the instagrammable vibes on social media. Bottom line: the place looks good, the service by the Chilean family is great, but we were the only patrons on a Friday night (in low season) at key Spanish dinner time, while other ooen restaurants were humming with people.

The food is beautifully presented, has a pretty odd mix of things... Think cheesy freshly made mini breadloafs (delicious yet simple) and cured scallop. A typical Spanish starter staple, salads, are there but on a small side for the price. Cheesecake for desert isba no brainer and didnt disappoint. Dont know whether that was a glitch, but all three mains disappointed. The pork cheeks with truffle mash were bland and all ingredients lacked flavor, and the angus burger was nothing to write home about (or would probably have come out quite as average of our own kitchen).

We will give them a second chance in season and advise some menu upgrades.

I have downgraded my review after the inaccurate, complacent and preposterous answer of the restaurants owner. If you aren't open to constructive criticsm over service and quality provided, you might want to consider a different line of business, instead.

So, since you asked for it -- reality first, untruthful facts out of the door:

We arrived at 21:12 for our 21h reservation, a very normal Spanish dining time, particularly on a Friday night. As newcomers in Spanish hospitality, the owners will no doubt find out about that. No other patrons were there and the staff was idling. So if other patrons had left between 21:30 and 22:00, they must have been very invisible.

Despite us being the only patrons, service was amicable and friendly, but utterly slow. Mains came up at around 22:45, by which time, we had to order another botthe of wine from their uninpressive and very limited wine list. After the mains, we had a hard time to get the service staff look up from their iphone to take orders for desert. So indeed, the only patrons of the evening finished their dinner at around midnight. We were invited to leave at 00:20, since - so we were told - there license was not allowing for patrons to dwell in the restaurant after midnight. We complied at 00:26, not at 1am. Anyway, we are sorry if that took away the owners' good night sleep.

Subsequently and more substantially:

As a reviewing and paying customer, I take the liberty to stand by my comments on the quality of the main dishes. Maybe the initial review was a little too polite: They were all beautiful dressed on the plate with all the flowers, bells and whistels, but they simply weren't good:

The pork cheeks weren't slow cooked, but overcooked and chewy, in a bland and floury sauce dolloped on a layer of potato mash, which had truffle in name only.

Comments of my fellow patrons on the burger and salmon were equally underwhelming.

Once again, as long time observers and enjoyers of the Costa Tropical's restaurants, we welcome any additions to the local dining scene and we continue to wish the owners of this place a successful journey with their ambassadors. We fully understand that it is more enjoyable to receive full blown praise over constructive criticism.

Stroppy and ill-tempered comments the likes of "go to another restaurant if you don't agree with our own view that everything was great" go a long way in ruining a reputation, before it's even emerging.

Good luck with...

Strange review this one, as I really wanted it to be great because of the lovely owners enthusiasm and belief in their product. However, the experience fell short somewhat. First of all, the menu is small, really small (note, we went for dinner) there’s a few starters, 5 in total, 3 salads, 2 risottos & 2 pastas and then just 4 ‘principales’ 2 were fish, 2 were meat. This was my biggest problem, a carpaccio starter, chicken Cesar salad & the 2 mains, pork cheeks (I’m assuming it was pork) and a sirloin were the only 4 items that included meat..the rest is seafood/fish or salad. There is nothing other than a salad suitable for vegetarians or vegans and I didn’t see anything that would remotely interest a child/teenager, though I guess there may be a children’s menu. My daughter and I had a tagliatelle with smoked salmon. Like other reviews have said, the pasta was undercooked. The salmon was minimal and the portion size was very small in comparison to other local restaurants that offer pasta dishes. Despite them being on the table before any other dishes, they sadly, weren’t very warm. My mother and my stepdad both had the salmon in orange sauce, which came with a stir fried medley of mainly peppers and a bit of mushroom, there was also a bit of leafy garnish and flowers and clearly, a lot of effort had been made to the presentation, but this dish, surely, has to have another accompaniment, new potatoes or a nice, seasoned rice? Otherwise it was a salmon fillet with a bit of a stir fry. My partner had a mushroom risotto which she enjoyed but again, was a small portion. We declined desserts, despite the owners best efforts in trying to convince us otherwise, which she also tried to do when we said we didn’t want starters, and despite how lovely she is, felt a little pushy. I’d seen the menu when I booked my table, so I knew the choice was fairly limited, and given the prices here, I assumed and hoped that what they did do, would be exceptionally good. Unfortunately, it fell short. The presentation was high end, and the welcome and most of the service we received was excellent. They clearly have a passion for their restaurant and I hope they’ll forgive my honest review. I think I’d need to see more choice, larger portions & more meat dishes on their dinner menu before...

Walked in to reserve a table at Aure, where I was greeted by the beautiful owner Rachel. I must say her energy is as lovely as her smile and it gives her restaurant a wonderful feeling like home. Our table of four shared a scallop ceviche which was on point...flavourful, delicate and a sauce that just had to be soaked up with the perfect crusty bread. We all had chosen different mains, one Salmon in an orange sauce, one salmon pasta, one pork cheeks (on a bed of silky truffle mashed) and a perfectly cooked, medium rare steak. Portions were ideal, wines (both white and red) were superbly paired. For dessert, a delectable tiramisu and a well balanced (sweet and tart) apple caramel pie. A fantastic and satisfying meal indeed. This is a family run establishment, and her daughter and son-in-law both are integral to making the dream work at Aure...polite, professional, proud, presented through stellar food (skillfully made with love) and an unparalleled level of service. Rachel seemed like she enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed her and our evening at Aure (if not more). I can say wholeheartedly, that this place is much more than just a restaurant it is a home that knows how to treat it's guests. Thank you so much to everyone at Aure for filling our bellies and letting us have a taste of the love that you surround yourselves in every day.

Don't think...