A Listers At Aurora — Restaurant in Ipswich

We went here today with our family for the start of a birthday treat our for our daughters birthday. The location is beautiful, and we were aware pricier for drinks and food, but figured the service would match the price. Our first round of drinks took a long time to come, however one drink was missing and took a further 15 minutes. We then tried to order a second round of Drinks only for the app to fail (which has to be one of the worst food ordering apps I have used) and one of the waitresses was kind enough to take our order manually. We had ordered 3 iced coffees, of which arrived minus straws & as served in jars unless you want a mouth full of ice unable to drink without - once again, another drink was missing. The lady advised she would get some straws and the missing drink, but 15 minutes later (on a 32c day) still no straws or the missing pint. I asked another waitress to chase where they were, and the next thing we know Is two members of staff are walking towards us, very aggressively and pointing - they come to our table saying “what’s the problem?” Very confrontational, and I explained we have ordered drinks and no straws - the supervisor, Rowan, proceeded to accuse us of being rude, and a lot of other things and created a big scene! We just wanted to pay, but she just kept on going, accusing us of being rude to all her staff which was just totally not true! Asking for items missing is my right as a consumer - don’t work in the hospitality trade if you are confrontational and lack any kind of empathy or accountability! Plus calling us mate really topped it off. We were all very shaken and upset to be honest, and this really did put a dampener on what should have been a special day, especially when all the front of house proceeded to stand at the front of the restaurant pointing at us and talking amongst each other as if we had committed some kind of cardinal crime, and all the chefs hanging out from the top bar area watching and laughing! I have never ever experienced anything like this, and to pay near on a 100.00 for 3 rounds of drinks and a few nibbles, to be accosted by staff is just crazy! The manager also come out, and really don’t understand how me asking for straws and our missing drink erupted into a scene like something out of east Enders! I would seriously recommend the staff get trained in taking some accountability for there actions, as the customer service from staff was appalling. However, the lady that welcomed us in and saw us out, was extremely pleasant, and professional. I will point out not all the staff were rude, it just seemed to be 3 that had a raging attitude, and it was a (very) hot day, but we will never be parting any of our hard earned money to this venue again, which according to Rowan is good, as long as the business model is based on one of visits and not on building repeat custom. Sorry for the long review, but there really was lot...

A group of us went to Aurora for dinner on a Saturday evening. After having a few cocktails, each of us proceeded with having a 3 course meal. Based on the prices, my expectations were high and I anticipated outstanding service complemented by delicious meals. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The starters, main dishes and deserts were all very bad. For example, we ordered pork belly as a starter, the dish was made up of two cold strips of what they classed as “pork belly” accompanied by grated cucumbers and carrots. Very poor presentation and even poorer taste. The main dish was lamb served with polenta, red pepper and kale. The kale was burnt and bitter tasting, the lamb was not cooked properly and the whole dish was “slammed” on a bed of olive paste. Absolutely revolting. We had made a few comments that we do not like the food, we managed to get one of the deserts for free. We ordered a Sundae and what arrived were simply 3 scoops of ice cream in a martini glass, bearing in mind the quality of the ice cream reminded me of the “cheapest tub of Aldi chocolate ice cream”, I am not sure how this was even a Sundae. Overall, none of the meals were executed up to our expectations nor taste. The bill added up to around £350.00 for 4 people. It felt like an absolute rip off given the food tasted so bad and I am genuinely upset for paying the bill given these circumstances. I wish I had raised my concerns while at the restaurant but we were having a great Saturday evening, therefore, did not wish to ruin our night. I am writing this review in order to alert potential customers to reconsider visiting Aurora for dinner. And if so to please express their discontent timely… I am not one to leave bad reviews but this was...

Well, what a disaster! We booked a celebratory lunch for family members who'd returned from their destination wedding... we had vegans in our party and required wheelchair access to the restaurant...both of which we were they definitely had. We arrived, the lift was broken, we had to sit in the main bar area infront a the DJ banging out tunes so loudly we could barely hear each other talking! So no we didnt get to hear all the wonderful wedding stories we'd all been looking forward to. The menus arrived, there's no vegan options at all on this menu, we ask gor the vegan menu to be told there isn't one...? We were advised upon booking sevetal weeks before, that the vegan menu had just gone to press... but alas it must have got lost on its way back as it wasn't available..... waiting for the waitress and owner to come up with some vegan options... they got a choice of a bread starter and a vegan burger main that's it... when we complained they then came up either tempura broccoli and waterchestnuts in a sauce! The brides starter arrived almost as the rest of us had finished ours. The medium rare steak arrived well done and was returned for yet another medium to well done steak; the burger with no onions was placed infront of me for me to discover onions within... imagine if I'd have been illergic! The battered fish tasted like it was from the supermarket; the sea bream was so small it was gone in a few mouth fulls and was sat on a bed of tomato chickpeas; the bun on the vegan burger was rock hard...almost like it had been defrosted in the microwave.... ! A catalogue of errors... we were waiting for Basil Fawlty to walk out ftom the back any minute! Total utter disaster!...