Aroma Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in Mole Valley

Sadly, I can not give this restaurant a positive review.

The food was average, having ordered the specials for my starter and main course. I was expecting something fresh and delicious. Instead, it was underwhelming and bland.

The starter was a burrata dish, which should have come with a fresh pesto instead turned up without accompanied by a watery sliced beef tomato and some rocket. I had to ask for some balsamic dressing to attempt to bring flavour to the dish.

For the main course, I chose a special fettuccine vongole. I had a plate full of clam shells with no clams in sight.

Whilst the manager attempted to offer take the meal off or give us free coffees and deserts, I was not impressed. It came across insincere.

When the bill came and we wanted to split it, three ways he refused to allow it was to round it down by a mere 20p per person and blamed the PDQ machine. It was still including a 15% service fee, so it was not as I we were refusing to pay service!

What a shame that the food, service, and atmosphere fell way below par. They have lost custom from three of us who plan to meet up regularly in Dorking. And now we won't be returning to that Italian...

If I could give everything 6 stars or more, I would! On perhaps one of the most busiest nights in the calendar year (Valentine's Day) everything was top notch! Big shout out to the two gentlemen who were running/waiting the floor and the one other behind the bar, I don't know how they did it, but it was non-stop and they really showed how to run a restaurant floor when it looks like it should be at least a 4 person job. The food quality and value was amazing, I can comfortably say this is one of the best Italian restaurants I've ever been too! It's a shame I'm not in the area anytime soon as I was just stopping by, but certainly the hospitality, food and atmosphere was nothing short of excellent. If I'm in the area again, this will certainly be my go-to! Highly recommended for anyone looking for a friendly local authentic Italian in the Dorking area. Annoying as my phone didn't save the pictures of everything I took, but I had the Tomato and Pesto garlic bread, Sea Bass main and Chocolate Souffle with gelato...

I've visited for lunch and dinner on a number of occasions now, and always the food and service are just excellent. The staff are warm and attentive, without being over friendly. But when you open up a conversion yourself, they are more than happy to engage with you for a chat. The food is without fail both delicious and beautifully presented. Great wine choices too.

It's a restaurant that seems to like to play down its presence in the town - there's no shouting about special offers on social media. And they've never asked us to do a review (which is partly why I'm doing one!) But the truth is that it's my absolute favourite restaurant in Dorking or...