Aurora at the Celeste — Restaurant in Alafaya

Honestly, I was shocked and confused by my experience here in contrast to all the glowing reviews and recommendation I had seen for this restaurant. Based off of the stellar reviews in the Facebook Orlando Foodie forum and the Google reviews, I thought this place would be a sure bet, absolutely amazing… I haven’t been this disappointed in a while. Underwhelmed recently, sure… but straight up actually didn’t-want-to-proceed-with-the-meal-past-the-appetizers kind of bad… When I was asked by my eager coworkers today how it was, I told them I felt like every plate had been prepared well in advance and stuck in a fridge or freezer, and then reheated upon being ordered, with a bit of useless garnish added at the very end. It genuinely felt like the dishes were made to LOOK good (for pictures) but did not actually TASTE good. I feel like this place is a front for some social media group who work on getting the most Instagram-worthy plate with little to no regard for the actual food. Honestly, it borders on disrespect to the ingredients that you abuse them this way. And the prices compared to the quality of the product… absolutely painful. This was my birthday dinner and halfway through the meal I asked my boyfriend if we could forget this ever happened and he takes me to another restaurant the next night and we pretend that was my birthday dinner instead. Yep. Disappointing to say the least. I should note, the service was great! Nice college kids, nothing wrong with them, they can’t help that they are serving dishes that literally fed my dogs that night. Cocktails were fine as well, if you like super sweet stuff. The only “original” component to the cocktails were the addition of edible glitter (hmm… almost like it’s more for show than taste… I see the theme here…). As far as food, we sampled quite a bit… Appetizers: -Green mussels Rockefeller - chewy, overdone mussels with some cream of spinach and cheese spread on top - 3/10 -Ahi tuna bites - bland. Absolutely flavorless. And the phyllo cups are literally the ones you can get from the frozen food section at Publix that cost like $2 for 15 little cups. Legit have them in my freezer now for desserts. A dishonor to tuna everywhere - 1/10 -Alligator jambalaya arancini - this one is really what put us over the edge… so dry, and somehow still not crispy in the outside. 100% frozen prior to this, but like, microwaved it instead of fried it?? My comment was “I could’ve gotten this crispier in my air fryer” and my boyfriend’s comment actually got lodged in his throat and he choked on the first bite. Upon recovery, he asked if we could have a to go box for it (to take home to the dogs) - 0/10 for endangering human life and being the biggest disappointment on the whole menu (which was a hard choice, by the way) -Oxtail empanada - actually, this was pretty good by comparison. It tasted like those frozen beef and cheese taquitos you buy, but a little better cause it came with dipping sauce - 5.5/10 -“Fried Chicken” - really really really bad. The chicken was so dry and chewy, I made it through half a piece and the rest went into the doggy bag, with the breading sagging off of the roll and the driest Mac n cheese ever in the interior. God. Although the mashed potatoes on the bottom were pretty good, I like mashed potatoes with potato skin - 1.5/10 (for the 🥔) -Lobster risotto - the first word that came to mind was “stodgy”. If you’ve ever left your rice or pasta sitting too long in water then you know this - that sticky, over inflated goo. Yikes - 3/10. -Coconut rice pudding - this was actually tasty. Coconut pudding with fresh berries on top and crispy coconut bits - 6.5/10

Anyways. I’m not sure who paid who for all those great reviews but…… Save your money and your calories for something,...

I am officially updating my review and boosting Aurora from four to five stars. I came here for Bite 30. I know it's a pandemic and restaurants are struggling. I know this because most of the Bite 30 menus were entirely uninspired and boring. But Aurora put out a menu that really dropped my jaw.

Unique things that blatantly fused different cuisines. Unusual meats that aren't even seen on restaurants' normal menus. A literal flaming dessert. I ranked this menu as my top priority for the Bite 30 event, and it did not disappoint. I will not bore you with too many details, but I will point out the highlights.

Apps:

Duck Confit Empanadas (Jerk Slaw, Drunken Raisin, Sweet Thai Chili Aioli). Two surprises here: The size of the empanadas were very nice, nice and big. And the sauce was sweet and spicy and not on my empanadas making them soggy. You can dip and quantify your sauce as you please. Very good dish. Love duck.

Paella Arrancini (Shrimp, Chorizo, Vadouvan Carrot Puree, Crispy Pancetta). I've seen a lot of arancini in my life, but not ever one made of paella. Very unctuous on the inside, very Spanish. And the earthy carrot puree cut into that unct in a nice way. All flavors were helped by the crispy exterior of the ballz. I was a huge fan.

Mains:

Chicken Osso Bucco (Pork Belly Truffle Mac & Cheese, Apple Glazed Brussel Sprouts, Smoked Tomato Gazpacho). Fall of the bone chicken in a striking presentation. Very fatty, rich mac. Geniusly plated on the acidic gazpacho to cut through the fat. The sprouts were fine, almost an afterthought. But the dish as a whole was dynamite.

Creole Newberg (Puff Pastry Vol Au Vent, Shrimp, Alligator, Bison Andouille, Sherry Cream, Market Veg, Crispy Frog Leg). This one was insane. Beautiful plating. A ton of each of the meat, each cooked perfectly. All of the stuff made the puff pastry juuust soggy enough to make it a great carb for the dish. And the asparagus was cooked well, too. This whole thing, just perfect. And it's a great way for the more vanilla people out there to finally try three unique meats.

Desserts:

Pineapple Bread Pudding (Flaming Pineapple Rum Sauce, Toasted Coconut, Vanilla Ice Cream). The server came out and set this one on fire for us. I took a video. It was fun. The bread pudding itself was very dense, not very wet. I don't think I have a preference, just giving you a heads up. It was very warm and the ice cream slowly but surely melted during our eating the dish, leaving some amazing final bites.

Key Lime Pie (Graham Cracker Dust, Raspberry Coulis, Lime Zest). This one was mine. I love Key lime pie, and I think it's a dessert that has a very low floor and a very high ceiling. This was a pretty good one. The filling wasn't way too sweet, like a lot of them are. And the fact that this is a one-serving pie, instead of a slice, really lets you enjoy a nice crust-to-filling ratio. Huge fan of this.

Overall, the effort that this restaurant put into a community event that probably loses them money is very impressive. It is one of my favorite restaurants in town, my favorite restaurant in East Orlando, and I will tell everyone I know to go and eat...

Love this hidden gem located on the UCF campus inside of the Celeste Hotel! Decided to try them for the first time since it’s Bite30 as I had been hearing great things. They offer free valet parking which is nice but remember to get your ticket validated.

Our reservation was at 5:45 and we were seated immediately. I love the decor and the classy interior and natural light. Our waitress came over immediately to get drink orders and we decided to just give her our dinner orders as well. I decided to order the Watermelon Mule that’s featured on the Bite30 menu. Our initial drinks took a little while to come out but it gave me and my friend time to catch up. The drinks and appetizers arrived almost simultaneously. I chose the Baby Brie which was baked to perfection and topped with a berry compote and puff pastry. It was served with multigrain toasted bread which probably was my least favorite. They were too hard. Probably wouldn’t get this again.

Once appetizers were done there was a little bit of a lag for the entrees to arrive. I noticed the restaurant was getting busier and noticed several tables that had been seated but no one had come to take initial drink orders. There were only 2 servers but they really needed at least 2 more to handle the crowd. Finally our entrees arrived. I ordered the Chicken Osso Bucco. This was one of the most satisfying meals that I’ve had in a while. The pork belly truffle Mac and cheese was very good! The chicken was tender and the brussel sprouts were cooked perfectly . I wish the chicken had more seasoning but it was still juicy. Everything went very well together. I asked for a to go box because I had to save room for dessert. I also asked for another cocktail which I ordered the 21 questions.

Dessert arrives and I didn’t realize it was a flambé dessert which was a neat surprise. I got the Pineapple Bread pudding which came with ice cream and a flaming pineapple rum sauce. The guy who brought the dessert said it had a lot of rum in it and I proceeded to tell him to give me all the rum! Lol! My second cocktail arrived while I was finishing dessert so I felt a little rushed to drink it. We started looking for our server because we needed to get our checks. She was no where to be found. There was a table of 6 next to us that had been waiting for 15 minutes to be initially greeted so the manager ended up giving them something for free. We finally saw our server and asked for the checks. Off she went and we thought she would be back to cash us out. Nope! Waited another 10 minutes. We finally got our cards back and cashed out. The whole dining experience took 3 hours so be prepared. This place is great food and drink wise but service could...