La Belle Aurore — Restaurant in East Lyme

I had the unfortunate opportunity to eat at this restaurant last night as part of the Niantic Restaurant week. While I want to believe that it was just an off night for the chef and do appreciate them removing most of the items from the bill (hence a 2 star instead of a 1 star), this was hands down my worst experiences with food at a restaurant. There wasn't a single redeeming food item on the night.

To start, despite ordering tapas (6 in all between 2 people), it took over an hour before the first plate was served. There were 26 people total in the restaurant who looked to be taking advantage of the same Tapas menu, so that might account for some of the delay; however, multiple tables received their 1st and 2nd orders in that same time.

I did notice that two people sent eerily familiar dishes back to the kitchen because they hadn't ordered the food. My suspicion is that the lone waiter of the evening mistook things and delivered food to the wrong table. It is an honest mistake, that I normally wouldn't hold a grudge against. Unfortunately, during that time, the waiter should've let us know of the error so that we weren't sitting in the dark.

When we finally got our food, the disappointment only deepened. My dish was the seafood bisque, which was mostly passable. It certainly wasn't the worst I've had, but between the abundant shells, mushy seafood, and lacking flavor, it didn't leave a good impression. On the other side of the table, there were 3 scallops: 1 good, 1 slightly overcooked, and 1 charcoal briquette. Not a great start to an already frustrating evening.

40 minutes later, we got our other 4 dishes. This is where the evening fell apart. There was: a flavorless, overcooked mushroom risotto 3 flavorless, even more severely overcooked pork meatballs in what was supposed to be a marinara, but turned out to be closer to a warmed bruschetta 2 large chunks of broccoli flash fried over cheddar that were supposed to be broccoli cheddar fritters And the worst pork belly I've ever had, with skin that was burnt and harder to chew than old leather and the rest full of unrendered fat.

I am willing to chock this up to the lone chef being completely overwhelmed by a new type of menu. Most of the grievances can be explained away by someone overwhelmed and trying to get through as much as they could, getting by on just cooking things as fast as possible in order to catch up. But at the same time, there wasn't a single thing I would consider eating again.

As one potentially positive thing, the quantity was quite substantial for tapas. But overall, it doesn't make up for bad food.

I truly hope that this was just an off night for the (what looked like only 3) staff members, but I can't bring myself to ever try this...

After attending a baby shower at La Belle Aurore, I had reached out to them to have my rehearsal dinner for my wedding at their restaurant. The process from start to finish was impeccable. Dawn was so responsive and accommodating to the needs of my guests and budget while holding up to the best quality in food and service. She helped come up with a menu that everyone loved and created a beautiful atmosphere for our dinner. It was truly a collaborative process and Dawn was highly professional and organized throughout. She was also welcoming to my nephews who were the ring bearers and made them a kids menu item that kept everyone happy. The food was incredible with fresh vegetables, responsibly sourced meats and tasty desserts(their chocolate mousse is to die for!). We can’t wait to visit this restaurant again. Thank you Dawn and the staff at La...

Spectacular! My wife and I enjoyed this little place immensely. The service was friendly, charming, attentive, and real. It was like eating at a friend's house. And then the food: My wife had the sautéed veggies, shitake mushrooms, and tofu over rice. Outstanding and I was happy she shared it with me. I had the duck over swiss chard and the thinnest, crispiest, most flavorful fried potatoes ever in the history of potato cooking. We also loved the mussels which were left to simmer in a garlic broth to bring out their natural taste instead of smothering them in some sauce. The buttery toast that went with them was pure delicious sin when dipped in the broth. The chocolate mousse was as good as we have ever had. So happy that an eatery featuring such natural...