Aroma Restaurant Bar — Restaurant in New York

After landing on my radar, finally got a chance to try Aroma Restaurant and Sushi Bar

What got my attention is they advertise an appealing Happy Hour. Aroma is located in an area of Marble Hill where there's lots of public trans, buses(1,2&9) and trains(1 train and Metro North) It's close to many popular shopping spots like Target, Aldi , and right across the street from a Starbucks so there will be no trouble finding it. Unfortunately my dining partner and I missed the Happy Hour special on the night we visited because we ( like most NYers) get off later.

Here is my honest opinion of our experience, and again it is only an OPINION no offense is meant or should be taken. Use this review as an opportunity to IMPROVE. Everyone as a bad night, doesn't mean it's a bad place and things can change depending on the day so what we experienced can be completely different for other guests. Here goes:

At first, Ambiance was enjoyable. When we first arrived the place was pretty empty with only a few patrons. We were able to walk right up to a table with no waiting. Initially, our server was attentive , gave us our menus and asked us for our drink orders right away.

I went with a passion fruit mojito and my partner ordered a tequila sunrise. Both were pleasant, not too strong, and tasty. For appetizer we decided on the Trio de Tostones with Ropa Vieja(3 muffin tin sized fried plantain cups filled with a tasty beef stew) It did not disappoint and was yummy. (Sorry can't say the same for the entree) Food and drinks arrived in a timely fashion.

Cons: First thing our server told us was there is no sushi . For that to be advertised in the title of business, this was of course a disappointment.

For entree, I ordered the Chofan with chicken which for my preference, didn't taste good or fresh. It was made in a style that I did not enjoy, I've been to many restaurants where I ordered this and enjoyed, but this didn't hit.

My partner ordered the teriyaki chicken. It was ok, nothing special. (Could have got it much cheaper and much better at a local Chinese restaurant) It did not meet their expectations presentation wise. Normally an order of chicken teriyaki consist of thick slices or meaty chunks of chicken tossed in a generous amount of sauce served over a bed of rice. What they got was a piece of chicken breast pounded flat, drizzled with teriyaki sauce in a decorative criss-cross pattern, which while didn't taste bad was not a winner.

Also our little corner got crowded quickly when our servers sat a large party right next to us! This was unnecessary as there was a lot of other tables to maintain a reasonable distance. We were bumped into, as more people continue to slide in to join the group throughout the night. We felt boxed as they sat children in high chairs right next to us. If we wanted to feel like we were at Applebee's we could have just went there! It was quite distracting and ruined the vibe as we tried to decompress from our long week.

As the evening progressed, the service declined significantly. Long after we finished our meal , no one bothered to offer us another glass of water, drink or the check . We just sat there with our empty cocktail glasses and an cleared table for about a half hour. Overall Aroma Restaurant and Sushi Bar was pretty much a let down , so we will not be returning again. We arrived for the happy hour but departed very unhappy:(

tl;dr -Drinks and appetizer was fine, but main entrees didn't work. Service was uneven . We ended up getting flat out ignored by servers. Aroma Restaurant and Sushi was not worth the hefty price tag. IMO if you wanna go definitely try to make the Happy Hour and stick with the apps and cocktails which were the best part of the meal and are advertised at a fair...

This place is definitely one of my favorites in NYC🥰🥰😍🤩👏🏼... even when I visit other places in the city, I tend to finish my nights at this restaurant because of their music and their pretty affordable appetizers and drinks (which are good-good).

It's really weird to me to find mixed reviews over here, considering my friends, clients and myself never had an issue with them. I'd suggest you try these type of places by yourself, because you never know the two sides of a story.

Aroma has always delivered the best service no matter the crowd, the day nor the time. And I'm a regular there, so I know what I'm talking about.🤗

Overall, it is a safe and clean restaurant with great vibes and ambiance, their music selection is always fiiiirrreeee 🔥🔥🔥🔥 THE FOOD: absolutely delicious, and if your a wine lover 🍷, they have a wide variety of world renowned brands and amazingly good cocktails. Try the margaritas and the Passion Fruit juice, sooo good... Specially the tamarindo mojito and the Jumbo Rainbow margarita, one of those and you'll be set!

If you're into pasta, order their Penne a la Vodka, the lobster ravioli or their Seafood Fra Diavolo 🥰. From the appetizers menu, I recommend the fried shumai, mofongo trios, the quesadilla, the Spring rolls, and finally the cheese and spinach empanadas.

Also, make sure to order sushi, IT'S THE BEST in the area! and actually one of the best in the city, for an unbeatable price. My favorite sushi rolls are "Nemo Roll" and "Aroma Roll" (those are a little spicy).

OH! and make yourself a favor and try their Brunch, no worries with the kids, because they have a welcoming environment for everyone. 💯💯...

Changed to one star because the hours said they were open to midnight, only to encounter a locked door at 10:30. It’s not hard to update hours on here. It was just a waste of our time.

The food and service was absolutely fantastic. We had gone for Valentine’s Day (the day before) because we had heard good things, and we thought there was a sushi bar. But it’s not there anymore.

My partner had the steak mofongo, instead, and I had the chicken Parmesan — and both were absolutely fantastic. Cooked perfectly, and came out pretty fast.

The drinks were good, too — especially the sangria I drank.

The only issue? There was some event happening there, and there was a woman shouting on a microphone (you don’t need to shout on a microphone — kind of defeats the purpose), and then they were playing the music super loud.

However, our waitress was great and successfully had the music turned down just enough to where we could have a conversation (and order food, because the waitress couldn’t hear us, nor could we hear her).

Definitely understand that groups are moneymakers for restaurants. But if you aren’t going to have a separate space for them, efforts need to be made to ensure that the rest of the business isn’t disrupted. We get that they would have some speaker — and that’s fine. But the music was just too loud, and it shouldn’t take a customer pointing that out.

It’s the only reason why I gave four stars instead of five. Everything else...