AQUA Fine Dining — Restaurant in Plymouth

My girlfriend and I decided to try Aqua Friday night based on a very good Groupon deal, we had never been there and the menu on their website had quite a few dishes that we love so we thought we would give it a try. I purchased the $60.00 Groupon and called to make the reservation a few days in advnce, when I spoke with the girl on the phone she took my name and my phone number and asked me if I had a groupon. Over the phone I told her yes and which Groupon it was. when we arrived for dinner Friday we were about 10-15 minutes early and we were seated right away. The young girl took us to the bar with high tables and chairs, my girlfriend asked if we could sit at a normal table because she did not like the high tables and the being in the bar area. The hostess said not that all of the other table in the restaurant were reserved for other guests with more people in their party, this really upset my girlfriend because there had to have been at least 10 open tables and there were other couple at tables for four. Our waiter came and brought the menu showed us how to use it and showed us the different meals. We took a few minutes then ordered about 3 appetizers to start so we could try a few items. I left to use the restroom and double check that the hostess knew I had a Groupon, she assured me the server knew about it and that we are all set. Once the appetizers arrived they were already almost cold, which was strange because it took quite a long time to get them out. We ordered our meals as well as a few drinks after the waiter brought out the salads and bread we waited about 20 minutes then asked where the drink was and he forgot that we ordered it. As we waited and talked a couple came in and was seated at the bar, they asked the same girl who seated us if they could sit somewhere else and without a single problem they were put at a normal table away from the bar. This absolutely infuriated me! The food came about an hour or so after we placed the order, parts of it were warm and other parts were not, I could see the disappointment on my girlfriends face. I was very embarrassed that I had even suggested we go there, she was not happy and neither was I. Once the waiter brought the check I showed him the Groupon and he told me that the Groupon was for a prefixed menu and I could not use it for the meals we got. My jaw dropped as I thought why if its only good for a pre fixed menu and they knew I was coming with the Groupon before I even got there why they gave me the normal menu, and how come when I double checked before we ordered they said the server knew about it. I never saw a ore fixed menu. So I held my tongue pulled out my wallet and shelled out $165 for the meal on top of the $60 I spent for the Groupon. All around I was extremelydisappointedwith the service, the quality of the food, and the Groupon situation. If I didn't have a Groupon that I paid $60 for I would NOT go back, hell I still may not...

We found this restaurant in passing and were pleasantly surprised to be able to get a table without a reservation at prime time on a Friday night.

Our server Ashley was fantastic - very attentive, bubbly personality, and on point throughout.

The ambience was strange. Dark and blue - felt very much like a nightclub. Music was barely audible at our table which was in the middle of the dining room. It was a quiet venue.

Dinner for 2 was $200 inclusive of a 20% tip calculated after tip. My husband had 1 beer and I had 2 Moscow mules. We had 2 appetizers and 2 entrees.

Appetizers were the tiger shrimp, and the pork belly. Tiger shrimp were a good size and juicy. Pork Belly had a decent flavor but was fairly tough. Both seem to have the same sauces - partly an orange sweet chili and partly a creamy sauce.

Entrees were the lamb chops and the duck. Both arrived almost cold and we had to send them back. Rather than remake the dishes, they put them in the microwave. Duck is one of my favorite dishes and you don’t see if often some I order it wherever I see it. This was far from the best I’ve had. I’d call it average and a small portion. My husband’s $55 lamb chops were tough, not much meat on the bones, flavor wasn’t great. We mentioned this to Ashley and she was very apologetic and said she’d talk to the owner. We got a free dessert but the entree was NOT removed from the bill. Both entrees had the same 2 sauce mix that the appetizers had.

For our complimentary dessert, we chose the limoncello mascarpone cake, which was very good. Light cake with great flavor.

The restaurant tried extremely hard with the presentation of the food. They were going for a 5 star look. Unfortunately, I think the time spent on the presentation contributed to the sub-par quality of the food.

So in summary, service was great, ambiance was strange, food taste was average while presentation was high-end, and it was over-priced for the quality (or lack thereof)...

Went for Valentine's Day; so I know that it was an unusually busy night, but our service was still disappointing for the level of quality expected from a place in this price range. First off: there was no parking available in the lot so we ended up having to park a few blocks away and walking. On a night that it's expected to be THAT busy, there should have been valet service available. Next, we showed up on time for a 7 PM reservation but still had to wait a half hour before being seated. Everyone there had a reservation and had to wait, so the restaurant was clearly overbooking. The hostess mispronounced my name, which isn't a big deal, but after I told her the correct pronunciation, she said it wrong the next time again. Does it matter? Not really, but it's a red flag for lack of attention to detail for a "fine dining" experience.

Once seated, there was no knife to spread butter on the bread. Minor annoyance that wasn't a big deal since our server brought knives when asked, but again... a finer restaurant should pay attention to details. Right after we ordered our food, the server told us that they'd sold out of one of only three meat options. If you're going to have a limited menu, you should have enough inventory to make sure you don't run out of what are already few options -- especially that early in the evening (it was only 8:00). After our appetizers (which were tasty!), we waited quite a while and our entrees were brought out. They forgot to bring our salads in between -- again, we let the server know, she apologized and awkwardly brought salads after we were halfway through our entrees.

Ultimately, the food was not bad, but didn't wow us to justify the price tag. But the service was absolutely amateur hour. I hope it's not always like that and our poor experience can be chalked up to them being unprepared for...