Aura occupied a unit on the fifth as the restaurant while directly above is the sky lounge. I thought it could be a great place for brunch with my mom on a Sunday. I tried making a reservation via the website twice but failed as it requires 24 hours lead time to reply. As such, on my second failed attempt, I decided to take the risk and walk-in early. Indeed, either go early, as early as 12 pm when it opens or make sure a reservation is made if after 1 pm.
By A Wall
Both the restaurant and the sky lounge offer different dinning experience with unsimilar ambience. The feel of the restaurant is more slanted to the fine dinning arena while the sky lounge offer an elegant, relaxed and casual dinning atmosphere. A reservation with tables next to the glass at the sky lounge would be a perfect dinning experience.
View from the Entrance
Sky LoungeOn weekdays, at the sky lounge, it offers Salad Buffet of roasted vegetables, salads and homemade breads.
Sky Lounge
When weekends arrived, an Ala Carte Menu is offered instead with as much as 12 selection, ranging from eggs, salad, sandwiches to pasta and sweets.
RestaurantOver at the Aura Restaurant, the weekends Brunch Menu is available. I thought the Brunch Menu was a good way to try as many food as possible. It is priced at $48 per person for food only. If diners prefer to have free flow of Prosecco and Bellini, it is priced at $98 per person.
Weekend Brunch Menu
Swiftly the complimentary
Focaccia bread was served once order was completed.
Focaccia Bread
We were served with the pastas before the remaining apperitzer, I decided to start with
Stracci with Duck Ragu. We were mesmerized by its taste immediately.
Stracci with Duck Ragu
Next, was the
Trofie with Truffle Pesto and Prawns. This isn’t for my mom at all. She tried and never turned to it for more. I was neutral though not exactly enjoying it. This surely isn’t for everyone due to the strong aroma from both the truffle and pesto resulting in some kind of acquired pungent flavour. Both the Stracci and Troffie were well made; smooth and soft to the chew.
Trofie with Truffle Pesto and Prawns
Next, the
Parma Ham with Musk Melon and
Stracciatella & Tomato Bruschetta,
Calarmari and
Crab Crostini were served. Nothing outstanding about these. But the soft to the chew calamari is still worth highlighting.
Parma Ham with Musk Melon and Stracciatella & Tomato Bruschetta and Crab Crostini
3 choices for Mains with Sirloin with Asparagus and Red Wine Sauce and Hokkaido Scallops with Porcini and Beetroot as our order. The third was Black Cod with Tomato and Herb Crust.
Sirloin with Asparagus and Red Wine Sauce
Luckily, I agreed to Medium Rare for the
Sirloin with Asparagus and Red Wine Sauce, otherwise, it would prove a challenge for my jaw. My mom doesn’t usually prefer beef actually wanted more after her first small piece.
Hokkaido Scallops with Porcini and Beetroot
Hokkaido Scallops with Porcini and Beetroot has good pairing of ingredients. As long as seafood is fresh, it can’t go too wrong.
Bailey’s & Hazelnut Feuillantine
We have both the
Bailey’s & Hazelnut Feuillantine and
Chestnut Pannacotta with Mandarin Coulis. I started with the former. Hazelnut flavour was strong while bailey was weak to savour. Moving to the latter, we were surprised by how the citrusy zest of orange could be in perfect harmony with the nuttiness chestnut. I was blown away by this dessert. As I have no expectation for it since I don't have good prior experience on anything chestnut.
Chestnut Pannacotta with Mandarin Coulis
Coffee and
Tea were part of the Brunch. I have my usual Cappucino. I like the low acidity, full body and nutty cuppa.
Tea and Cappuccino
Aura Restaurant has a classy dinning environment though it gets noisy when the restaurant was at 80% capacity. The service staff that attended our table was warm, chatty and certainly professional; introducing us the menu and making recommendation to us to help the decision process. Coming to food, we felt they were fresh. Most of which leaned towards our preference except for the more adventurous Triofe with Truffle Pesto and Prawns.
For more review, visit
http://www.nahmj.com/
Recommended Dish(es):
ailey’s & Hazelnut Feuillantine,Chestnut Pannacotta with Mandarin Coulis,Hokkaido Scallops with Porcini and Beetroot,Sirloin with Asparagus and Red Wine Sauce,Stracci with Duck Ragu
Table Wait Time: 3 minute(s)
Date of Visit: Feb 21, 2016
Spending per head: Approximately $58(Lunch)
Other Ratings:Taste
4 |
Environment
5 |
Service
5 |
Clean
5 |
Price
4Recommend