Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Aura Waterfront Restaurant & Patio

On Friday afternoon a round of emails went around between Rose, Tiffaney and I.  It was sunny and none of us had previous engagements so we just knew we had to find a patio to visit on after work.

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I suggested Aura Restaurant because I’ve heard they have a lovely patio with a beautiful view.  A few more emails, including Michael, and a few Tweets with Tookie at Aura and our plans were set for 6:00.

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Upon arrival we were a little worried because the patio didn’t have evening sun, but we decided that we’d give it a try since we were right beside a heater and our helpful server offered up blankets if we should need them.

Tookie had done a fine job of letting the staff know we were coming and because we are Twitter friends she arranged a complimentary cocktail for me!  The cocktail list is very long so I handed my decision off to Rose and she chose the Cape Scott for me.  It was a light concoction of muddled oranges, vanilla vodka, OJ and soda.  Very refreshing!  I may have had two. :)

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Michael suggested he and I share a few oysters on the half shell to start.  I will never argue with this suggestion!  We were brought two fresh, local varieties on ice with the mignonette served in these cute little syringes.

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A round of fresh brioche buns for the table.  Complete with sour cherry butter.  Melty and delicious.

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Had I not been busy visiting I would have thought to take photos of everyone’s meals for a proper review because everything that graced the table this time was met with a great review.  I had already perused the menu online before heading out for the evening and settled on a light meal of the Grilled Caesar Salad…with pancetta, soft poached free range egg, and pesto Caesar dressing.

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The pesto dressing was really interesting and very tasty.  The big slivers of fresh parmesan didn’t hurt either. :)

The vegan platter that Tiffaney and Rose shared looked incredible.  They both said they were very impressed!  Michael had a seafood and saffron risotto that was also quite tasty.

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Since Rose and Tiffaney had dessert included with their vegan meal there was no way Michael and I weren’t going to at least consider dessert.  I let him choose and when I returned from the washroom I was informed he had ordered the dessert sampler for two.

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We had tastes of apple cheesecake, chocolate ganache, strawberry sorbet, and a vegan crème brulee made from coconut milk and pureed bananas.  Not a true brulee obviously…the texture is off…but the combination of flavours was really good.  I mostly tried to dominate the cheesecake bites. :)

Overall it was a lovely and delicious meal and a great visit with friends.  We managed to last the couple of hours on the patio even though we’d been hoping for more sun.  A wee bit pricey for regular after work drinks or dinner, but for a special treat I think we’d all definitely choose Aura again.  Thank you Tookie and staff for making sure we were very well looked after!

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