Aria
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: (312) 444-9494
02/13/2008 Posted by Lionzfan27
-So I took a good friend out on a first date after reviewing a good 45+ restaurants over an 11 hour period (I know that sounds excessive but I'm paticular). -The ambience was great; nice seats, decor, linen, etc. Nothing to complain about there...other than the paper menu's, maybe I'm picky. -The service was poor, maybe better put as unproffesional, poorly trained, or unexperienced. We could tell from the beginning that the service would rank with a restaurant like Bennihanas. He was a nice guy but just didn't have what it takes to serve for this type of restaurant. He pushed menu items, didn't know what was in some dishes, and told us "it'd be a big hassle to also order from the sushi bar across the room" are you kidding me? Not only was he a poor waiter but the person that brought the 'praised' flatbread and four dipping sauces rambled them off so fast I only caught 'yogurt'. Ehhh... -Now to the food(since I am a culinary graduate). We started with an order of Unagi, it was great but I can't say I've ever been dissapointed by Unagi before. The entrees were poor, very poor. We eached ordered fish, mine being Barramundi. Each fish was over cooked and incorrectly paired with sauces to my liking. Her fish was served skin side up! Once again I could just be very picky but would you serve a steak with grill marks down? or a pie with crust up? The desserts were decent. I ordered the apple egg rolls and she had the chocolate cake, adding 'will you be mine?' at request to the Maitre D'. Each dish tasted great, had stylish platings and took away some bitterness from a poor meal. Conclusion- weak meal, poor service, and to my suprise not worthy of the price in the end. I would not recommend this to friends or for that matter anyone who asks for a review. Would I return? No, unless I was treated to the meal. *If you like sushi I would recommend the sushi bar just by looks. It's hip, stylish, and based on my purchase of the Unagi alone, tasty. -Cheers
Pros: Ambience
Cons: Entrees (paticulary the fish) and Service
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