This restaurant is just hype. Very, very SMALL portions and not even cooked that well either. I went with a friend and we had the 3 courses and wine pairing set menu and felt ripped off and hungry after our meal. The duck consomme was flavourless and the lamb was leathery. We ended up going to Congee Noodle House on Main and Broadway for some cheap eats afterwards to satisfy our tummies.

I’ve been to Aurora several times, most recently today (Nov 10/07) for Brunch, which they’ve just started serving.

Brunch was outstanding. I had a smoked sablefish hash w/ 2 poached eggs and a buttery hollandaise. Dan had a oyama salami panini w/ these thick cut and crispy pomme frites. We splurged and also had dessert – 5-spice cake donuts drizzled with maple syrup. Yum. Were the portions huge? No. Were they enough? Yes.

My dinners at Aurora have ranged from okay to great, but I can’t say much beyond that. I do recommend Aurora – they pride themselves on using fresh, local and canadian ingredients. They also like to serve only sustainable seafood, which I respect.

I took a cooking class with Aurora’s head chef Jef van Geest last month and the man can cook. I will definitely return to his restaurant.