aura waterfront restaurant + patio

we enjoyed the view... the service was excellent and the cuisine outstanding. try the 'squash' soup!

excellent experience - food, service, wine.

we had high hopes going in to our breakfast at aura as we had both heard many good things about this victoria restaurant, but we were disappointed in the presentation and quality of the food, especially considering there were only two or three other tables seated while we were there.

there's no question that we felt like royalty, not only because we were able to eat food of this caliber - but the matching level of service and professionalism that still was fun & friendly.

first-class! best dinner i'.... first-class!
best dinner i've had in victoria. top-class server (ryan) without being at all pretentious.

try the vegetarian platter, add a side of protein - every element is exquisite.

the skill of the chef is evident in every dish. kudos.

victoria has gone from being “one time only” to a place i can’t get enough of—for food....go beyond the tourist spots and you’ll discover, as i have, some pretty impressive eating options. adding to my reports from 2010 and 2011 , here are some finds from my visit earlier this year.

rude aura, family unfriendly. wow, this establishment has one bad aura. after checking into the attached inn at laurel point at dinner hour, our family of four headed to aura for our first meal in victoria. upon arrival at the host's stand, we were greeted by the host with, "if they get loud, we'll have to ask you to leave," as he referenced our completely silent four year old and 3 month old.

as inviting as that was, we declined the opportunity to be second-class patrons. as we turned to leave, the host justified with a trailing, "people are here to..." and left the rest to imagination. we could only speculate that this might include *eat*??

attempting to explain to our four year old daughter why dinner would be postponed included a discussion about manner. aura could learn a lot about friendly manners and inclusiveness from her, but her time will be much better spent elsewhere.

excellent service, terrific harbor view, pretty good food. we sat for lunch; i had the much touted burger, which was good but not the best in town, and a bit pricey at $16. fries cooked to perfection. all food was exquisitely presented. the best dish at the table was my wife's creme brûlée. all in all a good experience but an expensive experience. if i win the lottery i'll return to try dinner.

my family and i visited aura at laurel point hotel on a beautiful sunny day.  it was a perfect setting for brunch; a picturesque oceanside scenery, warm weather, a quiet setting, and we didn't have a care in the world but to enjoy ourselves. aura offers contemporary pacific west coast inspired creations with influences from japanese and hawaiian cuisines.  there were a lot of more items on their lunch menu we didn't get to try since it was sunday brunch.  nonetheless, we really enjoyed a lot of the dishes here. the complimentary chocolate and zucchini bread and refreshing strawberry banana smoothies were a really nice touch.   the zucchini bread was presented with a cute fresh flower.  mini jars of jams, peanut butter and honey were there for you to go crazy on. i'm not a fan of raw bananas, but i was ready to order more of these smoothies. brunch just wouldn't be brunch without eggs benny.  aura's crab benny is served with soft poached eggs over meaty dungeness crab cakes.  the toaste

value for$$. i recently stayed at the inn for a few days and we had breakfast as well as an evening dessert at the aura. the breakfast we has was very good - and dessert was lovely.
we had dessert around 9pm so it was getting chilly out on the deck but the staff brought us blankets and moved a patio heater close to our table so we could enjoy the view of the harbour, the fresh sea air and dessert in comfort. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - yes!

delicious food, excellent service. had heard amazing things about aura and was not disappointed. the food was simply delicious. the sable fish was so fresh it melted in my mouth and the dessert chocolate bar was out of this world good. the service was excellent and the view of the inner harbour was spectacular. my girlfriends and i had a great evening and are already looking forward to our next visit!

great place for brunch. my son and i took my husband out for father's day brunch here. the coffee was excellent. i wasn't too hungry so i just had the oatmeal. or atleast thats what i thought - just oatmeal. it had a berry compote and then granola crisped on top. it was incredibly good. my son had the crab cake benny and my husband the classic benny. both done to perfection.

one of my friends says she has been quite a few times in the past month on business for lunch. she says many people she knows rave about this place but she has just not been impressed. reading over some of the past reviews it almost seems like there is something jekyll and hyde going on. there was no way i could have failed to have been impressed by our brunch so there must be some inconsistency somewhere

not impressed. went for lunch today at the aura with a friend.
i tried ordering a cocktail be be told that they didn't have the ingredients.
we had ordered a basket of focaccial it came burnt and cold, i had the fettuccine it was cold and mostly flavorless.
for one cocktail,fettuccine and a glass of wine it was almost $50 and so not worth it.

outstanding. we had the oysters to start followed by the halibut special. fantastic flavors and presentation. dessert was homemade cheesecake. again fantastic

disappointed. in the past we have had good experiences especially with desserts and service. during dine around we had a nice view. the waitress was disengaged not just with us but other customers. the soup was ok the trout not to bad but the fruit crumble inedible. the rhubarb made it so tart as to be impossible to eat. the left overs were whisked away by the waitress and no enquiry into have we finished or was something wrong. my partner and i left very disappointed and will not be recommending this restaurant.