Author: Ervin_25

My wife and I went back to Aiana for the Chef's Taster Menu and this time, I have to say, we were blown away by the service as well as the food! Please could I take this opportunity to thank the team profusely for such...a wonderful evening last night. The experience was literally the other end of the spectrum from last week and we really, really enjoyed our time with them! My wife and I were so touched by the personal service they provided, and especially the small touches – absolutely incredible. Phil, our waiter, displayed some of the best FOH service we have ever received at a fine dining restaurant, and it was such a memorable evening for us, especially as he displayed the exact qualities you would want from someone you see so often through the evening. We would like to thank the team again from the bottom of our hearts for such a rich and exceptional experience and we will definitely be back in the New Year to sample the new tasting menu. *************************** It was lovely to meet Chef Chaudhary last night at his restaurant at our table where we had the wonderful opportunity to watch his team create some amazing dishes. We really did enjoy the food immensely for my wife’s birthday. However, we received pretty poor service last night and this is not in keeping with a fine dining experience that matches the heart of the restaurant, the kitchen. Upon entering the restaurant, there was no offer to take our jackets that were wet from the rain, so they had to be parked messily on a neighbouring booth seating. There definitely was a coat cupboard, which seemed to be filled with a group party’s coats, and someone’s shoes, so might explain why our coats weren’t picked up. The service we received from our waiter was very stiff and impersonal – seemed quite distracted and stretched. My wife’s first drink had cork in it – luckily another waiter managed to change this for her fairly quickly. We had to wait 30 mins for our second drink. This was also after asking one of the other clean up staff to follow up with a waiter to take our order. We had to keep reminding our waiter that we needed a drink and to place our food orders. At the end of the meal, there was no acknowledgement of my wife’s birthday at all. No gesture such as petit fours or some form of dessert or drink, in recognition. We might as well have been there at a business meeting. It’s a real, real shame that we received such sub-par service, when we cannot praise the kitchen enough. This leads to the restaurant having no soul at all. The staff is clearly trying too hard to be formal, rather than just being themselves and letting their personalities come through. I would encourage them to review the service at some of the competition restaurants in the area, such as Riviera which has their service spot on. Being well travelled, the best restaurants in the world have wait staff that have the ability to read their customers to interact at the level that they are comfortable with – I would recommend a lot of training to the front of house. Overall, with a bill that pushed over $400 for 2 people, it was not worth the experience that we received. Hopefully the FOH pull their socks up to redeem what otherwise is a lovely restaurant with a passionate Chef at the helm.