Aroma Braintree

We went on a lunchtime in half term we got there at quarter past 12 and by the time we got a first plate of food there was a queue already out of the door, and it stayed that way to we left, despite this we did not feel rushed in anyway. When you sit down you are asked for your drink order and then a card is put on your table and they add your drinks as you go along. We ordered a jug of sparkling water for £1.30 and you would have got at least 4 glasses out of it, but the water just tasted like soda water, so we had lemonade instead, quite pricey at £1.90 a glass, next time we would order just still water. The food is laid out in three different trolleys theres a good choice, lacking in seafood in my opinion, but I think that is probably added in the evening when it is dearer. There was a selection of starters which included bbq ribs which were gorgeous, spring rolls, duck pancakes (pancakes very dry not to bad if you add loads of sauce), prawn toast which were quite hard. the mains consisted of various dishes including curry, sweet and sour, beef and black bean, mussel dish and cod dish, also various chicken dishes with sauces, ie: chicken satay, and lemon chicken. Then there was a selection of vegetable dishes, noodles and rice dishes,also chips, sausages and hash browns, think these were an add on for the kids. my favourites of the meal were the beef in black bean and scheckuan chicken, the fried mushrooms, ribs and the noodles. my least favourite was the sweet and sour pork (bit tough), prawn toast(bit hard) stir fried veg(bit mushy) There was also a tenparki bar where you selected your ingredients and then the chef would cook them in terayki sauce. The choice was mussels, crabsticks and squid or chicken fillet and selection of vegetables and noodles, overall to me this was a bit of an anti climax. Overall it was a nice lunchtime meal, we will visit again in the evening and see how it compares. my only critism would be it lacked a bit of character.

Great selection and wonderfully cooked food. Staff are as expected of chinese very polite, smart in appearance and efficient. Great value for money. Lacked the ambience. There was a little background pop music, but would have liked to hear some authentic chinese music. Overall a pleasant evening.