Aurum - Los Altos

I had a disappointing experience with the manager at this restaurant. You can never truly gauge the quality of a restaurant until you're faced with an issue. I placed an order for $200 worth of food and picked it up, only to discover at home that one of the curries was missing. The manager insisted that the kitchen confirmed they had sent out the complete order, implying that I was lying. He then offered to make another curry if I could come back to pick it up. I explained that we were about to sit down for dinner, and returning was not an option for me. He repeated that the kitchen had verified the order was correct, which led me to lose my patience. I told him his tone was lacking any sense of apology, and the least he could do was recognize the mistake. In response, he raised his voice and questioned why he should apologize, saying his restaurant had done nothing wrong. I was taken aback by his attitude, as I had always held this restaurant in high regard. It's in crisis situations like this that you truly see how a business responds. His behavior left me feeling insulted and ruined my overall experience with the restaurant.

**Service:** Dine-in **Meal type:** Dinner **Price per person:** $30–50

Aurum, which means gold in Latin, strives to set the gold standard in food, service, and atmosphere. We ordered eggplant curry along with yellow dal, roti, and garlic naan. The experience was somewhat hit or miss. The presentation and flavor of the eggplant curry were fantastic, although the whole eggplant seemed slightly undercooked. This minor flaw detracted from an otherwise excellent dish. The yellow dal tasted just like the way we make it at home, lacking extra spices and coming across as a bit bland. I was in the mood for a mild dal and enjoyed it that day, but I'm uncertain if it would be as enjoyable on another occasion. Both the garlic naan and roti were fluffy and tasty. Personally, I prefer my naan and roti on the thinner side, so I didn't enjoy them as much as I do elsewhere—my favorite garlic naan has been at Bhimavaram Ruhulu. Overall, we liked the food and plan to return. My critiques mainly stem from the fact that we spent nearly $60 for two people and two dishes, so we have high expectations. The staff was very welcoming and polite, and the ambiance was delightful, with outdoor seating available. Parking may be a challenge on weekdays, but we dined on a Sunday and had no trouble finding street parking nearby.

Service: Dine in Meal type: Dinner Food: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5

Came back here again recently, the service has always been great and the food is consistent and delicious. Drinks are good too and worth a shot especially if you want to give cocktails with some spice to it which they do a great job of. We ordered the Mr Potato spiral chaat (trick to eating is to eat it in chunks of 4 and slide them down), Chipotle Paneer Tikka, Basil and Thyme Naan and a Garlic Naan. Breads were not the strong suit to be fair but their curries are great!