Let me start by saying I love the place. The boyfriend and I have been many, many times because we love the amount of food you get for $13.80. It's not too bad quality as well, and it's made fresh. But there are a few catches where they suck your money...
Ok so I've already established that it costs $13.80 for lunch. Great. They also charge $1 per jug of tap water without telling you until you get to the counter. The staff can be quite careless and rude as well. I never really thought anything of it the last few times I went. Mistakes here and there, but the really dodgy thing is that they only let you stay for an hour to eat. Last time I visited, the waitress forgot about our dishes and we were waiting 20 minutes. Then when we asked where our food was, she said we never ordered anything. (Why would we sit there looking at you for 20 minutes when we only have an hour to eat?!) When we re-ordered the food, she said this was the last time we were allowed to order because we'd been there an hour. Even though we were waiting 20 minutes! What the?! We decided it wasn't worth arguing and just accepted.
Today, a group of 12 of us returned there. Like I said, in the past I've had good experiences there and could overlook the annoying little things. One friend could not afford to eat so just drank water when she was there. However, when it came time to pay, we had to pay for her, even though she hadn't eaten a thing. Just because there was a butt in the seat, it cost an extra $13.80 (plus $3 for what we thought was free jugs of water). It seems the waitresses have no concept of understanding or customer service. I'm understanding if there are rules there. But this is not a rule, it has not been stated in the menu that if you don't inform them you're not eating, you have to pay. (Though the menu does say that any food left uneaten will cost and extra $3). There are times when you have to use common sense, and that seems quite non-existent among the staff at Aroma. We're fed up and will not be back for a while, at least.
If I were stronger, I would have refused to pay and walked out. But I'm not that sort of person, so instead I told the waitress our side and got ignored... and now I'll tell the whole internet my little story.
Overall, the food is good but the way they go about things is ... meh. I wouldn't say "DON'T GO," but I would say to be aware of hidden costs. It can be VERY annoying.
EDIT: For reference I have been to restaurants where they spell out in the menu that everyone must order a dish or there will be a surcharge. So it's not like they have a "you should know" excuse either!
I took that photo especially for this blog! (I know, that's really sad.) As you can see, I'm very good for the environment, what with all my used tissues that will probably turn into landfil etc etc...
But, beggars can't be choosers. So I heated up the spaghetti meat stuff (what the hell is it called anyway?) and covered it with rice, and handed it to my brother. As you can see above, the rice is completely covering the meat, which creates the surprise! I know, I know. I'm such a gourmet genius.