Scorpion Mediterranean Bar & Grill

Came here for dinner and was pleasantly surprised. Probably the best restaurant in Aurora.

Where to begin??? While I’ve heard many mixed reviews, mine is an assortment of good and bad. The restaurant itself is very lovely and the décor is very modern and pretty. We were greeted by a lovely woman who’s name eluded me. Then our actual server came around, and the chef referred to her as Christina. So, let me play this out as the night unfolded.
Once Christina was in the picture, we ordered drinks. There were no specials for the evening, which shocked me. We wanted to order appetizers first, then our meal and she said we should order both at once because it gets really busy (which is wasn’t really busy, as it is a small restaurant with only 8 tables or so). So that was the first thing that irritated my family, just didn’t want to feel rushed while ordering an expensive meal.
First, the appetizers came out, and they were all good. We shared the fried calamari, crab cake and samosa. All were fairly portioned and competitively priced considering they were first course meals.
Once our main meals came… the portion sizes were just so ridiculously small for spending $ 33-​$ 39 a plate. I got the coconut shrimp and scallops. I received three tiger shrimp and two sea scallop pieces, a half a cup of rice and «seasonal vegetables» which were an inch cube of zucchini and an inch slice of red pepper. If that’s all they include in their dish, they menu should not label that they offer seasonal scorpion vegetables. However, what little food I received for my $ 39 dish, was tasty.
Both my parents ordered the seafood risotto. At $ 35, they got two tiger shrimp and a MEASLY portion of lobster and fish. It was mainly rice. I was just flabbergasted at how little seafood was actually included!
My brother got the $ 33 lobster ravioli. He’s a big eater so I don’t think any portion would have been big enough, but it was by far the largest plate at the table.
A bonus, they put a nice candle in my brothers cake for his birthday.
Overall, if you’re looking to spend a lot of money, great go here! But, I personally think it’s a huge rip off and we will just continue to go to Aquagrill, Joia or Oakland Hall when eating in Aurora.

I’ll start off by saying that I had eaten here before on someone else’s dime and really enjoyed the food, so this time around I was happy to find a Groupon so I could take my partner for his birthday. The food was fantastic. We started with the octopus and sausage. The presentation and flavour were everything we could want out of the dishes. Same for the entrées: I had the coconut shrimp with seared scallops and I believe my partner had the lamb tenderloin. People may balk at the price of the dishes but you can tell a lot of ingredients go into them to make something very special and flavourful.
With that said, I noticed the service was lacking compared to my previous visits and compared to a nearby table. I can only deduce that it is because we were using a Groupon. Still, we ordered two drinks each with the meal partially because we wanted to and partially because I understand the establishment needs to make money. I could overlook the service since the other table was obviously larger and the food did not take too long, but what made me take issue was that at the end of the meal I received a bill with a 20% gratuity INCLUDED. I’ll mention at this point that it was the owner serving tables that night, not a professional server who was giving 20%-worth of service, and it was only two of us at the table. In discussion with the owner about this bill, I agreed with her that tip should be based on the value of the Groupon vs the $ 69 I paid for it, but it is much better to have that conversation with me when you bring the bill rather than to try and include it on the bill, hoping I’d just roll with it.
While the food was very good, I don’t think we’ll be back based on this and a discussion with a friend afterwards who used to work there as a server. As it turns out: she wasn’t allowed to keep any of her tips!

Came here with my wife for our third anniversary, and it was a great dinner. The waitress (didn’t get her name, but I believe she’s the owner) was personable, warm, and very genuine.
We decided on the tapas menu, so we could try more dishes and were not disappointed. Had the roasted beet salad, fried calamari, braised octopus, braised chorizo, sauteed green fava beans, and the citrus cheesecake and coconut cakes for dessert. All were fantastic, but would probably recommend the octopus and fava beans most from what we tried because they were the most unique. But again, all dishes were great.
The waitress gushed that the coconut cake was her mother’s childhood recipe, which was a nice personal touch. Had an espresso (long) with the dessert, and it was very nice.
The décor is pretty cool. The kitchen is open with full view of the chefs. A testament to the resto’s willingness to bare it all. There’s some really neat, colourful, and ornate mosaic type tile work on one wall, with an oversized single picture on the opposite wall. Small and quaint space adds to the whole warm and personal feel of the restaurant.
Would highly recommend this place for a nice night out with friends or as a couple. Perhaps not with young kids, as the space is small, and one might feel too concerned about bothering the other patrons, rather than enjoying their own meal.
Overall, a fantastic experience. Will definitely be back again to try more of the extensive tapas menu. We’re also excited to try their paella which we just didn’t have the stomach space for.
Thanks for a great night out, Scorpion!

Dined here once. Food was excellent. Prices were; ouch!!! And price is not usually a big consideration with me but obviously I feel there is a value/​price situation.