Restaurant Review: Aroma in Olney, MD

Aroma has made some changes! Click here for my new review.

Aroma is a small restaurant located in a strip-mall in Olney MD. They feature Latin American fare at fairly reasonable prices. For Olney, Aroma’s ethnic cuisine is refreshing, since most of the food venues in this area are fast food or Italian. Great restaurants in Olney are hard to come by (Olney Ale House = yuck!), so Aroma is sure to trump up some great business in this location.

So far, I’ve been to Aroma twice. I’ve held off writing a review because, quite simply, I have been waiting to be ‘amazed’ or ‘dazzled’ by something on their menu. I prefer not to give negative reviews, especially for new venues, since they should be given at least a year to work out the menu.

The ambience is quite trendy, especially for this sleepy town at the end of Georgia Avenue. I was also impressed by the music – a little bit of trance, and some re-mixed Latin beats. Very nice. Too bad they have no dance floor (even though that did not stop a couple ladies at the bar from ‘creating’ their own dance floor).

By and large, the food at Aroma is simply “OK”. I haven’t tasted a lot of items on the menu, but what I’ve ordered was simply lackluster. The Pollo Peruano is quite deceiving. The portion is huge, and the presentation wonderful. - but it goes flat on flavor. The chicken is quite bland, and the potatoes were greasy. My colleague ordered the Arroz con Mariscos, which was far better than the Pollo Peruano, but was overrun with too much fish, and not enough shrimp or mussels. The second time I visited Aroma, I ordered the Aji de Gallina, which is pulled chicken cooked in a spicy aji amarillo cream sauce. At first taste, the dish was good. But then, I felt overwhelmed with the amount of cream sauce on the plate. It completely drowned my chicken, and was entirely too thick. I was unlucky with my dish, but my friends seemed to enjoy their Pescado Chino-Latino (Rockfish), and Lomo Saltado (sautéed beef tenderloin). Next time I’ll order what they had.

I was however, impressed by two items in particular – first, the Camarones a la Sarten, which I ordered as an appetizer. I recommend that dish of shrimp, roasted shallots, garlic, and green olives. The second item – the mojitoes. The Passion Mojito and Spicy Passion Mojito are to die for. This place really knows it’s drinks.

Overall, I haven’t written Aroma off my list yet. I’m going to visit this place again soon. I’m confident I’ll find a dish that I thoroughly enjoy. I have high hopes for Aroma. This is a neat little place to go to catch up with friends. Phenomenal drinks, great music, lively crowd, and a cute bartender!