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| - My husband and I went to NOCA for my birthday dinner on a Wednesday night. We had heard really great things about it, and we were happy with our overall experience. Here's how it was...
First the Pros:
The food and drinks were fantastic! Seriously, delicious. I had the Death's Door cocktail and my husband tried the Nocarita. Both were awesome. The Death's Door was a gin based drink (and I am not a fan of gin) that was perfectly balanced with just the right sweetness and alcohol-y goodness. YUM! My husband's Nocarita was also quite tasty. I preferred my Death's Door, but that is a matter of personal taste I think.
Our amuse bouche that night was a chilled pumpkin soup with hazelnut mascarpone served in a cute little espresso cup. It made the perfect first impression of what was to come. It was so flavorful, I could have had a gallon of it and been a happy lady. They should put that soup as a regular menu item, because I would go back to NOCA just for that!
For apps, my husband had the Simple Salad that was perfectly dressed and had a thoughtful variety of ingredients that elevated the ubiquitous green salad to something unique. I had the Bacon Chowder soup with Mussels that both tasted and smelled delicious. So, so, so good! Some really nice ladies at the table next to us even commented on how good my soup smelled.
For our main courses, I had the famous Lobsta Roll with Duck Fat Fries. Oh my! It lived up to the hype. My sandwich was comprised of big chunks of lobster dressed in a decadent creamy sauce, balanced with a slightly tangy corn and red pepper relish that perfectly complimented the lobster "salad". It was all nestled in a buttery/toasty roll, with the fries and a dipping aioli sauce on the side. The portion was perfect and satisfying. Really, I can't say enough good things about my sandwich.
My husband had the Rotelle with sausage and Tuscan kale. Again, it was delicious. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the sausage and kale were a perfect compliment. Sausage can sometimes be overpowering, but this wasn't at all. It was mild and flavorful at the same time. The pasta sauce was indescribably good. It was buttery and savory, and did not over-saturate the pasta. It was as perfect as a restaurant pasta dish can get!
For dessert, my husband had the donuts with three sweet dipping sauces, which were good. I had the Nocabar, which I preferred to the donuts. It was just the right size and tasted like a grown up version of a Twix bar on steroids. The Nocabar was the perfect ending to my birthday meal and did not disappoint. The grape flavored cotton candy was fun and a nice touch. We had commercially bought and packaged chocolate mints for our parting "gift". I think they ran out of the cellophane bagged house-made cookies that I saw people leaving with at the beginning of our meal.
Okay, now the Cons...
The service was not great. It was okay, at best. When we walked in there was not a host or hostess to greet us. Instead, we stood awkwardly at the door for a good 5-10 minutes waiting to be recognized. They were not that busy as it was a Wednesday night, which made it all the more frustrating. When we finally did get greeted and seated, there was no apology for the wait (we did have a reservation). Our server was nice, but not too attentive. She seemed bored. The course timing was paced appropriately and the bus boy did keep our water glasses filled. Overall, we were certainly not impressed with the service. I think NOCA needs to work on training their wait staff.
The prices were high and did not match the level of service we received. I don't mind paying for a quality restaurant experience, but based on my experience at NOCA the service made our visit less than what it could've been...especially when we got the final bill. IMO, if you are going to charge the prices that were featured at NOCA both the service and the food needs to sing. In this case, the food was worthy but the service was not.
Overall, I would go back to NOCA for the food. If they stepped up their service, then NOCA would become one of my favorite spots. I asked my husband to rate our NOCA experience before writing this review and I think his description was perfect. He said, "The food was 4.5 rating out of 5...the service was a 3 out of 5 at best."
As it stands, I have other places that I would want to check out before going back to NOCA; places that have both their food AND service dialed in. However, I think that if you haven't been to NOCA before it's worth a visit to check out the amazing food for yourself.
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