NoMi Bound

I am headed to NoMi for my husband's birthday next weekend. Who has been there, and what do you recommend? I understand that there is an early bird fixed price three course option for $45.

We took my parents there for their anniversary. They had been there once before and loved it. This time, it was average, with one of the dishes being terrible. On the menu was a walleye pike with braised red cabbage, poached pear, and a chocolate-red wine reduction. It tasted like someone put Hershey's dark chocolate in the dish. It was terrible. Later, the waiter mentioned that it was a dish that they were experimenting with. You would think that a restaurant of this caliber would allow anything less than perfection out of the kitchen.

The restaurant takes itself way too seriously- there is no sense of humor at that place at all. The sommelier is snobby, and the waiters are distant. I get the feeling that if you aren't a regular there, you don't really matter to them.

The other entrees were decent. The lamb that my wife had was very average. There are a lot of choices in the Chicago area. I would consider going to Carlos' in Highwood, where the food is amazing and creative, and the waitstaff makes it a fun and unpretentious dining experience. Don't waste your time at Nomi.

Dined recently at NoMi.

View (especially the window tables) is wonderful, has to be one of the best in the city. Service was prompt but not the most amiable. LOTS of suits.

Appetizer of oxtail raviolis w/reduction was good, not great.

Main course of Monk Fish, clams, mussels, mushrooms, plantains with a coconut/lemongrass cream broth and ginger pancake got better and better the more I ate it. A very good dish but I made a better imitation at home the following weekend sans ginger pancake.

NOT a cheap place. $38 for most entrees. wines by glass $8-16.

When I go to a restaurant such as NoMi, I expect to see 2-3 appetizers and 2-3 entrees that will JUMP OUT at me and I'll have a tough time choosing between. That did not occur; I was talking myself "into" dishes. I don't know if it was the wording or the descriptions just did not click but I generally view that as a negative.

While waiting for my associate to arrive, I spoke at two different times w/two local (live downtown) couples who had tried NoMi more than once. Both had the same comment, it is expensive and they expected it to be much better. Both said the terrace is wonderful and not to missed for drinks when it opens.

Visited nomi last night. Had a wonderful table in the corner on the window facing the water tower. The blown-glass "chandeliers" were quite cool, and the decor and view are a big part of the experience without a doubt.

The amouse was a small bowl of chilled minced chicken leg meat mixed with cream (I believe)... The consistency was like good chopped liver and the flavor was like cold fried chicken. Quite an unexpected and tasty start.

We ordered a few pieces of sashimi, the yellow tail, some salmon and regular tuna... The yellow tail stood out, definitely first class quality. If I were to go back, I'd probably skip this step, it wasn't especially "special" imo.

I started with a Foie Gras créme brulee. Very unique, strong flavors. A thin layer of the foie, I'm assuming mixed with some cream to make more of a paste (unsure), then topped with sugar and poppy seeds and blowtorched. Pretty fantastic dish, I did away with it very quickly. A little salt was served on the lip of the plate as well.

My main course was a "milk-fed" veal tenderloin (isn't most veal milk-fed?), served with fried sweetbreads, and foie gras over freshly made penne. There was also a nice foam served on the plate, but I don't recall its makeup. The tenderloin itself was good, but it wasn't extrodinarily tender, a bit stringy really. The knife they gave me didn't have the testosterone to cut through it cleanly until I got towards the middle. On the other hand, the sweetbreads were perfect, and I made sure to include a little bit with each bite of veal. Also outstanding was the pasta-foie gras combination- there was a lightly applied rich, demi-glace-type sauce over both. The pasta was perfect, long strands of uncut penne (perhaps it has another name, but you get the picture) reminded me of the pastas I had at spiaggia. I'm assuming it was house-made. The foie was a nice lobe, seared and scored on one side, creamy rich in the middle. As good as it gets for liver, which is to say, nearly as good as food gets. The dish was decadent to say the least. But I'd expected no less from the description on the menu.

We ended with a cheese plate (didn't catch the descriptions, but one was a creamy sheeps milk cheese in a small rammekin, one a veined goat cheese with rind, the other a rich, creamy, deliciously runny cow's milk cheese) and I had the chocolate-pistachio "cake". The pistachio was a light creamy almost-foam and the chocolate was brilliantly shaped into a dome w/ chocolate antennae.

Service was solid. I had a couple Bookers neat, but the table ordered a Sauvignon Blanc that was raved over. Palliser Estate, Martinborough (NZ). One complaint - and it has been mentioned once in the thread before - the menu was small. And two of the entrees were "for 2", a beef tenderloin and a whole roast Turbot, further shrinking the choices. It's a small complaint, but it just struck me that I was essentially choosing from 5 single person entrees I believe. Minor complaint tho, not a big deal as the entree I ordered seemed custom made for a offal and veal lover.

It's steep, and it's tough to compare it to the prior incarnation since I never went, but I thought it lived up to my expectations, and was far from the stuffy/pretentious anachronism I'd heard it called in the past. I left happy and on a food high like one would expect after going to a first-class upscale restaurant. I'd love to go back someday...

FWIW I wanted to add a comment to this particular topic. The husband works for a Fortune 500 based in the Chicago area and their board of directors were in town last week for several rounds of meetings. The last night everyone was in town, dinner was at NoMi in a private room. Apparently the consensus was how mediocre the food was and how incredibly bad the service was. Even though the menu had been preplanned, several of the people in attendance asked if they could get a few pieces of sushi. When the host asked the server if he could please have some sushi prepared and simply add the cost to their tab, the server balked, replied that they had not ordered the sushi in advance, and was not sure if he could grant their request, even though only several people were ordering it. The server said he would check with the kitchen. When he came back 20 minutes later, he said that it would be an additional $10 per person and were they sure they still wanted it. The host was totally surprised that getting him to grant a request like this was akin to pulling teeth.

They did finally receive their sushi, but the rest of the evening continued down the same path. Apparently any time anyone made a request beyond having their wine refilled or a plate set in front of them or cleared, the staff disappeared sometimes remembering to fill the request, sometimes not.

I have been to NoMi two times:

- Three years ago, I liked it a lot. My (future) wife and I ordered some sushi off the menu...I think you could order a variety of sushi that was not necessarily on the menu and it was outstanding. Very, very pricey though. I think that sushi combo plus two bottles of wine set me back about $300.

- Went there for lunch about two months ago and was less impressed. Very noticable "snob" factor and as others have stated, the service was sterile. Didn't have much to offer during lunchtime and what I had was only average.

For what it's worth, I've heard very, very good things about RL (Ralph Lauren Rest.) nearby, so maybe that's an alternative?

rdstoll wrote: - Went there for lunch about two months ago and was less impressed.

Rdstoll,

It's our tradition to go out for a very nice lunch on New Years Eve day and my wife and I, with another couple, had one of the more perfect lunches of our lives at NoMi January 31st.

Pristine sashimi, with real wasabi, scallop tart, with leek jam, lovely Black Sea Bass and a trio of sorbet that simply blew us away with intensity of flavor, just to name a few dishes.

Couple this with terrific service, beautiful interior, corner window table overlooking Michigan Ave and the original Watertower, a few leisurely bottles of Marlborough Drylands Sauvignon Blanc and you have a perfect, at least to my mind, special occasion lunch.

Enjoy,
Gary

I have dined at NoMi over 10 times with my family on speical occasions (holidays and bithdays) - requested and usually got a window table. In winter, with snow and the lights below, the ambiance is perfect.

I was there twice with business groups (at least eight) and the service was great. I do not think this is a good place for a large group - expensive and not really greared up for this.

The bar is really cool and it is a great place to entertain. I am disappointed that the bar is still smoking and it is really smoky. I have been going to to restaurants that have non-smoking bars and really love it. The terrace is really cool in the summer and I have found the service is great there as well.

Along with NaHa, this is one of my favorite restaurants dowtown.