August 3, 2007

Restaurant Reviews - NM Cafe

I was in the partially renovated Neiman’s picking up Ed’s pants the other day and wishing that the restaurant was open. Thankfully, it and the shoe department are back. And before I get started, the shoe department is AMAZING and then some.

The old Zodiaq is now NM Cafe. It is downstairs and has been completely redesigned, plus has an all new menu. Also, the basement has a new entrance/exit to the outside and a new public restroom. I have a weird obsession with the design of public restrooms (TMI?) and this one is rather good.

Marilyn and I went in despite the extreme cold. And that is no exaggeration. It was cold to the point of goose bumps, chills and teeth chattering. Two other tables complained while we were there. I think the store is still having issues with air system, because the manager tried to turn the air off and it kept coming back on.

On to the food. NM still serves the popover and chicken broth, don’t worry. But the butter came out and it could hardly be spread. All restaurants should be told not to store butter in a freezer. I got the she crab soup to start and the BBQ chicken sandwich. Odd combo, I know. Chalk it up to the cold. The soup was so good. It came with crouton with a dollop of red caviar on top. Plus, there were large chunks of lump crab meat throughout Not your average bowl of soup. The flavor was some of the best I have had in a long time. The sandwich came as a chopped chicken BBQ on an herbed roll. Surprisingly, it is one of the best I have ever had. The also had a large fruit salad and homemade potato chips on it. I tasted the chips which were decent. After the soup I only ate half the sandwich, unfortunately. Marilyn got the Meditterranean Nicoise salad. She also loved her dish.

Here is the thing though. Out of the three tables that were within ear shot, we were the only ones that had a good experience. True, our service was questionable, but I am not holding that against them due to being new. The other tables were complaining about the food. I watched the manager come over to each and apologize. Not sure what up, since I am one of the pickiest people around when it comes to this kind of a thing. But, we do recommend going from our experience despite our fellow diners.

There is a bar to sit at and eat too. From what I was told there is full bar service. One thing not to do is to have one to many and then go stroll thru the Manolos and Louboutins. Not wise.