Anybody Been To NoMi Recently?

Any recommendations?

NoMI
Park Hyatt Hotel, 7th floor
800 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
312-239-4030

I went for lunch recently - had a fantastic meal. Seriously, it was better than my dinner there last year, which I thought was quite good (during the post-Gamba era, most people were down on them at that point). But the lunch was amazing - had a fantastic scallop tart with truffle oil. Fish was all very fresh and tasty. My lunching companion had the watermelon soup, which I believe is off the menu now - but that was one of the better, surprising tastes I'd had all year.

I think I might just like NoMi more than most...

Gamba was big on white truffles from Alba. Do you know if the new chef will be carrying them this season?

My team and I had lunch there this summer and it was really good. The dining room and view are hard to beat.

DML wrote:Any recommendations?

DML,

I was last at NoMi for pre New Years Eve lunch*, slightly dated, weigh my opinion accordingly.

I very much enjoy NoMi, not simply for the food, which I find excellent under the 'new' chef Christophe David, but for the overall package, location, service, view, the overall feel, including entering through the hotel, riding up the NoMi elevator, walking through the bar where you are not that likely to see Tommy Lee, Yo-Yo Ma or Lee Iacocca, past the vest pocket sushi bar breaking into the main dining room with open kitchen, two story picture windows with perfect view and, to top it all off, literally, exquisite Chihuly chandeliers.

Sushi, sashimi is among the best in Chicago, pristine fish, real wasabi, artful presentation, which paired beautifully with a Drylands Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, as did the scallop tart.

Scallop Tart


Sushi


Ama Ebi (Sweet (raw) shrimp)


Ellen is wild about capers, halibut presentation was perfect for her.


Jan's wild about chicken, perfect roast Amish chicken w/lentils her choice.


John and I stayed with sushi/sashimi the complete meal.


Desserts were quite good, but nothing will match the goat cheese gelato I had 4-5 years ago at NoMi, creamy, tart, multilayered flavor, one taste and I was seeing the Chihuly chandeliers from eye level.

Trio of Sorbets


Tea service is not to be missed, Green Sea Anemone unfurls in a clear pot yielding a mellow earthy forest flavor.

Green Sea Anemone Tea



And of course the 7th floor view.


Sushi Bar with Chef David in background.


We must have looked uncommonly happy as we left as we seem to have piqued the interest of those around us.


Enjoy,
Gary

*12.31.05

Hopefully, it is better than it was a couple of years ago. Most of our dinners were mediocre, but mine sucked. It was a walleye in a wine/chocolate reduction with pears that tasted like someone poured Hershey's syrup over a fish. After recommending it, we were told that "the kitchen was still experimenting with it" and that they were still working on perfecting it.

Back in college, they would pay you if you volunteered for an experiment.

The service was pushy and arrogant. We had a clearly bad bottle of Turley but the wine steward continually tried to pour it into glasses.

But the view was great.

ADORED the fois gras brulee (had in the spring for brunch)

leek wrote:ADORED the fois gras brulee (had in the spring for brunch)

I too had NoMi's Foie Gras creme brulee and it might have been the best foie gras presentation I have ever tasted.

As a side note, for anyone out there who has not tried it since Chef David came aboard, you might want to try it again. I think it has improved considerably.

leek wrote:ADORED the fois gras brulee (had in the spring for brunch)

BR wrote:I too had NoMi's Foie Gras creme brulee and it might have been the best foie gras presentation I have ever tasted.

Please allow me to add my voice to the chorus of praise for NoMi's foie gras creme brulee which made it just under the wire onto my 2007 top ten list.

Foie Gras Creme Brulee w/Macadamia nuts and Sea Salt


Four of us celebrated the upcoming new year with lunch at NoMi and I continue to be enchanted by the overall package, service, view, room, food NoMi presents. Lunch can be surprisingly reasonable, given context, with design your own three course prix fixe for $40 or less depending on entree.

Salt and Pepper NoMi style



Enjoy,
Gary

My wife took me back to NoMi for my birthday late in December.

Outstanding.

Service, of course, was exceptional.

I started with a black truffle risotto. Expensive at $65, but well worth it. The top was covered with truffles. We splurged on a half bottle of Krug, and it paired beautifully. My wife went with a scallop appetizer which was equally exceptional (and a deal at around $20).

For the main course, I had a dish with three pork products, which went very well with a Rhone red. My wife went the lobster. Both were out of the world.

Desserts were also very good and were very creative.

This is one of the high end restaurants in Chicago where the service never fails to impress me. Our food has always been quite good to excellent, but always they seem to nail the service.

If you want an upscale meal, I beleive your money is best spent elsewhere. I had a very mediocre experience here food wise this may. The service was impeccable, but the food was just totally and completely lackluster.

Does anyone know if the $40 prix fixe lunch menu is available on weekends? I can't tell from the website. Mrs. Davooda and I will be in the city later this month and have dinner plans already, but NoMi for lunch is beckoning...

Thanks in advance!

Davooda

Davooda wrote:Does anyone know if the $40 prix fixe lunch menu is available on weekends? I can't tell from the website.

312-239-4030

Davooda wrote:Does anyone know if the $40 prix fixe lunch menu is available on weekends? I can't tell from the website.

Since the website shows a Saturday brunch menu and a Sunday brunch menu, it's unlikely. But if you're really curious, G Wiv's suggestion will tell you for sure.

We were there for the first time ever last night. Put me down in the "spectacular" column.

Aside from the Fois Gras any recommendations as to what is truly spectacular (for dinner) here?

Townshend wrote:Aside from the Fois Gras any recommendations as to what is truly spectacular (for dinner) here?

I'd imagine that any foie gras dishes are no longer on the menu at this point.

*sigh*

Pete wrote:

Townshend wrote:Aside from the Fois Gras any recommendations as to what is truly spectacular (for dinner) here?

I'd imagine that any foie gras dishes are no longer on the menu at this point.

*sigh*

Correct- we've been to the lounge quite a bit in the last 3 months and there's no foie anywhere to be seen.

Townshend wrote:...any recommendations as to what is truly spectacular (for dinner) here?

OK, well, my dinner Friday night consisted of 5 divine, petite Nantucket scallops lined up on a piece of flatbread for an appetizer; followed by a divine piece of turbot that had a delicate brown crust that gave the taste impression that the whole piece of fish had been somehow toasted, circumferenced by five perfect round daubs of brown butter foam. One of our party started with a roasted chestnut soup that she shared tastes of, and, sure enough, not just the intense flavor but somehow the intense experience of roasted chestnuts was there in each spoonful. Service was perfection, table was awesome. So glad we finally got there.

Thanks the meal sounds spectacular, have my mouth watering already!