Lunch at Nadia's Bistro
A couple of weeks ago I had lunch at a new restaurant
in town.
Nadia's Bistro features Mediterranean
and Indonesian style food
as well as American food.
The chef is from New York.
It has taken me this long to post
because I didn't have my camera with me that day
and had to take these pictures with my iPhone.
Then I couldn't get the pictures to load onto
my computer.
I finally had to text the pictures to the Foodie Daughter
and then she emailed them to me.
Convoluted.
But it worked.
It was fairly quiet the day I was there,
but it was also later in the afternoon.
The lunch menu.
I asked for ice water with lemon on the side.
I got lemon on the left side.
I wanted it on the side.
Not on the side of the glass.
I also had to wait nearly five minutes for a straw -
after I had to ask for one.
A basket of freshly baked bread, both whole wheat and white,
was brought out along with a plate of extra virgin olive oil
with dried herbs.
This was nice.
I was told that the specials of the day were a soup and samosas.
I ordered the Brisket Philly Sandwich,
which was a "super tender Angus beef topped with
caramelized* onions and Swiss cheese. Served with fries."
The online menu notes that the chef keeps a secret stash of
cheese-whiz in the back if desired.
*By the way, it would behoove any restaurant
to carefully proofread their web site to catch any errors
as the description for this dish read "carmalized."
I asked that the fries be served extra crispy.
Instead, they arrived barely crisp.
In fact, the first one I tried was still slightly frozen.
Fail!
I had to ask for catsup for my fries
and again it took nearly five minutes for
the server to bring the catsup to the table.
The sandwich was very good,
if not particularly authentic,
as I do not believe that Swiss cheese is the cheese
of choice in Philly.
But I'm in B-town, so that's okay with me.
Towards the end of my meal
the hostess brought a survey to my table,
asking that I fill it out so that they can improve
upon their service and the restaurant.
So I let them know what I liked:
the sandwich and
the friendly and knowledgeable staff.
I also let them know what I didn't like:
the lemon on the side of the glass,
the wait for the requested items,
the not-extra crispy fries and
the fact that they had used frozen fries
instead of hand-cut potatoes to begin with.
However,
I do believe that overall this place has potential
and it can be good.
I will give it another try
- in a few months.
