The vast majority of the people I follow on Twitter are from the UK largely because it’s a good way to keep in touch with what is going on back home. There were a number of posts from people who’d travelled over to New York talking about how good NoMad was. Not to be confused with Nomad, the Mediterranean restaurant in the East Village, the subject of their enthusiasm was NoMad hotel at 28th and Broadway, one block down from the Ace hotel. NoMad had been recently refurbished and the restaurant was under the aegis of Daniel Humm and Will Guidara, the owners of Eleven Madison Park. Meals were already booked for my upcoming trip so the only open slot was breakfast of the morning before leaving the city.
Come the morning of breakfast, the bright sunshine of the weekend had disappeared and been replaced by a torrential downpour. Luckily, my hotel was happy to give out umbrellas so the dash to the Subway was relatively dry. Living in Upstate New York where everyone drives everywhere, rain just means you park as close as possible to your destination and run to it from the car. This was the first time I’d seen widespread umbrella use outside the UK and it wasn’t just down to the tourists.
The weather had worsened by the time I emerged from the Subway at 34th Street so thunder and lightning was now added to the mix. Walking down Broadway involved sheltering under any available overhang just to get a break from the torrential downpour. Even so, the rain was much heavier than at the hotel so in the short walk to the restaurant the calves of my trousers were soaked. However, after arriving at NoMad, and being shown to the table, it was easy to ignore the lousy weather outside.
Come the morning of breakfast, the bright sunshine of the weekend had disappeared and been replaced by a torrential downpour. Luckily, my hotel was happy to give out umbrellas so the dash to the Subway was relatively dry. Living in Upstate New York where everyone drives everywhere, rain just means you park as close as possible to your destination and run to it from the car. This was the first time I’d seen widespread umbrella use outside the UK and it wasn’t just down to the tourists.
The weather had worsened by the time I emerged from the Subway at 34th Street so thunder and lightning was now added to the mix. Walking down Broadway involved sheltering under any available overhang just to get a break from the torrential downpour. Even so, the rain was much heavier than at the hotel so in the short walk to the restaurant the calves of my trousers were soaked. However, after arriving at NoMad, and being shown to the table, it was easy to ignore the lousy weather outside.
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Breakfast was served in the Atrium, an opulent, square room with curtains at the end closing off the entrance to the bar (unfortunately). The room consisted of four rows of tables with room for about 64covers. The dining room would be a really pleasant space in good weather because the glass ceiling would make the space wonderfully light & airy. Even with cloudy skies the glass ceiling was a nice feature of the room.
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Similar to Eleven Madison Park, the menu was placed under the flat napkin on the plate in front of you. Except I'd forgotten and sat looking oblivious until the waitress very gently reminded me. This was symptomatic of the service here. It was very polite and only stepped in when help was needed.
Based on the descriptions breakfast choices were all fairly typical breakfast items including fruit and cereal choices, pastries, egg dishes and more substantial options such as steak and potatoes. The tea and coffee menu was quite lengthy and hot drinks were prepared by a barista in a small cubicle off the main dining room. A nice touch was that the milk/cream accompanying the coffee was warmed.
Based on the descriptions breakfast choices were all fairly typical breakfast items including fruit and cereal choices, pastries, egg dishes and more substantial options such as steak and potatoes. The tea and coffee menu was quite lengthy and hot drinks were prepared by a barista in a small cubicle off the main dining room. A nice touch was that the milk/cream accompanying the coffee was warmed.
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My chosen breakfast was listed as hash – chicken, potatoes and sunny-side up egg. The dish was simple in presentation but everything about the dish worked. The hash had been cooked as cakes rather than the amorphous serving from your typical diner. Cubed chicken and potatoes were combined with thyme, tarragon, spring onions and mustard seed and fried. The combination of ingredients were classic and in this setting the flavours were wonderful. The side salad was also good including fennel, Italian parsley, dill, frisee and other greens. Both eggs were cooked right with no liquid white on the surface. Having two eggs was good, meaning one yolk could be pierced for the liquid to be absorbed by the hash cakes while the second one could be popped in the mouth whole to get a true appreciation of the yolky goodness. Start the morning with a dish like this and you can’t help but have a positive outlook on life.
Overall verdict.
I’m a sucker for a good Full English breakfast but I have to say this ran it a close second. One complaint though, the Stephane Grapelli soundtrack was fine to begin with but definitely grated after a while.
Would I revisit NoMad?
Breakfast was meant to be a test run to see what the restaurant was like. I would go back for breakfast any time. Based on the approach to simple early morning dishes, I would feel very comfortable about trying NoMad out for lunch or dinner. The proximity of NoMad to the Ace Hotel (Breslin & John Dory) means you have the basis for a pretty excellent drinks & bar snacks crawl.
Overall Rating - 3.5/5
I’m a sucker for a good Full English breakfast but I have to say this ran it a close second. One complaint though, the Stephane Grapelli soundtrack was fine to begin with but definitely grated after a while.
Would I revisit NoMad?
Breakfast was meant to be a test run to see what the restaurant was like. I would go back for breakfast any time. Based on the approach to simple early morning dishes, I would feel very comfortable about trying NoMad out for lunch or dinner. The proximity of NoMad to the Ace Hotel (Breslin & John Dory) means you have the basis for a pretty excellent drinks & bar snacks crawl.
Overall Rating - 3.5/5