The NoMad Bar
Su 5pm-12am; M-Tu 5pm-1am; W-Sa 5pm-2am
When I heard Piper, a 2014 summer intern at Manhattan Sideways, mention that she was going to check out recently opened NoMad Bar one evening, I asked her if she would like to share her experience with me for a the website. She was more than delighted and below is her detailed account of the several hours that she spent on 28th Street:
I enjoyed appetizers and drinks at the NoMad Bar with some friends visiting from out of town. It is a part of the larger, identically named hotel though it is apparently more casual than the restaurant – also called NoMad – the bar is still upscale. The interior is dimly lit and elegant, with mahogany-paneled walls and a working fireplace; it is saved from claustrophobia by high ceilings and a wraparound second floor that looks out over the downstairs bar.
The NoMad Bar is also trendier than its restaurant counterpart, with a younger crowd and a creative drinks menu many pages long that includes plenty of inventive cocktails as well as more high-end reserve spirits. That my party had to wait almost two hours for a table on a Wednesday night is a testament to the bar’s popularity and the quality of their food and drink. We were eventually seated upstairs and ordered a variety of drinks, including specialty offerings like the Needle & Thread (London Dry Gin, Absinthe, Vermouth) and the Army Navy (Tanqueray, lemon juice, almond syrup), as well as the classic Pimm’s cup. NoMad also serves ‘soft cocktails’ for customers who want the flavor of the cocktail list without the alcohol content; The “Cease and Desist,” with orange juice, cream, and orange blossom water is especially good.
The NoMad Bar’s website bills their menu as taking its inspiration from “traditional pub fare,” but the food is a long way away from the classic fish and chips that one imagines eating in a pub. We enjoyed several small dishes, including the snow pea salad with pancetta, pecorino, and mint – crisp and delicious – and the bay scallops with yuzu and pistachio, which came marinated, steamed, and placed back into their shells. The coup de grâce was the chicken pot pie with black truffle and foie gras, a reinterpretation of the NoMad Restaurant’s famed roast chicken for two. Its presentation was impeccable – the dish arrived steaming, whereupon our waiter broke the crust, stirred in the foie gras, and cautioned us to postpone beginning to eat for a moment in order to let it sink in fully. Once we had waited as long as we could, we dug in and were treated to a rich, intensely flavorful experience. When it was gone, we looked at each other, nodded, and promptly ordered another.
