Restaurant Review: Nook

Cindy and I had visited Nook for the first time over the summer. As the name of the restaurant implies, it's location is literally tucked away in the corner of a plaza. Sandwiched between a carpet store and a cell phone store (I think), you would have never guessed that a restaurant of moderately chic decor resides in the same neighborhood. I say "moderately chic" because the interior sports the modern wood-and-metal design yet the ambience gives no discriminating airs.

My apartmentmates and I arrive for our 6:30pm reservation were promptly seated. Nook remains to be a small restaurant and we were able to snatch one (the better, I say) of only two booths. Remembering how good the food was from the summer, Cindy and I had recommended to the other two flatmates that Nook be the place of our end-of-fall-quarter-"suck it, finals!" dinner celebration. I was excited to try the fall menu and pretty much knew what I was going to order from a study of the menu days before. Yes days.

From left to right, starting from the first row: crab cake appetizer, chicken paillard (paillard means something that is pounded flat), gulf shrimp and sausage, pork chop and finally artic char (a type of fish). I ordered the artic char, a fish that I had never seen nor tasted before (I was going to post a picture of the fish but decided not to after seeing how unremarkable it looked on google images). Anyway, it was panfried and served on a pool of Tabasco butter. The char had a flakey texture and tasted like a combination of salmon and a white fish (let's say mahi mahi for fun). Tabasco butter gave a nice kick in the flavor and the overall preparation was very satisfying. Everyone in the party was stuffed by their generously-sized entrees. We bitched and moaned about feeling too full for a bit. Then naturally, we proceeded to order dessert--their chocolate/banana bread pudding. Dessert was excellent. I'm not normally a big fan of bread pudding because of its sheer density but I was a fan of this one. Maybe it's something about melted chocolate that just makes everything it touches amazing.

Overall, I highly recommend Nook for their cozy atmosphere, reasonable prices, and large portions.

Price: ~$25 (+tax, for entree only)

Rating: 9.5/10 (delicious +)

Nook
11628 Santa Monica Blvd #9
Los Angeles, CA 90025