Salmon with Burre (sp?) Blance sauce was broken during last July 4th lunch visit. A broken sauce is straight up laziness. Clearly had new butter nuked into it as it was left over from the night prior. If the kitchen can't make/ keep fresh & properly prepared sauces during hours of operation, hiring managers need to look elsewhere for kitchen staff. The place was nicely full of patrons so it wasn't simply poor attendance that encouraged a lazy, careless hand with sauce .
Fast forward to a recent visit, on a weekday for a late lunch:
I was seated at a bar table whose top was AS sticky as was the menu, both sides.
After trying multiple times, I was obviously able to free said menu, now turned off to my visit.
Ordered Chèvre ( goat cheese) "crostini" " with blueberry compote and bacon lardons", per the menu description. Love Chèvre; love a crispy, crunchy crust and a somewhat pillowy interior, laden by pockets of trapped air.
When the dish arrived, I felt duped & peeved for $10.
Four TINY, 1/3 of an inch tall, thoroughly crunchy ( think more like an old school Melba toast crunch) pieces of what ate/ chewed like stale bread. The slices were very slight in height and were a max of 2.5- 2.75 inches long/ wide.
The "Chèvre" , by sight alone, was barely swiped onto the would-be crouton bread ( definitely NOT "crostini") in such a barely-there manner that I was so regretting not trying another restaurant.
No tang, no real Chèvre flavor except entirely too salted; I've not experienced salty Chèvre, ever.
Let's not forget the "lardons" of bacon.: Zero lardons on the plate. Nuked, standard bacon at approximately one curled- up inch per crouton slice topped the needlessly salty cheese.
The gulf coast ubiquitous fried shrimp AND accompanying French fries were not seasoned with anything just out of the fryer.
Shrimp were a generous size and maybe six or seven on the plate; they were also hot.
The fries were heavy and mushy which, I know means that the fry oil wasn't allowed to reach max temp , in what was a sadly truncated fry fry. Ugh, they were definitely colder than the shrimp which in turn, leaves the diner struggling how to salt a cool pile of French fries ( can't season if the kitchen doesn't pay attention & season
AS fried foods emerge from the fryer).
Ive spent a few hundred dollars @ Nicks on my visits & given the place opportunities to demonstrate that the kitchen cares AS much about the experience of the lunch or mid afternoon patron, as evening diners.
Only rarely do I seek a comp & I did not here because given enough chances over the past two-ish years, Ive determined that I will not return to Nicks, any longer.
It's an early aughts bayside restaurant with plenty of indoor and out, seating.
Pop Rocks of satellite radio sets the vibe such that if you're over 45ish, this music is nicely familiar without feeling dated.
Servers are attentive & try to make small asks, happen sans making the patron feel like a pain in the rear.
It's a good enough place to fill your belly & nothing terrible about it.
As dining out becomes increasingly more of a luxury, the $65 for an app, a fried entree, & two glasses of vino for a single patron, will be better spent doing serious due diligence as where next to dine for a kitchen that shows its' care for the quality of food execution. read more