Upon entering the inside of The Nook, a restaurant located off Butler Street in lower Lawrenceville (not to be confused with Point Park’s community kitchen The Nook,) I was offered to dine in either the front room or in the back room. I sat in the latter. The back room was wooden, contrasting with the brick front. To the right of where I sat was another building, separate but still attached to the one where I entered that seemed to hold the kitchen.
I wondered about the building’s history when I took a sip of the caramel latte ($5). For the wooden parts of the building were not a part of its original architecture. The coffee’s underlying bitter, sour flavor made me wonder. Had I finally gotten accustomed to drinking something that didn’t need lots of sugar to taste good?
In addition to the coffee, my waiter, who had a big Cheshire cat grin, sat a large glass bottle of water on the table to fill one of the two empty cups that was already sitting there.
After my meal was placed on the table, I stood up to take photographs of the $14 chick’n waffle, $14.99 Nooks Burger and $14.50 meat lover’s omelette.
The omelette was very disappointing. And perhaps it’s because I’m the problem. I don’t like my eggs to be super cooked. It wasn’t burnt or over cooked, it just was a little over done.
The closer to the center that I ate, the more moist it tasted. I concede that the inside was warm and cheesy. Yet, the scattering of meat on top allowed a processed juicy ham flavor to seep into and flavor the eggs. Not only would this omelet’s appearance trigger someone with trypophobia, it triggered my childhood memories.
Once again I was brought back to the time that I became severely nauseous while eating a ham flavored hot pocket on a ride to grandma’s house. There’s just something about the flavor of cooked ham juice that doesn’t go well with many ingredients.
For what it was worth, the omelet shouldn’t have cost $14.50. It was fine, it didn’t taste bad, but I didn’t like it.
Although, I could justify that price for how tasty its side of home fries were. The little square fried cubes were small addicting bites. It also came with a side of toast that was not overdone, but toasted to an adequate texture.
On the other end they nailed their chick’n waffle sandwich.
It’s composed of a cut-in-half waffle, positioned like bread, with a chicken breast placed inside. The chicken was very moist and the outside crust was thin and crispy. It had a baked flavor. The waffle, as a top bun, was crisp and, as a bottom bun, was soft from trapped steam.
I wished that both sides had a crispness, but at the fault of science and the way of its plating, that wasn’t possible.
The chicken sandwich came with either shoestring fries (which were terrible, cold and dry) or a fresh tasting salad, with tomato and a sweet vinaigrette.
As for the Nooks burger, its half-pound angus meat made a thick patty that was placed on a thick lightly toasted pretzel bun. Together with the American cheese, lettuce and garlic aioli (the tomato, onion and pickles were removed) it served to be a beast of a sandwich.
It was filling and tasty in contrast, once again, to the shore string fries served on the side. Ask for ranch to calm the starchyness and you’ll be surprised with a small spicy kick to it.
When I finished and asked for the bill (and multiple boxes) I encountered a Burgh Bite’s first. My waiter asked if I did food reviews. I was a bit taken aback by the question, because if I answered yes I didn’t want to receive any special treatment. That would defeat the purpose of the review’s raw experience.
Although, I’m surprised that it took this long for a restaurant, or any waiter that i’ve been served by to ask or realize why one person is ordering such a large quantity of food all for themselves.
So is it worth visiting? I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here, but that’s perhaps because I ordered the wrong items. If you’re in the area, it’s worth a try. They have a large breakfast selection ranging from savory to sweet.
