NOtaBLE - A Culinary Delight
Well, I have to say, from the moment I called to inquire about our larger group until the last email I received from their customer service manager (more on that later), NOtaBLE has exceeded every expectation I had.
Of course, the initial 'plus' for this restaurant was that, while they could only manage a group of 12 people, no more, they did not force upon us a set menu - yay! They did, however, request a $100 deposit from me to be returned during our visit in the form of a gift card to use for that evening's meal. This seemed reasonable to me, as it would be unfair to the restaurant to cancel a large table at the last minute when it could have been used for someone else (this did not appear to be a problem to them, though, as the restaurant was packed, people lined up out the door, and more coming with each passing hour).
Another aspect I appreciated for our dinner was that, while I had requested 12 seats, only 9 people showed up, and NOtaBLE did not charge me for the missing people nor did they say or do anything to denote their annoyance about this. This type of attitude generally shows itself in the tip our group gives at the end, so I know we all were happy with our experience.
Our waitress, whose name I have of course forgotten, was fantastic! I wish I could name her here, but maybe she'll remember us from that night! She was so positive, bubbly, and attentive, and never seemed upset if she came by to ask questions and the conversations just kept right on flowing. I do apologize to her if we ignored her one too many times, but she did a fantastic job of getting our attention when required! She happily repeated specials and provided great wine suggestions depending on whether we were considering chicken, fish or red meat. She didn't try to upsell us to the most expensive wines, either, but kept the range relatively close to our original request. She was awesome, by far one of the best servers I have had in awhile.
NOtaBLE has on its menu an "Inspirations" section, which I believe changes each month. When we were there, they were focusing on menu items they plan to serve when their new 'nose-to-tail' pub opens up in Inglewood shortly. This place will be called The Nash, and will feature more of Mike Noble's fabulous creations. One item available was a 78 oz steak, meant to be shared by two people. Apparently it was extremely great!
Bryan is a huge fan of scallops, so he had to try the Scallops with bacon, Romaine hearts, and cheese for an appetizer. The scallops were quite tasty, but of course I avoided the bacon!
For dinner, the draw for me was the Rotisserie Half Chicken, served with a spicy butternut squash risotto. Honestly, the smell of the chicken cooking when you walk into the restaurant really makes it hard NOT to order the chicken! I was not disappointed - the food tasted as good as it smelled. That risotto was amazing - I wish I had the recipe!
Bryan could not remember what he had ordered so when his food arrived it was a bit of a guessing game for all of us. The final conclusion was that he had ordered the rack of lamb, which was incredible.
Dessert was a must, as well, even though I really did not need it after all the initial food! But,we chowed down on our chocolate cake and some type of pie concoction straight to the end! Once in awhile a great dessert really does hit the spot, and NOtaBLE's offerings (which change each month as well, from what I can tell) do not leave you disappointed. I love that they have a variety of desserts because I am simply not a fan of chocolate.
I alluded to the gift card I was to receive from my $100 deposit earlier in this post; in the excitement of our dinner, filled with conversations and catch-ups with friends (congratulations Jen and Gerry on both your engagement and the pregnancy!), we forgot to ask about this when it came time to pay. Two days later I remembered the deposit, double checked my credit card statement and found that they had taken the money, and instantly emailed and called the restaurant asking what could be done. Having had some troublesome experience with money at other establishments, I was a bit worried nothing would happen with my request. My initial email and phone call were not returned immediately, but the second day, I received both a lovely, polite message as well as an apologetic email from the customer service managers. Getting my $100 deposit back was so much easier than I thought it would be that I do have to give a shout-out to how well this was handled. For this, and our great service, along with the fabulous food, I would highly recommend NOtaBLE to anyone looking for a great meal!
Here's to another successful dinner club event!
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