02/10/09

Exotic Gourmet at a Reasonable Price

by EastVillagePrincess

I marvel at the fact I can get delicious, beautifully presented food for the price of an average meal. It was pleasant to walk into Nomad and basically escape into the North African world -- light tan walls decorated with lacy metal-worked and stained glass lights. I started with the chicken briwats which are flaky pastries filled with a sweet chicken and almond mixture. They were light, crispy and by the time I was done, I still wanted more. Also, portions are quite generous. I ordered the savory herbed calamari salad and found that it could've been a full meal if I wished. Since it was cold out, I decided to have a mint tea with the meal. It's served in a brass teapot which gets rather hot to the touch but the attentive waitress or manager was always kind enough to pick it up and refill my tea glass. I liked how they made me feel like a welcomed guess. The ambiance is relaxing too with the seductive beats of middle-eastern music in the background. Since I love cous-cous, I ordered the Cous Cous Royale for my entree. It came served in a traditional clay tangine. When the waiter took off the coned cover, I got a huge portion of cous cous with chicken, lamb and merguez sausage. The Cous Cous Royale also comes with a savory spiced red broth that you pour over the cous cous. It makes for an absolutely tasty combination. And of course, no meal is complete without wine. I saw that the wine list had Algerian, Spanish and French wines. I tried the wines and found myself to be partial to the Chateau Tellagh, an Algerian red wine from the Medea region. All in all, I was really pleased with the food and the pricing.

• Pros: Food, service

02/10/09

Best Ethnic place in East Village

by AnaSob

I went there for my friend's birthday party. The food was amazing, some of their meat dishes are prepared on the sweet side, like chicken briwats with almonds, sugar and cinnamon or lamb with prunes, sooo delicious. I am definately coming back for more and recommending it to anyone I know. Beautifully designed interior, moroccan lamps, cave drawings on the walls, perfect fot a romantic date. Waiting stuff was a little slow but compensated it with huge smile. I loved it, loved it, loved it.

• Pros: Food, ambiance, pricing
• Cons: Loud music

06/06/08

very verry good

by kolokol

this place is a very very good place h recommend this place is a very very good place h recommend

this place is a very very good place h recommend

03/15/08

Great food, great service.. a great night out!!!

by Rin4

We wanted to try something a little different so after scouring the net for ideas Nomad looked pretty good. We arrived at the restaurant at 8pm and were immediately welcomed and given a choice of tables. Our waitress (sorry I've forgotten her name) was lovely!! She was friendly, polite, knowledgeable, attentive and provided the best service I've had anywhere!! Pretty much everything on the menu looked great. Our waitress made a few recommendations and answered our questions.. For starters we had a sausage stew and prawns with chickpea cakes. Both were delicious but WOW the prawns were spectacular!!! I had the Lamb Tajine for main.. it was so tasty!! The meat was tender and the prunes and almonds in the stew were really delicious! My fiancee had the couscous royale which was also nice.. but not quite a nice as mine!! We were really full after all that food so for dessert we opted to share the biscuit platter and have coffee. The biscuit platter was a really nice end to a fabulous meal! They were all sweet without being too sweet and were light enough that they didn't leave us feeling over-stuffed!!! The restaurant its self was really cute.. The decor was in theme and the bathroom was very clean and tidy.

Overall we had a great experience!! Highly recommended!

• Pros: The service was EXCELLENT and the food amazing!
• Cons: There is only one unisex toilet

02/16/08

Traditional food, romantic place, pretty expensive

by andremina

A very romantic atmosphere on Valentine's Day, with African music and suffused lights. Good service and delicious traditional north African food. But pretty expensive for the range $21-$30.

02/12/08

house-made merguez frites, braised lamb shank, includes new world wines

by darkcrash

Get the merguez. We ordered it three times over two hours. Then someone suggested a merguez frites, and they put it on the menu like the next day! So they're open to suggestions. The lamb shank melts in your mouth. The seafood is passable. The service is great. The cutest bathroom and lighting, possibly, in the East village. There are like, cave drawings of bulls on the walls in the main room. OH, don't forget to try the traditional North African cookie platter. The chocolate covered one is my favorite. Finally, the tea service is great, whereas the bread is rather boring

• Pros: How many times do you and your friends get to go out for African food? Very classy staff.
• Cons: Boring bread service

01/10/08

Authentic North African Food

by qualityeats

Once back from Paris - home to amazing Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian food- my boyfriend and I had a craving for North African cuisine in New York. I couldn't be happier that we made our way to Nomad where we experienced better food than Paris' Latin quarter. Best dishes to complete the experience are the Chicken Briwats, Lamb Boureks, Merguez, and the Lamb and Prune Tajine. Go for the Tunisian bread & cookies for dessert. Their prices are so low you can over indulge with extra food and wine.

I'm definitely returning with a large group of friends.

• Pros: Great value and delicous food
• Cons: No hard alcohol

07/29/07

Good Effort, Lukewarm Results

by Chapaev

The restaurant was very cozy and pleasant, service unobtrusive and helpful. The food, with a low-to-average price tag had much higher aspirations. Unfortunately, it only succeeded in a handful of dishes, which was strange since the ideas and flavors seemed to be there. One of the best dishes was the peasant, hearty lamb merquez appetizer with egg and vegetables. The lamb was a bit crunchy, sauce a bit spicy and the eggs pleasantly silky. Shrimp with saffron and cilantro cakes, a more sophisticated dish, was also very good, if not the best of what I've tried. Unfortunately it arrived at the table much too cold. But it still tasted great. The octopus appetizer wouldn't be bad if there were more then 4 small pieces of (tender and smoky) octopus and less of everything else (oranges/fennel/sauce were a mess). Red Pepper soup of the day badly needed some nutmeg or any other infusion of flavor. Eggplant salad was just plain bland, the cherry tomatoes served were more savory then the salad itself. Lamb couscous wasn't bad, the lamb shank was juicy and nicely cooked, but again, not enough salt. Berber sauce was also very underseasoned and too soupy. But the biggest disappointment was the much recommended Seafood Bastilla..I've had enough of those, from New York to Granada, but never had one that was this tiny (appetizer sizes are usually bigger). and unappetizing. The dough was overfried, the seafood inside -dry and lacking spices. And that was kind of upsetting because if not for that dish I'd consider giving Nomad a second try.

• Pros: Good appetizers, very pleasant service and ambience
• Cons: Entrees mostly bland

07/15/07

Delicious North African/French-Inspired Food

by inloveandjoy

Went to Nomad w/a friend a few days ago for an early dinner (they aren't open for lunch). Sat in the private patio out back. This was my first exposure to North African cuisines. I had an assortment of appetizers - chicken briouats, lamb boureks, Moroccan crab cakes, and saffron grilled shrimp w/dime-sized chickpea cakes. Ea dish was beautifully plated, and the food was flavorful w/o being overwhelming. Definitely appetizer-sized portions food and plenty for me. My dining partner had salad mechouia and chicken and olive tajine which came topped w/what looked like slightly batter-dipped French fries. He enjoyed his meal as well. We both had the chocolate mousse for dessert. It had lots of tiny holes w/a surprisingly rich flavor. I ended the meal w/delicious mint tea. Nomad offers a small wine list w/choices by the glass and by the bottle. For an empty restaurant, the svc was a bit slow but very attentive when wait-staff were present. Our waitress, Nassera, was very helpful in explaining the different dishes and their countries of origin. Prices were reasonable and portions were normal (not too much; not too little). I highly recommend this restaurant and will return soon.

• Pros: Every dish was delicious and well-presented
• Cons: Svc was a bit slow at times

04/26/07

Different, Great, Comfortable

by mmwilson21

My friend and I went to Nomad for her 21st birthday and I thought we made a really good choice. Everyone was smiling, the staff was happy so we were happy, the owner was there working with his staff and was a very nice down to earth guy. The food was great and is something that you don't eat too often, making you wanting to tell people about it. Not too expensive for a good dinner, in fact the bill came up lower than i thought i would've been. The atmosphere alone is a winner for the place, makes you feel like you're really in North Africa.

• Pros: Ambience, Food, Service
• Cons: a little wait time for food