Nosh Bistro & Bar

I can’t rate this place bad. We are not going to eat. Just ended up having a cocktail. Didn’t get a good feel and our friend that joined us said we should try another place.

My husband and I dined here last night and had high hopes for this restaurant after reading the reviews and their website. It was almost 9pm and we were seated immediately (I had also called ahead). Our waiter come by within a minute or two but he just seemed… disinterested. We had to ask him about any specials and not only couldn’t he tell us about the wagyu, he didn’t offer to find out either.
We ordered the hummus as a starter. It was mild for my taste but still good and creamy. Beware that they charge you extra for pita bread but don’t tell you they’re going to. I noticed it on the bill at the end of the meal. To be clear, we didn’t ask for additional bread, this is just for what they brought with the hummus.
The rest of the meal consisted of a fantastic yellow and red beet salad, the grilled salmon on green leaves which was cooked perfectly and the lobster bolognese. It was served with pappardella and I did taste lobster but it’s cut so finely you can’t actually see it. I enjoyed it but wouldn’t order again for $ 26.
Ambiance and noise level was good, décor was generic (although I always appreciate seeing a Blue Dog!), portion sizes were adequate, food was tasty but pricey and service was meh.
Maybe I’ll try again for lunch sometime.

Had dinner last Friday and reminds me of the former nosh on oak lawn. I had the scallops and onion soup and we also had a mezzanine plate. Everything was awesome and the service was impeccable including the manager Jeff stopping bye and Avner in the kitchen. It is definitely worth repeating.

This cozy little restaurant gem, situated under the unnoticeable and humble «Nosh» sign in the Preston Forest shopping center, is easy to miss. But don’t let it’s simple exterior fool you. The food is completely excellent in every way! Try the tempura brussel sprouts. Try the calamari. Try their daily specials. Try their iced tea it’s really good! Try everything here! Keep coming back again and again and try everything! It’s all so so good!

If I had to sum up Nosh in one word, the word would be bland. Let’s start with the décor and design — yes, you got it, bland. The wooden tables and uncomfortable wooden chairs are more what you’d expect to find in your local deli, not a restaurant charging these prices. The floor plan is very open, the tables arranged in rows, with an icy blast coming through the door every time it opens. The open kitchen is tucked awkwardly into the far corner behind the bar above which the TV blares.
We were seated and given menus — food on one side, drinks on the other. The choices for wine by the glass are very limited, not a single Zinfandel for example, but I will say the Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc my husband and I both selected was pretty good, but then it is $ 14 a glass.
The menu leans heavily on Mediterranean style dishes, especially the appetizers, with lots of meze style dishes. Entrées are more eclectic, with the usual bistro style items such as scallops, short ribs, salmon, chicken and beef tenderloin. They also offer two lobster pasta dishes, a black lobster ravioli with langoustines and a lobster bolognese. In addition a blackboard on the back wall of the restaurant advertises the special dishes for the night, which on this occasion included a meatball appetizer and a grilled quail entrée. Two of my favorite foods are quail and lobster. So I decided to ask the waiter if I could get an appetizer portion of either the lobster ravioli or Bolognese, thinking I could get my lobster fix and then have the quail. But apparently at Nosh your wish is not the chef’s command. Upon asking him the waiter immediately replied that neither lobster dish could be served in a smaller, appetizer sized portion, but that I could order the ravioli dish as an appetizer given there were only five, half ounce ravioli pieces in the dish. I declined, not wanting to spend almost $ 30 on an appetizer, ordering the beet salad and quail instead. My husband opted for the meatballs and crispy duck confit. Our appetizers arrived soon after, the beet salad appearing as a tower of frisee atop which rested a dessert spoon sized piece of goat cheese. Hiding beneath the tower were a few large lumps of yellow and purple beets, with one or two small pieces of pecan. The beets were overly sweet, the dressing indeterminate, the goat cheese inadequate to the task and the frisee mound just plain annoying. I started dreaming about the excellent beet salad at Neighborhood Services to get me though it. My husbands four large meatballs rested on slices of toasted bread, swimming valiantly in a thick creamy gloopy sauce. Neither the meatballs or the sauce tasted of anything other than cream and the meatballs had such a smooth texture it was hard to believe there was any real meat in them at all. While we were eating our appetizers the waiter decided to noisily plonk down knives and forks in readiness for our entrées, leaning over and around us as we ate to do it. Then he attempted to whisk away my salad before I was finished. His over-​enthusiasm continued as he poured a glass of red wine for me, laughing and congratulating himself on only spilling «a little down the side of the glass». I’m not really sure I want to revisit my entrée dish, so I shall keep it brief. Chewy, stick to your teeth, tasteless gnocchi, some very wilted greens, a sauce that somehow displayed none of the spices and flavors it was meant to, topped with quail and — yes — a lot more frisee. My husband’s duck however was far worse — not confit at all, just a very plain, tough, duck leg with spatzle and vegetables. It’s really not hard to make confit of duck, but clearly it’s beyond the talents of the team in Avner’s kitchen. The best part of the meal was dessert — from the three options (yes, limited) we selected the bread pudding and the flourless chocolate cake. Neither were standouts, and the bread pudding would have been better served with crème anglaise rather than plain old vanilla ice cream, but at least they had some flavor.
We left, feeling very disappointed at the outcome of our wedding anniversary dinner. Neighborhood Services has nothing to worry about with this newcomer to the scene, it wouldn’t even feature as a fly in their ointment. The large number of empty tables on a Saturday night tells the same story. Let’s hope the next restaurant to occupy this space is better.

Great food, very healthy and fresh. Very tasteful and well prepared. The tempura Brussels sprouts are to die for.
Nice atmosphere, good for groups and also for kids.

My husband and I dined tonight for dinner and we started with the Hummus with Organic Olive Oil. It was very tasty and came with grilled pita bread (we ordered two additional servings of the pita because we liked it so much). We decided to share the Avner’s Mother’s Salad and it had a wonderful bite to it. For dinner, my husband chose the Seared Diver Scallops and I the Grilled Pacific Salmon on Green Leaves with a side of Truffle Mac & Cheese. Everything was cooked to perfection. We will be back next week.

Great place, great ambiance, great service. I will recommend to my friends.
And I will cam back again. To try the rest of the menu.
It’s small place. So try to made reservations on time.

We occasionally visited and always enjoyed Nosh on Oak Lawn. Thought we’d try out the new incarnation since it was closer to home in Preston Forest.
The soft opening was only last weekend, yet they operated very well tonight. Only issue was bringing out entrees when I’d only had a few minutes to consume the French Onion soup — rest of the time very attentive.
Food was good — halibut special was delicious. Short but varied wine list, both by the glass and bottle.
Net, look forward to returning and trying more dishes.

Always love when something new comes to our neighborhood. The good, impeccable service, great food and respectable wine list. The not quite as good, a bit overpriced for what you get and somewhat stuffy. Don’t come here with your kids. No kids menu and not even anything adaptable as sides.
We had the calamari which was delightful, a barely there crisp breading with a salt and pepper dusting lightly tossed with a bit of mango and arugula. And the lobster bolognese parpadella. Great flavor and texture overall but for $ 29 I would expect at least some detectable pieces of lobster.
Overall I would definitely come again and am glad for another nicer option in th neighborhood.