The Nook

Date
5/6/09

Location
On the Pavilion end of the Downtown Mall
415 East Main Street

What I ate
Chicken noodle soup, BBQ-basted meatloaf sandwich with fries

Who went
Kasia, Erik, Matt, Xander

Thoughts
The Nook is the Downtown Mall's "classic diner" offering. It has the hallmarks - breakfast, a variety of options, an emphasis on sandwiches - and adds in some flair with some nicer entrée options and a decently-sized dessert menu. Unless there's more seating, the place is really small; I know they do have seating outside, weather permitting. They probably have decent capacity, but the tables feel relatively cramped together. That said, with quick, friendly service and a few other employees (cooks?) milling about and talking to other customers, the place had a nice, homey feel.

My soup was tasty, but nothing out of the ordinary. Pay attention, this will be a theme. It had nice, big pieces of white meat - I'd imagine a soup and salad would make a pretty filling lunch - but was like so many other chicken soups I've had before. That isn't to say this is a bad thing, especially since one of the comforts of a diner is the familiarity, but just an observation. My piece of meatloaf dwarfed the roll on which it was served to the point where I couldn't see the bottom piece of the roll without lifting the meatloaf. It was a really big piece of meatloaf, but the bun was small and boring; it felt like they bought an 8-pack of rolls at the grocery store and tossed it on the grill for a minute to give it a little bit of texture. I guess it's a step above picking up the meatloaf with my hands, though. The meatloaf itself was good, but a little bland. Since it was a sandwich, I like the drier piece and the hint of smokiness was delicious, but the whole thing was just too dry. There was barely any BBQ sauce and what was there was all along one side. You don't have to drown it in sauce, but maybe a cup on the side or a stronger baste would have made the sandwich significantly better. The fries were crisp, light, and really tasty.

No one had any dessert, though the milkshakes tempted more than one of us. Also, I'm intrigued by breakfast, but don't think I'll ever find myself in that area when it's time to eat breakfast. Look for comments from everyone else. The sense I got from listening to them is that they make a good macaroni and cheese and need to learn how to make sweet tea.

Recap
Pros - Varied menu, filling portions
Cons - Dry sandwich with a small and wimpy bun, apparently bad sweet tea
Overall - A solid but not spectacular option. With all of the specialty places on the Mall, it's nice to have an "American and Varied Menu" option with good variety. It's definitely worth a visit if you're a regular on the Mall, but I don't think there's a reason to become one of the regulars.

Also - thanks to Matt and Kasia for coming with me to the Downstream Project reception and screening, even before they knew there would be food.