Patrons that think Nola is the best place, should think twice and begin to consider finding a new place to go. Although the atmosphere is great, the service is less than exemplary. Today, on Thanksgiving, the waitress took 15 minutes to take our order and by the time the food came, we only had 5 minutes to enjoy our dinner. We continually to complain and the waitress turned to rude. She wanted us to sympathize with her in how she was overwhelmed in having to serve only two people, my friend and I. Finally, our thanksgiving dinner arrived. Up until that time we were calm and collected, even though, we had repeatedly told her to hurry. She brought two soups and only 1 serving of everything else - this was the 180rmb price. Poor service, extensive delays and attitude of the waitress prompted me to call the manager. Immediately. we requested to speak to the manager, who did not come; but, 15 minutes later, the owner showed. All she could say was, "Bu hao yi si." Then proceeded to charge us the 180rmb per person for the lunch. Since we were so late for lunch already, we requested that everything be packed up to go. We barely touched everything and had to go back to work. At that time, the waitress said she had told us from the beginning, but in fact, had been rude and everything but nice from the beginning. While they packed our lunch, it took over 5 minutes. We had to leave and return to the office.
The only thing that I want to say to Nola is - I hope your service improves in order for you to stay afloat. Your service needs vast improvement and your managements also needs to be revamped to meet everyone's 'professional' standards. If you do not, you are not far from failing and you will hear from everyone, "We told you so."
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Re: Thanksgiving at Nola Is Not What Is Cracked to Be
Had Thanksgiving dinner at NOLA last night. It wasn't the utter disaster Puchunguise experienced, but it wasn't a home-run either.
Firstly, the service - which seemed like the biggest failure in the previous poster's experience - was perfectly acceptable. It wasn't amazing, but it wasn't bad, either (especially by Beijing standards). They brought water, drinks, menus, food, cleared the table, etc in reasonable timeframes and were attentive. Granted, its hard to screw up a fixed menu, but its clear from the earlier post they are capable of doing so. Not with us, tho. A solid B.
As for the food, started with the Olive Tapenade. It tasted good... a nice blend of diced kalamata olives, topped with marinated onion with a hint of citrus. However, when they tossed the kalamata olives into the food processor or whatever, they clearly failed to pit several of the olives. Now... I know to be careful of pits if eating a whole olive, but when eating (essentially) olive puree, I don't expect to encounter molar-jarring pit shrapnel. It freaking HURT biting into those shards of pit... and it happened repeatedly... its not like it was one errant little piece. Freaking pit the olives, NOLA. Taste: B+, but overall, total dish FAIL due to it being nearly inedible without trashing my dental work.
Starter was a pumpkin/ginger soup or salad. My friend had the soup and we both agreed it was quite good, though it was very heavy. A nice flavor with a hint of ginger, accentuated by a little pesto drizzle. The salad was also nice - fresh greens, a well made vinaigrette, etc. My only complaint here would be that the ham (I'm assuming it was proscuitto, though it was hard to be sure) was cut as though they hired Ed Gein to hack at some pork with a chainsaw. It was far stringier and tougher than it should have been, were it properly cut. Overall, a solid B for the starters.
Dinner was Turkey with stuffing, pureed cauliflower, and a brocoli gratin, all served family style (perhaps why the earlier poster mentioned a single serving?)
The Turkey was a served on the stuffing, a nice combo of dark and white meat. It was smoked, though the smoked flavor was odd... not like mesquite or hickory. I honestly don't know what it was, but it was a bit charcoal-y. Not a bad flavor, per se... just odd. More importantly, though, the turkey and stuffing were both bone dry. Turkey's one of those meats that can turn out dry if not done just right and... well... this turkey was Gobi-esque. There wasn't nearly enough Gravy served with the meal to rehydrate it. C.
The pureed cauliflower was excellent, though we wished there were more of it than just one small bowl. Flavorwise, though, an even A.
The brocoli gratin had an odd flavor. Kind of like the smoked flavor of the turkey, it wasn't bad... just odd. B-.
The desserts were the only real standout of the meal. Little tart-sized servings of a pecan, pumpkin and key lime pie. All three were outstanding. A+ on that front.
Overall, a completely ok, though unexciting and unimpressive experience. I won't be rushing back anytime soon.
Re: Thanksgiving at Nola Is Not What Is Cracked to Be
Had Thanksgiving dinner at NOLA last night. It wasn't the utter disaster Puchunguise experienced, but it wasn't a home-run either.
Firstly, the service - which seemed like the biggest failure in the previous poster's experience - was perfectly acceptable. It wasn't amazing, but it wasn't bad, either (especially by Beijing standards). They brought water, drinks, menus, food, cleared the table, etc in reasonable timeframes and were attentive. Granted, its hard to screw up a fixed menu, but its clear from the earlier post they are capable of doing so. Not with us, tho. A solid B.
As for the food, started with the Olive Tapenade. It tasted good... a nice blend of diced kalamata olives, topped with marinated onion with a hint of citrus. However, when they tossed the kalamata olives into the food processor or whatever, they clearly failed to pit several of the olives. Now... I know to be careful of pits if eating a whole olive, but when eating (essentially) olive puree, I don't expect to encounter molar-jarring pit shrapnel. It freaking HURT biting into those shards of pit... and it happened repeatedly... its not like it was one errant little piece. Freaking pit the olives, NOLA. Taste: B+, but overall, total dish FAIL due to it being nearly inedible without trashing my dental work.
Starter was a pumpkin/ginger soup or salad. My friend had the soup and we both agreed it was quite good, though it was very heavy. A nice flavor with a hint of ginger, accentuated by a little pesto drizzle. The salad was also nice - fresh greens, a well made vinaigrette, etc. My only complaint here would be that the ham (I'm assuming it was proscuitto, though it was hard to be sure) was cut as though they hired Ed Gein to hack at some pork with a chainsaw. It was far stringier and tougher than it should have been, were it properly cut. Overall, a solid B for the starters.
Dinner was Turkey with stuffing, pureed cauliflower, and a brocoli gratin, all served family style (perhaps why the earlier poster mentioned a single serving?)
The Turkey was a served on the stuffing, a nice combo of dark and white meat. It was smoked, though the smoked flavor was odd... not like mesquite or hickory. I honestly don't know what it was, but it was a bit charcoal-y. Not a bad flavor, per se... just odd. More importantly, though, the turkey and stuffing were both bone dry. Turkey's one of those meats that can turn out dry if not done just right and... well... this turkey was Gobi-esque. There wasn't nearly enough Gravy served with the meal to rehydrate it. C.
The pureed cauliflower was excellent, though we wished there were more of it than just one small bowl. Flavorwise, though, an even A.
The brocoli gratin had an odd flavor. Kind of like the smoked flavor of the turkey, it wasn't bad... just odd. B-.
The desserts were the only real standout of the meal. Little tart-sized servings of a pecan, pumpkin and key lime pie. All three were outstanding. A+ on that front.
Overall, a completely ok, though unexciting and unimpressive experience. I won't be rushing back anytime soon.
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