Nimbus Update

We've been to Nimbus twice in the last two months. The first time we had an awful experience with a group of noisy folks from the bar squeezing into the tiny table next to us (in a nearly empty restaurant) so that they could watch the sunset. It pretty much blew the romantic part of the evening, and one guy was so annoying, he even stood for a while between our two tables, just talking loudly & blocking my view of the sunset. So I wrote a letter to Nimbus explaining that I would expect waitstaff to not let a noisy group like that crowd in next to a romantic couple who've ordered wine & a nice dinner, and they actually apologized and sent us a gift certificate.

The first visit, we had filet mignon and spot prawns. Both dishes were great, although the cumin in the spot prawn dish was a little overpowering. I do have to note that as a commenter pointed out, Nimbus has pretty small portions. This rarely bothers me at a nice restaurant, I would rather have a small delectable portion any day over a huge less tasty one. But I know many many people who disagree with me on that point. So you are warned.

The last time we went, the food was spectacular and nasty, depending on the dish. My ribeye steak was great. It came with an odd cauliflower "hash" which was basically cauliflower with a creamy sauce on top. Not bad, and I thought I hated cauliflower. I thought it was a rather generous sized steak as well, definitely filled me up.

My husband opted for a sampler of starters. The "corn essence" soup was phenomenal. It was a bowl with fresh corn kernels, popcorn, kosher salt and a pile of roasted pepper mousse in the center. Then the waitress poured a sweet creamed corn soup over the top of it. Yum! The play of salty & sweet was amazing.

The disappointment of the evening was his "crab sliders". For $12, we were expecting some pretty tasty crab cakes, even if they were supposed to look like burgers of some sort. Instead, they were teeny tiny little 1 1/2 inch diameter rounds of what seemed like mostly bread with a few little bits of crab in them. They were super dense patties, not light flaky crab cakes. They were very dry, and there was just a tiny bit of sauce spread on a burnt bun of sorts. Practically inedible and we sent them back.

We decided to have dessert and I ordered a dense chocolate cake thingy, which my waitress informed me was like chocolate decadence in a coconut cream sauce. Kyle ordered the chevre cheesecake after the waitress assured him that you wouldn't even know it had goat cheese if you didn't already know.

First of all, my chocolate cake was SPICY. Apparently it had cayenne pepper. Which is fine, but for goodness sakes, that needs to be clear on the menu! Or my waitress should have told me. What if I hated spice?? The coconut sauce was awful. I don't know what was in it, or if it had gone bad, but it was tangy and made my tongue tingle, almost like buttermilk. Not at all what I expected.

We both agreed Kyle's cheesecake was nasty. The waitress still swears she loves it, but the texture was super grainy, like a floury paste and the taste.... like lukewarm milk sitting out a couple hours with a goaty aftertaste. Not tangy or sweet. Luckily it had a peach sauce & Kyle choked it down since we'd already returned one dish that evening.

So I officially have to NOT reccomend Nimbus. Some things are great & innovative, but their consistency has to be top notch if you are paying top notch prices. I would only go for drinks & maybe an appetizer or two to enjoy the view. I still love the view. Just be sure to send dishes back if you don't like them. And watch out for the noisy bar, if you are trying to be romantic ask to sit away from the bar.