Bistro Nora

The rating here is really 3 ½ stars but I’m rounding up!
I’ve been to Bistro Nora twice now for brunch, and both times I was met with amazing amazing service. The owners are so nice and the wait staff is super friendly and polite. Lovelovelove!
Meanwhile, the food was good and tasty but nothing to write home about. I’ve had the eggs benedict and the BLT and Avocado sandwich. Coffee is decent.
Great place to take a friend for brunch on the UES that doesn’t seem to overwhelmingly crowded or obnoxious.
Notes: They’re good with groups — one of the times I came here was with a group of 8 and the service was awesome. Also, they’re super accommodating. Some brunch places are super strict about no substitutions or changes. My friend didn’t want a side but wanted another ingredient in her omelette, and they were glad to grant it to her!

Shocked by the reviews on here!
By far the best burger on the UES. Always perfectly cooked, fantastic flavor, generous portion, fresh, and delicious.
If you haven’t checked it out, you should and you won’t be disappointed.
P. S. The mashed potatoes are delightful

Just had dinner here tonight for the first time. I thought Bistro Nora was excellent.
I had the Gazpacho Soup which was a special for the night. I honestly thought it was one of the best Gazpachos I’ve had out in years. I highly recommend that they consider adding it to their regular dinner list.
My girlfriend had the Cobb Salad. She loved it. I tasted it and thought it was great.
For my dinner I had the Duck Confit. Ok … it wasn’t the best duck confit I’ve ever had, but it was good and I wouldn’t hesitate to order it again in the future.
Bistro Nora also has a nice bottled beer list and a good selection of wines to choose.
I really enjoyed Bistro Nora and look forward to the opportunity of going back again.

I wanted to try this restaurant since it opened. Now that I have, I can describe my dining experience with one word — DISAPPOINTING! The food was bland — like hospital food. When I had to send back my iced tea because it had a chlorine/​chemical taste, I should have know that the meal was going to be less than great.
We had:
chicken sesame bites — tasted like bland plain fried chicken. The honey mustard didn’t compliment, it overpowered.
whole wheat pasta with vegetables — tasted like it didn’t have any seasoning/​garlic at all. Just plain pasta with oily vegetables.
pulled duck sandwich with hoisin mayo and pickles — it tasted like a pickle sandwich. What little duck there was, had no flavor.
Mac n Cheese — the box kind tastes better
Cheese quesadilla — bland
The service was okay and the restaurant was clean. That being said, we won’t be coming back.

This place has solid american fare, nothing extraordinary. It’s usually never crowded, so it’s our go to spot when we have to do an impromptu dinner/​brunch with friends. The service is pretty friendly.

Great brunch spot. It sucks that it has to suffer from construction of the Q line, but it’s doing well nevertheless.
Pros:
* If all the wait staff is as phenomenal as our waiter, they’ve got a great crew. Our waiter was timely, approachable, and quite the comedian.
* 2 for 1 breakfast cocktails. Awesome.
* Nice interior with gorgeous natural lighting pouring in.
* Decent portion sizes (not TOO big)
* Prices are a pleasant $ 3 – 5 cheaper per entrée than most brunch places in the UES and UWS.
* (Most importantly) the food was nummy. I ordered the French toast. The slices were perfectly «soggy» in the center but had nice, crispy edges. I love the type of bread they used, whatever it was.
* Great music. I felt like they had stolen my iPod!
Cons:
* Limited options for healthy eaters :)
* I would have loved to see them use fresh peach purée/​juice in my bellini!
* The «home fries» would have been more successful to us with another name. They were tasty, but they weren’t «fries.» My friend was expecting fries, and therefore was understandably disappointed with what she actually received, which resembled mashed potatoes more than fries. The actual recipe is very unique and clearly something the restaurant is proud of (our waiter recommended it to her), but I think a new name would do them well.
Overall, I loved this place and would come back, especially if I were in the mood to throw back multiple breakfast cocktails!

Bistro Nora suited what I was looking for on a Saturday night for dinner with my dad. Not too crowded. Fresh but not overly adventurous food for a picky eater. Not too loud.
Am I in a huge rush to come back? No, but the food was good and the service was nice. Good, safe choice for when family is in town.

We waited for a very long time without being acknowledged. Finally got a staff members attention. We were blocking the door and told him we would sit at the 2-​top in the front that needed to be cleaned. Sat there for 20 minutes without being acknowledged with someone else’s dirty dishes still on the table.
I like to see new places do well but I will not return to Bistro Nora.

We went here the other night expecting a decent meal post Sandy. As soon as we walked into the restaurant, it looked as though a hurricane and just came and went: many dirty open tables, not enough staff to clean, dirty occupied tables and a nasty dinerish atmosphere. Unfortunately, we had no other dinning choices as the area was packed with refugees. The menu was extremely random: italian, mexican, american, chinese and french, which is never a good sign.
The wine we wanted was out of stock so we ordered some pinot noir the waitress suggested. Now, my friends and I are not picky at all when it comes to wine, we will drink ANYTHING. This wine was undrinkable! For a red wine, it was not very red and bubbly! We ended up finishing the wine as my friends and I are lushes, but did not order a second bottle! We went with Malbec for the second bottle, which was fine.
As for the food:
I ordered the black bean chili which was the highlight of our experience in general. This had a lot of flavor, hearty portion and the sour cream was a plus. For the main meal, I ordered the Cobb salad. This left a lot to be desired, as there was mostly lettuce and not enough of the good stuff advertised (chicken, cheese, portabella mushroom, tomato). My friend ordered spaghetti and meatballs, which seams pretty harmless right? Well, I think had we whipped out a can of Chef Boyardee, she would have been more satisfied. The (meat)balls tasted as nothing like meat and unfortunately not of breadcrumbs either. They were extremely rubbery, please see the picture as we couldn’t even break them apart by pressing vigorously with a fork. They were obviously frozen and microwaved, how disgusting!!! How do you mess up spaghetti and meatballs? This was Honey Boo Boo style «SKETTI»! My other friend ordered a quesadilla, which actually didn’t arrive until the rest of us had already finished our meals.
Service:
Horrible service, as mentioned above they forgot an entire person’s meal until the end. Additionally, they tried to over charge my friend’s credit card by $ 15.
Needless to say, we won’t be returning!

Servers are very kind and nice to you, but food is …
Meat ball spaghetti was awful. Over cooked pasta and very tough meatballs.

I wanted to like Bistro Nora but unfortunately I’ve had 2 negative run-​ins… Still, I’m hoping that I haven’t really been able to experience what this restaurant MIGHT have to offer.
I first ordered delivery from Bistro Nora due to the positive reviews on Seamless. I got the turkey burger & fries and I don’t have much else to say except that it tasted really bad :(I’m a big turkey burger eater and am not too picky when it comes the preparation… but this one had a really funky smell and taste to it like the meat had gone bad. I gave up after one bite and just ate the fries (which were okay).
This weekend, I made a reservation for 3 people at 3:00 at Bistro Nora for brunch. I heard they have a solid brunch with a great drink deal (2 drinks for $ 4.95). I didn’t think I’d need a reservation for 3:00, but made one anyway.
When we got there it was crowded but not completely packed. We stood at the host stand for about 5 minutes before a man came over and answered the ringing phone. We continued to stand there while he appeared to be arguing with someone about a late delivery. Then, still not even acknowledging us, he topped a busboy from cleaning a table and very rudely told him to get out and make some delivery runs. Still, not acknowledging us, he came back to answer the phone again. After he took another delivery order, he disappeared into the kitchen and never came back. About 15 minutes had passed with us awkwardly standing in the small doorway.
Enough for me. We left and i doubt I’ll go back.

Waitress was pleasant and very helpful. My bf and my friend ate with me at around 6 o clock pm. I had the fish tacos, which is made from a Vietnamese catfish, Swai. The fish was marinated very well and it tasted really good. Sweet potato fries was fresh. 9oz burger was okay. the fresh fries was okay. And they included a pickle. A good selection of beer on the menu. Everything was decently priced. But there was nothing spectacular. It was okay. Oh the one bad thing was the bread rolls given to us. It tasted a day old. We asked for another basket that was warmer, trying to hint maybe fresher ones. But we just got bread that tasted like it was a day old heated up.

I was CRAVING a Cobb salad so badly one day, and after a quick review of restaurants in the nearby area, I settled on Bistro Nora to satisfy my craving. I ordered for delivery.
The order came pretty quickly. I started digging in. The salad was HUGE. They had forgotten the bacon, which I was slightly sad about, but it was still delicious. It was too much food for me to finish the whole thing. The vinaigrette dressing was yummy. The grilled chicken was moist and tender. I seriously enjoyed every part of this meal.
This is definitely going to be my new Cobb salad place haha

I made a reservation Sunday morning for the next available time via Open Table. We got there and waited for about half an hour, but it was worth it. I didn’t have much expectations, seeing the décor reminiscent of Americanized Asian restaurants. It was bizarre and strange.
Our waitress was genuinely friendly.
Of course I had to get my usual salmon eggs benedict. I wish they came with more choices of potato things, but I had the homefries which were okay. They claim their sweet potato fries to be the best, but I’m not the sweet potato type.
I sliced my poached egg in half, in the style of Master Chef, pretending to be judging the degree of egg runny-​ness. Who am I kidding, these were perfect.

Bistro Nora was good! You should give it a shot for brunch. Two breakfast cocktails for $ 5 — how do you not like that? I saw them make the mimosas, and they gave a healthy pour. The food we ordered was good if not particularly memorable. I will be going back to try more.
On a Saturday around 1:30 the place was nearly empty, so a wait shouldn’t be an issue even if you have more than a few people.
Really my only complaint is that the BLT + avocado was quite tricky to eat. My avocado squirted out of my sandwich and landed on the floor — right in front of the waitress. Her response? «So sad!» Then she walked away. Ok, my fault, but considering it was clearly my first bite could she not have asked the kitchen if they could spare $.25 to give me another slice? Come on.

Absolutely effing delicious. I was so glad to see this place gradually fill up during dinnertime, as I had heard that the massive construction along Second Avenue was hurting some small businesses, and I would definitely want this place to stick around for as long as possible.
The high points:
— The french onion soup. For the rather hefty price tag of $ 6.95, the portion is not huge, but it’s probably one of the better french onion soups I’ve tasted. Broth was rich and chock full of onions, the layer of soaked bread had unbelievable flavor, and I ate all the cheese on top, despite the other dishes that I ordered. Ask for a complimentary bread basket and dunk their sliced baguettes into the soup for a meal in of itself.
— Chicken taquitos. I wish they had given more than 4 for $ 9.50 because I could have eaten all of them by myself: crunchy shell, hot toasty chicken and cheese inside, topped off with a dollop of sour cream and extremely fresh guacamole, and a bite of their salsa, which contained a surprising amount of heat. Would order this again in a heartbeat.
— Roasted chicken. It is indeed the size of a small African country: once you crack open the roasted skin, the most beautiful aroma of tender chicken comes billowing out. The medley of spring veggies was overcooked to the point that a sad little pile of mush was formed on my plate. Duck fat potatoes did not taste that much like duck fat, which left me a bit disappointed. Dammit, I want each mouthful to taste duck fatty!
— Service. Our waitress was kind and helpful, even though she and I think two other waiters were in charge of running the whole restaurant floor during a busy Wednesday evening.
The low points:
Other than the veggie mush, I really can’t think of any. This place is awesome.

I wish I lived in the UES so I could be a regular here. I normally give a great restaurant four stars but because this place delivers, I will give them a very special five star rating. I couldn’t believe a restaurant with food this good would deliver too. I am so sad I don’t live in their radius.
Everything was so reasonably priced and delicious. I couldn’t believe how much good cheese and fruit we got on the cheese plate. The chicken taquito and crab cake apps were both great. My tuna with avocado salsa was so freaking good. I wish I could eat it everyday.
I’m going to go back to try more dishes the next time I’m in the UES. Absolutely perfect.

Came here for dinner with a group of 3 and with
gift certificates. Definitely worth it.
We had fried calamari, some kind of salad with Asian pear, min crab cake balls, NY Sirloin Steak, and Grilled Salmon.
The best dish of the night was the salad with Asian pear, every bite reminded me of a childhood bubblegum flavor. It was awesome and nostalgic! That’s the reason for the 4 stars. A dish that instantly reminds you of your childhood is definitely worth trying again!
The calamari didn’t impress me at all. The sauce tasted watered down and a good portion of the dish felt soggy. The steak was cooked to perfection but nothing in its flavor profile wowed me or made it different from any other place. The salmon was slightly over done but it didn’t taste burnt.
For dessert we had the apple crumb pie and some kind of tart, forgot the name. I preferred the apple crumb pie, it was basically apple pie a la mode. Ice cream was flavorful and rich with vanilla bean flavor. The tart was too sour for me.
Service was excellent and I loved the décor. Reminded me of what would be in a fancy plantation house.
I would definitely recommend coming here with the gift certificate. You’ll be full and satisfied with the bill.
Not bad for an Asian owned restaurant cooking American type food.

Very nice addition to the neighborhood. Along a strip of 2^nd Ave in the Yorkville /​UES area there are an abundance of bars and restaurants offering brunch deals. We decided to try out Bistro Nora recently and are happy to say that they do a pretty nice brunch.
First of all, the sign outside advertising two-for-one’s brunch bloody mary’s and mimosa’s did help lure us in. The inner lush in me couldn’t resist! Good strong bloody mary with a kick to it — they way I like it — nice and spicy. Of course, we went for a couple of rounds to take full advantage of the drink special! Gotta support our local businesses, right?
The brunch menu offers many of the standard items you will see at most places, but at a very moderate price point for the quality of food served up. Omelets, frittatta’s, lemon pancakes, french toast, BLT sandwich, etc — all around the $ 10 range.
I had an egg white omelet with roasted tomates, goat cheese, and mixed green salad on the side for $ 10.50. Mighty tasty with very little oil or butter used. Even the salad had a light and delicious balsamic based dressing on it. You can’t go wrong with a filling and healthy meal to offset the booze we were drinking!
We also had the fried egg BLT with bacon, fried egg, tomatoes, and iceberg lettuce on toasted sourdough with a salad on the side for $ 9.25. At first glance the bacon was not cooked crispy as ordered but our waitress had no problem taking it back and quickly fixing it. Really good breakfast sandwich overall. Both plates we ordered were a hearty size too as they don’t skimp on the portions for the price point.
Service was attentive and friendly enough. The décor is kind of odd at first glance. It’s like a mix of Chinese restaurant and diner, but quite nice, clean, and casual. Compared to many of the spots close by Bistro Nora offers a terrific value for brunch with above average food for the prices they charge. Looking forward to trying it out for dinner soon too, and worth a shot if in the area.

Fantastic lunch deal at this plain-​Jane neighborhood spot.
For $ 12.50, you get a huge and well-​constructed sandwich, plus salad or fries, PLUS a beer.
The good: Attentive service, crispy sweet potatoes fries, everything fresh and attractive. The grilled salmon sandwich was moist, tasty, and served warm. An unusual and delicious sandwich.
The disappointing: The atmosphere really does feel like your local Chinese restaurant, or possibly a nicely renovated diner.
More troubling, the pulled duck sandwich was hobbled by a lack of flavor. I wish the duck had been duckier and hoisin-​mayo had been hoisin-​ier. It was a good sandwich, but the combo of duck+hoisin+scallions+tomatoes+pickles+ciabatta should have been orgasmic.
I would like to come back for dinner and see if the food improves. As it is, Nora is still a good choice for a quiet, casual lunch. If Nora can step it up, it would succeed in a neighborhood that needs reasonably priced options.