NoNO Kitchen

I am a gastronomic snob and a chef, so I am not picky when it comes to food , but I am definitely judgmental. I have eaten at the best restaurants all over the US, so believe me when I say that NoNos is FANTASTIC!!! It starts with soft, sweet, warm cornbread that you get when you sit down. My boyfriend ordered the BBQ Pulled Pork Poor Boy with Cole Slaw(of which he is a connoisseur), and I ordered the 1/2 order of St. Andrew's Ribs. We both actually licked our fingers and our plates clean. Both dishes were made with the restaurants own home made BBQ sauce. The Pulled Pork had a taste bud tantalizing sprinkling of Tarragon with the perfect amount of BBQ sauce and the rib meat, smothered in BBQ sauce, was so tender it slipped right of the bone, and the coleslaw had a delightful hint of horseraddish. Then we, as always, ordered dessert. We had the Pecan and Sweet Potato Pie with Bourbon Sauce, and all that was heard in the SECONDS that it took us to eat the HUGE piece was, "mmm! MMM!" The crust was just sweet enough but not too sweet. The Sweet Potatoes were cooked perfectly, soft but not mushy. Then the Pecan Pie layer was crunchy and soft, and we happily ate bite after bite sopping up the Bourbon sauce that was like caramel with the smokey sweet kick of Bourbon in the background. The service was superb. Our server was honest, recommending that we not order the chicken because it was a little dry that night, and knowledgeable of the ingredients and cooking processes of what was being served. She was friendly, helpful, and, most importantly, didn't leave our food dying in the window. The New Orleans-esque atmosphere was lovely as well. The walls are adorned in the way that proud grandparents decorate their walls, with pictures of their staff and various famous food chefs as well as stars and directors who had visited the restaurant. All that and the prices are fair, not cheap but not outrageous.

Pros: price, portion, flavor, service
Cons: no bar, pricey wine by the glass

Crawfish etouffee has been my favorite food since I first was in New Orleans in 2002. Living in NJ, I miss Cajun cooking, and I'm not in New Orleans nearly enough. I can honestly say, though, having just had my etouffee in March in New Orleans, that NoNo's is the real deal. I was in heaven, what with that, an appetizer of popcorn crawfish, and a New Orleans microbrew. I'll be back, preferably every week.

Pros: Amazing food, terrific staff, great service.
Cons: None that I noticed.

I went there for tonight for resturant week and it was wonderful. Thank goodness I made a reservation although I did have to wait a bit but it was worth it. You have to have the grits and shrimp. Fantastic!!

The only draw back was it was a bit loud and kind of hard to hear our waitress especially with her heavy accent.

Pros: Great Food
Cons: Noisy, but it was Friday Night

The food at NoNo Kitchen is Excellent. The chicken is moist, the yams are delectable and the collard greens are tasty. This is the best bbq I have tasted thus far in Brooklyn. However, I only rate this restaurant three stars because the service is really that bad. The servers were rude and unfriendly. In true southern (confederate) fashion, the white waiters sat down and enjoyed their dinners while the latin chefs/bus boys worked hard behind the scenes. The waiters almost seemed annoyed when you asked them to help you with more water, the check or extra sauces. I recommend this restaurant, but ONLY for take out.

Pros: Excellent Food
Cons: Extremely Poor Service, Dark Lighting

Brunch was pretty busy but there were free tables...it wasn't packed so we're not sure why the service was so uneven. We got our cup of gumbo (which was average at best) 10 minutes before our drinks (it was only tea and iced tea). We requested tea from 3 different people...including the creepy, pretentious host. The gumbo was room temperature. The catfish stew was very very tasty and the blackened tofu salad was also very good and spicy. We had the sweet potato pie for dessert and it was awesome too...but the icecream on the side was mostly melted by the time they got it to our table. I'll cut them some slack because the food was pretty good but it was either late, too cold or too warm due to the suspect service. We live a half block away though and the small bar looked like a nice place to have a drink so we'll give them another shot.

Pros: Catfish dish, warm cornbread opener, sweet potato pie
Cons: Suspect service, not quite spicy enough (dare I say, they need to kick it up a notch?)