nick and tom's

i hadn't been to nick and tom's in ages, so when my mom and her friend diane (my second mom) suggested it for dinner the other night, i was game. i was also pretty curious to see if the addition of keno would change the milieu of the place.

the place was pretty packed, but we were seated right away and i ordered a glass of robert mondavi private selection pinot noir. unfortunately, the glass came out and had lipstick on the rim, which, as diane pointed out, wasn't my color. our server was very sweet and apologetic and brought another glass.

for a starter, i ended up with the soup of the day, mushroom. my husband had ordered potato soup, but was brought the mushroom. our very sweet and apologetic server brought him another cup and left the mushroom at the table for someone else. the soup was cream based and stuffed with large mushroom pieces, but the flavor was a little flat.

for dinner, i opted to have the appetizer of portabella mushroom, shrimp, tomatoes, onion and cheese. i felt like something small and light. i also ordered a side of mashed potatoes, which kind of defy small and light, but i wanted to see how they tasted.as you can see in the photo, it's pretty much drenched in oil. it was also super garlicky. i had a hard time finishing it for these reasons. the mashed potatoes were real potatoes (which can be hard to come by on the westside) but a little dry.

my mom and diane had better luck than i did. my mom ordered the mediterranean pasta and diane the southwestern, loaded with beans and cheese. both of them enjoyed their entrees. brian had prime rib, which he said was good, especially considering it was only $17.

in my mind, no meal is complete without dessert. at nick and tom's, it was the blackberry cobbler that caught my eye. it wasn't too sweet, but i also discovered i prefer crisps or streusels to cobblers. i like the crumbly top better than the biscuit-like.

brian was enticed by the brownie. it was pretty intense - covered in whipped cream and crumbled reese cups and roughly the size of lichtenstein. he practically licked the plate clean.

overall, i would say the experience was mediocre and i think it will again be ages before i darken nick and tom's door. unless i pick up keno.