Nook

My siblings and I have been coming to Nook for years, we love the staff, food, and ambiance. As our favorite restaurant in Hells Kitchen /​Manhattan, we are so sad to see these guys go. Hope they reopen somewhere soon so everyone can experience the awesomeness.

I’m giving Nook four stars instead of five is because Nook is apparently cash only and the wait staff only told us that once we got our bill. Also, note that this restaurant is very tiny and is not good for large groups.
The pasta I ordered was delicious and the waiter was very nice, but my favorite thing about Nook is that it is BYOB! I would love to come back again soon!

Got a chance to eat at nook again a couple of weeks ago. Once again I was not disappointed! The food was amazing, as it has been every time I’ve been there over the last 10 years. The host/​waiter Ray was great! I sure hope they keep Nook open.

Waited outside 20 minutes for brunch at noon on a Sunday. Small (tiny) nook aptly named. Intimate, cozy milieu with just a sole server. Good coffee, very crunchy-​crusted bread, really tasty bacon scrambled eggs with yummy mashed potatoes and delicious salad. We ordered a side of mushroom sauerkraut pierogies that were the highlight of our meal. Unfortunately, the eggs Benedict were a major disappointment. The muffins were burnt, the ham charred, and the hollandaise sauce all but nonexistent. «Our bad» for not sending it back but getting the frenzied servers’ attention was too much of a challenge.

You’ve been warned: this place is very, very small and if you come past 10:30AM, you’ll have to wait for a long time. In the cold. Or heat. Whatever season you’re in.
I wasn’t expecting to, but I fell in love with this quaint restaurant. It has the most basic brunch. I had an egg scramble with bacon, scallions, and tomatoes with salad and mashed potatoes and all of it was only $ 9! It’s interesting because although it sounds a lot, it wasn’t. And that’s not to say it was a bad thing — I was pleasantly full. Not — oh god I’ve eaten too much — full, but just full enough.
My friend ordered eggs florentine and hers looked delicious! So I’m pretty sure you can’t go wrong here.
The host here is amazing and so good at what he does. He doesn’t need to write down what you need — just watch him as he takes down your order. He pauses, thinks for a couple of seconds, then simply says, «Okay.» Then he walks away. And he brings out your correct order. It’s great.
Also, if you’re thinking: omg this place is way too small for a public bathroom. You’re right and wrong! There is public bathroom, but it’s is in the back in the kitchen. And I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t expecting it, but damn that bathroom is fancy! Just say hi to the cooks as you’re walking by and you’re good to go.
Would I come here again? Only if I found myself in the city before 11am… Past that, I would avoid this place during brunch hours. Only because once you’re inside it’s cozy and the host doesn’t rush you! And as soon as brunch hours hit, a huge line is formed and it’s just too long of a wait. Also, in the winter, it’s FREEZING because no one closes the door. So just be prepared to wear a winter jacket while you’re eating.
Cailin’s Recommendations
— Egg scramble with bacon, scallions, and tomatoes with salad and mashed potatoes: $ 9
— Egg Florentine: $ 10.50

Fantastic cute little brunch place. Perfect before a Sunday matinée without dealing with Times Square. This place is extremely small so have a back-​up brunch place if the wait is really long. Also, don’t come here with large groups. It’s mostly ideal for just 2 people. I think it also might be cash only.
We had the latkes with smoked salmon on top and the tomato/​spinach/​goat cheese hash. Both were excellent. The prices are reasonable, food is high quality, and the service was fine. Basic brunch food without all the expensive Manhattan frills with a little European flare. I’d love to try the perogies and someone next to us had the tomato soup which looked and smelled delicious.
Highly recommend this little gem.

Real great food, very friendly, cozy place. Only minus: had to run to a ATM due to the fact they don’t take credit-​/​debit-​cards. Would still recommend!

The restaurant is one of the small insiders’ tips. The owner is very friendly. Food is awesome and the value for money is good. Please notice that credit cards are not accepted; only cash.

One of the better meals I’ve had in this city. I came here for brunch a while, which was really good and decided to try here this place for dinner. I walked in roughly 7:30 on a weekday night with one other person. We got there just in time because several other parties walked in immediately after us and the place was full.
They started off with some bread which was decent. I ordered the balsamic steak with rosemary fries. The fries were amazing. They were crunchy, but not too crunchy. And the rosemary flavor on them… amazing. I could have these everyday for every meal. The steak was one of the better steaks I’ve had as well. The portion of the steak was very generous. The balsamic reduction was very flavorful. I was stuffed by the end of the meal. We did finish our meal with an apple pie a la mode. It was a deep dish apple pie so it was different, kind of like lasagna but in apple pie form.
Do try this place out. you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. They take reservations, but for dinner only. Not for brunch. Can’t forget to mention this place is BYOB, so stop by the liquor store before coming in.

Such a friendly staff, nice vibe and people and, most importantly, a super good food! (I admit it, I got a 30 mn foodgasm). I got the swordfish which was a much bigger piece than expected and that was perfectly cooked. I got two free wine glasses from leftovers wine (customers can bring their wine) and everyone was super nice. The prices are very reasonable for new York regarding the quality of the food.
Strange that such an amazing place is not more crowded! If they fix the door (people tend to leave it party open) I would put six stars

Food was good, we started out with the mushroom cigars and pierogi (sauerkraut & mushroom ones were the ticket) as an app. I had Tuscan Chicken with brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes wife had brussels & tuna tartar off the app menu. We are tourists and didn’t know this place is cash only & byob. Its a small place, maybe seats 20max, service was good Bart was very attentive giving use a bottle of water and sliced Italian bread & butter when we say down.

Delicious food!
Pros: Delicious food (both brunch and dinner), BYOB
Cons: The restaurant is too small, no restroom

Stopped in here after the Blue Dog Kitchen Bar quoted us 20 – 30 minutes wait even at 10am. Nook, as all the other Unilocalers have mentioned, has been accurately named. It’s literally a square 10×10 room barely fitting 9 deuce tables in total. That said, if you want to have any privacy or space while dining, you’re probably better off somewhere else.
Now for the food:
Potato and cheese perogies — They weren’t terrible but I would pass on these if I came back. A bit bland but I’ve found that perogies in general have not been my thing.
French toast with raspberry coulis — Pretty good but nothing that stood out when compared with other upscale brunch type restaurants and no variety/​different flavors and tastes to choose from.
Eggs Florentine with Smoked Salmon — Pretty good at 3.5 stars. One of the eggs was just a tad overcooked and I like my eggs runny and gooey. The onion mashed potato side however was a very unique mixture and I definitely enjoyed that.
Service was nice. It was only one guy serving but he did have some help running food from the kitchen. Oh and another tip. Come with cash! They don’t accept credit cards.

1 star for service, 3 stars for food.
I took a couple out-​of-​towners to Nook last night after seeing rave reviews about it from my fellow Unilocalers. However, the food for me was not mind blowing and the service was basically unbearable and rude.
A group of 6 of us were seated immediately, as there was pretty much nobody else in the restaurant as we arrived. The guy? boss? working there was leaning over his little counter staring at us like we were taking too long to order — I even asked him if he thought we were taking too long, in which he replied «I figured you guys would be hungry». The entire time, he made strange faces and gave off this vibe that was just off. Apparently, this restaurant is «cash only» even though there is no signage that we could see that stated that anywhere. Some of us had to run around scrambling to find an ATM or borrow money. He also gave us crap for wanting to split our bill and had to split it by hand on paper! Don’t people have computers these days? Or maybe that’s why it was cash only? Not sure, but the display of customer service was subpar and the food took quite a while to reach our mouths.
Now that I’m done ranting about the service, let’s go on about the food. The prices are quite reasonable here, to be honest. I got the rack of lamb, he got the Nook burger, and we both shared the mushroom cigars.
The bread here is delicious!
Mushroom cigars — for $ 10, these things are TINY. It’s like the size of a single spring roll, cut into pieces. Not worth it, in my opinion, but they were quite tasty what with the mushroom and goat cheese mix and all. Didn’t taste too much of the truffle oil, though.
The SO said the Nook burger was just okay, but the fries (I had some, too), were delicious.
My lamb rack was not very gamey and actually didn’t taste all that fresh. It had a sweet Thai marinade to it and kind of tasted like Korean galbi. The cabbage and brussel sprouts were good, but all of it tasted like it had been simmering in butter. You get 3 lamb chops in this dish.
Food is decent, but not as good as some people are making it out to be, IMO, and the service was just straight BLAH.

Aptly named, this place truly is a «Nook» w 10 tables of 2 max. But, it’s amazing how efficient they are w their space and service.
Wouldn’t recommend it during prime brunch hours — it is BYOB and some people may linger. But, if you can come early or late — scored a table for my BF/​me at 130pm on a beautiful Sunday with no wait, it’s totally worth it.
No reservations for brunch (dinner only). Cash only. There’s a Citibank/​Chase a few blocks up on ⁵⁴⁄₅₅. Enjoy!

Nook is cozy, intimate, and cute. Came here with a group of friends on a weeknight for dinner. It was pretty empty but we enjoyed having the whole place to ourselves. The pirogues and appetizers we got were very unique in concept. Food was very tasty and everyone loved their dish. I got the filet which was cooked to perfection in a balsalmic glaze. Rosemary fries (or rosemary anything) was delicious. The service was great and they also were willing to switch out sides that were in the menu for ones we wanted in our dish. It is cash only and BYOB, which they refrigerate and serve for you as well. Also, baby friendly!

First note: no booze. Bring your own. This is NOT a criticism, just a note to those who need to know!
Food was quite tasty. I got the egg scramble with stuff in it, veggie version, the potatoes were great too. French toast was simply flavored, not too sweet, very tasty. And pierogies, there can never be anything wrong with pierogies. :) Altogether a nice quick brunch. See pictures.

Came here for brunch and had the eggs scramble with spinach and goat cheese that was DELICIOUS! The meal came with a side of the red onion mashed potatoes that I could have eaten a whole bowl of. I definitely plan to make this my go to brunch place in Hell’s Kitchen.
The only downside is the size of the restaurant. It’s tiny and since the tables are so close together it’s really hard to have a private conversation. My friend and I didn’t have too much of a wait but I believe it’s because we came during off-​peak brunch hours.
Wouldn’t recommend for groups larger than 3 or for a first date.

2.5 stars
Cash only.
It’s a very small, hole in the wall restaurant. Pretty disappointing brunch but the service was good. I ordered a salmon benedict ($ 12). The salmon didn’t taste fresh and the hollandaise sauce was not good either. I hate sending food back unless there’s something very wrong (eg. hair in food). I managed to eat it all because I was hungry, but I wouldn’t come back again.

VERY appropriately named. It’s tiny, but they make great use of the space. As soon as we arrived for brunch on Saturday we immediately regretted not reading the Unilocal reviews & tips to see that this place is BYOB.
The table next to us left to buy some champagne two blocks down, but it was so cold and rainy that we simply refrained.
The food was fantastic, the service was gracious, and our food came out very quickly. Be warned: this place only accepts CASH.