Give it another chance: experiencing Nosh for a second time

There are a few restaurants in Colorado Springs that my friends seem to rave about, but I only have a so-so experience when I go. Nosh is one of those restaurants – or at least it used to be.

In February 2014 a group of friends went to Nosh’s Monday night happy hour to celebrate a birthday. The sangria was good, but I felt my food was overpriced and unfortunately, terribly underwhelming. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t live up to the hype I’d heard surrounding the restaurant. Plus, I wasn’t very intrigued by the menu options. The whole experience was very average, and I figured I could do without going there again.

A couple weeks ago I received my Colorado Springs Passport in the mail and as I flipped through the drink coupon book, I noticed Nosh was featured with buy one, get one free sangria. That was my favorite part of my first trip there, so I decided I’d be fair and give the restaurant another shot. I jumped onto their website and noticed the menu had changed a significant amount, including a more reasonable price point.

Saturday night, after learning some sweet chair dancing moves from Fit Body & Pole and getting a PHENOMENAL neck and back massage from Camino Massage Therapy (thanks Lululemon for hosting the event) the girls decided to head to Nosh for drinks and dinner.

As expected, we all ordered a glass of sangria. The choices are house white sangria, red sangria, elderberry sangria, pear sangria and berry sangria. I ordered the pear and I loved it because although it did have a pear taste, it wasn’t overly sweet. It was very drinkable – I could’ve thrown a few back.

Since we had just worked out, or at least attempted to (we giggled more than we should’ve), I decided to be as healthy as possible and order a salad. I chose the House Works and topped it with grilled chicken. It came with bacon, candied nuts, chopped apples and a side of labna, which is a cheese that has a sour cream like consistency and taste. Two girls ordered the Curry Udon Bowl, which is baked tofu, udon noodles in a yellow curry with carrots, snap peas and cashews, one person ordered the Char Siu Ramen Bowl with barbecued pork over Ramen noodles and the final order was for some type of steak (for some reason it wasn’t listed on their online menu so I don’t know the exact name).

This salad very well could be the best salad I’ve ever had. The chicken was cooked perfectly, with a pretty char on the outside and a super moist inside. I loved the way the greens blended with the apple and candied nuts, and the bacon throughout it really brought it together. I’d never tasted labna before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It tasted like a mix of Greek yogurt and sour cream. I used it to dip my chicken in. I truly think I could eat this every day and not tire of it. It was light and fresh, but still managed to be super filling.

My friend said the steak was delicious and it wasn’t too pricey for $15. She said she’d order it again.

THIS I SHOULD HAVE ASKED TO TASTE. I swear when they set it on our table my mouth began to water. My friend who had been deployed in Asia said “this tastes like Korea.” That meant it was good. I can’t wait to try it.

Two people ordered the Curry Udon Bowl and although it looks so good and the noodles were great, I’m just not a huge curry fan. If I was, I’d definitely go for this. I like the size of the carrots and when I tasted it, I loved the consistency of the sauce.

Although I’m super tempted to get the salad every time I go to Nosh, I also have my eye on the Pork Popusa, a shredded pork and cheddar stuffed pupusa, with pickled carrot puree and chile labna, and the Potachos, which are nachos with pork green chili or braised beef on top of Nosh’s house-made potato chips. I know – both sound super healthy.

I for sure will try a martini called “Fire in your rita,” made with house infused jalapeño tequila, orange, house made sweet and sour and rimmed with chili salt. I love a spicy, sweet drink.

The combination of creative drinks and quality food is something that sets Nosh apart. Many times finding a place to eat means sacrificing one or the other and I don’t feel like that has to happen here. Which brings me to the most important information in this post: happy hour! Nosh has happy hour from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. They have great snack specials to pair with your cocktail and on a Monday night, you could make a few snacks be a full dinner if you stay the entire six hours.

I’m so happy I decided to give Nosh another try. I see many sangria and patio-filled days at Nosh in my future.