There’s a new bistro in town, and you know as foodies, we had to stop in last week to survey the city’s newest breakfast and lunch option.
Nina’s Bistro and Sandwiches has moved into the former Sandwich Depot at 49 Hall St., and although the menu has changed, customers are still welcomed to the same close-knit community feel when stopping by for a quick bite.
The woman greeting us behind the counter spoke as if we had been regulars for years, making us feel right at home at we scanned the lunch specials.
The menu offered all the classic breakfast and lunch staples, as well as authentic family recipes.
Yugoslavian specialties included a Cevapi Pocket, with grilled beef links, a side of sour cream, fresh cut onions and tomatoes in a pita pocket. The Karnache, listed as the sausage that runs in circles, comes off the grill with fries, served with tomato and cucumber salad.
Both of these intrigued our appetite, but the rainy weather this day called for some comfort food, and the specials list had a classic American Chop Suey calling our name. We ordered the pasta dish to go, and grabbed a mouth-watering chocolate dessert from the fridge by the register to satisfy the relentless sweet-tooth.
The first bite into the chop suey tasted like home-cooking at its finest. We made sure to get a well-balanced scoop, getting some of the hamburg, pasta, onions and peppers all on one spoonful.
The tomato sauce had large chunks of plum tomatoes, while the onions and green peppers were not too overpowering. The hamburger meat tasted like it had been seasoned with care of a perfected family recipe, with the spices adding a little extra zest to the staple comfort-food dish.
To top off the meal, we dove into our dessert.
The Chocolate Fondant Cake was the perfect end to the meal. The pie-sliced dessert features a creamy center with a smooth milk chocolate ganache on top, flaked with white chocolate curls, in a chocolate cookie crumb crust. The center contains fluffy vanilla and chocolate layers that are light but satisfying.
Chocolate and cream have the potential to make stodgy and dense dessert, but we were pleased that the chocolate fondant cake manages to be sweet without becoming too rich. It’s just enough that it could be eaten as an afternoon snack with tea or coffee, but not too much that you wouldn’t be able to find room for it as an after-meal dessert.
The only downside here was the paper doily included in the to-go packaging. Moisture from the slice made a good chunk of the crust stick to the paper for a slightly more difficult eating endeavor (but that didn’t stop us from scraping the last bits of pie off the paper to eat.)
Check out the breakfast options, salads, sandwiches and desserts at ninasbistroconcord.com or call 219-0278 to place an order. Breakfast is served from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
