A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

Located on the second floor of Nordstoms is the Cafe Bistro. I think it’s a nice alternative to the regular mall fare. You walk in and order at the counter. Everything is made to order, you don’t want mayo on your sandwich-no problem! You choose a seat and the waiter brings your food over to you. The room feels enormous with the high ceilings and the wall to ceiling windows that let in a ton of light. There are booths around the outside with tables on the inside.

This was my third time here. The first time I had the citrus turkey sandwich. It was natural roast turkey breast, tomato, gruyere cheese, organic baby greens, citrus cranberry chutney, and garlic aioli on toasted multi grain ciabatta. It comes with super thin fries and a great olive dipping sauce. The sandwich is like a thanksgiving dinner.

Now for this current visit. Let me start by saying I’m not a salad person. In fact, I try to put as little green into my body as possible. That being said, I love the blue cheese and pear salad here. Organic baby greens tossed with crunchy candied pecans, dried cherries, seasonal pear, blue cheese and dark cherry vinaigrette. The dressing is wonderful and the candied pecans have a taste that reminds me of cracker jacks-delightfully sweet and crunchy. They have house bread that they offer gratis, but if you don’t know to ask, they don’t give it to you. Our waiter was very attentive. We stayed and had the triple berry shortcake after our lunch. The shortcake is huge, the size of a small salad plate. It was crunchy and sugary on the outside and cakey on the inside. What made the dessert was the seasonal berries (raspberries, strawberries and blackberries) the whipped cream and the raspberry sauce. This is definitely a dessert made for two.

Now the downside. The place was dirty. I don’t think I noticed the last few times, maybe because I was surprised I actually found a salad that I liked. There are lights in every booth with shades. The shade was spattered with old food and liquid. There was a fruit fly buzzing around our table that just didn’t seem to go away, until I killed it. As we were leaving I noticed that the floor had crumbs all over it from previous guests. No one likes a dirty restaurant with bugs. With the amount of staff they had there, it doesn’t make sense that the place wasn’t spotless. That turned me off from this place. I’m conflicted because there are so many other things that I want to try here. I was looking forward to the french onion soup and the grilled shrimp and asparagus risotto. They have such a nice variety in their menu: soups, salads, pizzas, sandwiches and pastas. Another notable choice would be the white chocolate bread pudding, there aren’t too many places you can find it at. They also serve wine and beer!

So all in all it’s a mixed bag. I may try it again…I may not.

Nordstrom Bistro Cafe
290 Speen St
Natick, MA 01760
(508) 318-2600

Tags: casual dining, natick, restaurant