In all honesty I didn’t think I’d return to the NMI because, as I mention in my review of just over six months ago, the place didn’t really “wow” me in any way. The Japanese Dining Room was decent, but everything else not so much....But then family is a powerful driving force and thus proved to be the impetus for my return to “the Northern.” Long story short: My grandparents (and aunt) were visiting and wanted what they call “simple food,” so I gave them three options, one of which was the NMI. We settled on this place and dined in the family restaurant section.
Service was very good – courteous and kind. We were seated promptly, given menus and our orders taken. Now, when a restaurant improves, I’m always the first to give them many a kudo and the NMI is one such place. Everything we ordered for dinner – from the classic potato skins, to the soup, to the Salisbury steaks – was all very good. I was especially impressed with the potato skins because they ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE potato skins! They weren’t burnt to a crisp like they often are at Mr. Mikes and they weren’t over-complicated like they are at Chances. It was simple food done right. We were so impressed that we even came back the following day for breakfast.
The NMI was “hopping” for breakfast; seriously, there was not an empty seat in the house. I definitely didn’t expect that, but maybe the locals are on to something? Well, that might be the case but I will say that breakfast, while good, wasn’t as good as our dinner the night before. My grandmother enjoyed her corned beef hash; my grandfather liked his classic ham and eggs; but I wasn’t overly impressed by my “roll-up.” I had assumed (wrongly) that it was going to be some sort of crepe-based dish, but I was wrong. Instead, it was just a couple of pancakes very loosely rolled with a small serving of fruit. Nice concept but poor execution. But I suppose 2 out of 3 isn’t bad for breakfast.
FOOD: 3.75/5
SERVICE: 4/5
VALUE: 4/5
RECOMMENDATION: As noted, I’m always the first to offer a retraction if a place improves their overall food/experience. The NMI did just that with this last visit. Dinner was exceptional, breakfast was fine and the service was very good. Above and beyond the food, what really ups the rating for me is the high level of enjoyment my grandparents received in coming here. They were so very pleased to see the menus and even happier with their meals. That makes for some good memories.More