The Loft at NYLO

I recently saw on facebook that The Loft Restaurant at NYLO Hotel in Plano released a new menu and were offering awesome Happy Hour specials. Not only were they offering drink specials from 4-10PM but all menu items were 50% off!! Heck yea! They are only doing this promotion until 11/13.

The Loft Restaurant & Lounge @ NYLO
8201 Preston Road
Plano, TX 75024
(972) 624-6990
http://www.nylohotels.com/plano/restaurants-texas-hotel-4-1.aspx
Price: $$

I called up a few of my friends and we went to go check it out last Thursday night. I've been to the Loft lounge a few times, never to eat though. I've had one of their flatbreads a while back but other than that I've never eaten there. Never really thought of going either since I thought the prices were kinda high.

I like the concept of NYLO and the restaurant/lounge. The decor is kind of eclectic but pretty cool. The style is somewhat inconsistent but oh well. I've always heard that the food and service here wasn't that great and I'll have to agree on the service part. I walked up to the entrance of the restaurant and there was no one there. I stood there for a good 5+ minutes before a waiter finally looked over and saw me. I asked him about the happy hour and he wasn't too sure about the details. He went to ask and said yes, they do have hh until 10PM and just told me to sit anywhere. The restaurant was very sparse. I sat at a table across from the bar, not a very hidden or anything. No one came to greet me, bring me water or anything for another 7-8 minutes. A few waiters walked by, some looked at me, some didn't even notice I was there. It's pretty ridiculous. I didn't get water, or even a menu. Finally, one waiter came to ask me what I wanted to drink and I asked another guy for a menu. Way to make a customer feel welcomed people...

Slowly my friends started to arrive. By this time we actually had a waiter for the table! He was nice enough. We looked over the menu and ordered a bunch of stuff to try since they were half price!

Prosciutto + Arugula Flatbread $11~

Different than any flatbreads I've had before. Even different than the flatbread I've had at NYLO in the past. The dough looked like pita bread? but was harder in consistency. The prosciutto was a tad too salty. It was ok, good for half price. Definitely not worth the full $11.

The Dip (spinach, feta and artichoke dip) $12~

I was a little hesitant about the feta since I'm not a huge fan, but it was melted in with the other components of the dip. The flavor was good and it came with a lot of pieces of flatbread.

Buttermilk Chicken Poppers (served with chipotle or buffalo dipping sauce) $10~

The chicken was tender and I liked the chipotle sauce. Good for sharing.

7oz. Sliced Tenderloin (with demi-glace) $16~

This is an A la carte dish, so it doesn't come with any sides. The meat was tender enough and had a good crust on the outside but was overly salty. Seems to be a theme developing overall in the meal...

Slow Braised Pork Leg (with mousseline potatoes and chipotle pork jus) $14~

This was one of my choices. I asked the waiter if it was like a pork chop and he said yes. It's definitely not... haha. It was a good size. Definitely worth the half price. The meat was pretty tender, but being braised, it should've been more "falling off the bone". The mashed potatoes were good, nothing spectacular. Again, a tad salty overall.

Nori Crusted Tuna (thinly sliced served with house made spicy mustard) $11~

The tuna was tender and the mustard had a bold kick to it. It was good, just a bit small.

I got 2 sides along with the pork. Sauteed Spinach $6~

The spinach looked really fresh but it was doused with salt. OMG. I couldn't take more than a bite. I had to send it back and they brought me another plate. It was much better the second time. However, when I brought it up to the waiter, he didn't really react in any way. I had to ASK him to take it away... Really?? It wasn't comped in the end either. I also got the Roasted Seasonal Mushroom $6~ This was good, no complaints.

NYLO Truffle Fries Stack $7~ The fries took a longgg time to come out. By then we were all overloaded with salt, I didn't even want to eat this. I guess it was ok. Although on the menu it said all sides are $6 but we were charged half of $7 on this one...

By the end of the meal I felt like I had a layer of salt coating the inside of my mouth. YUCK. Not a good feeling. I kept drinking water but it didn't do anything... They really need to go easy on the seasoning here.

A friend of mine wanted to order dessert so we asked for the dessert menu. They went with the Smores Cheesecake and Creme Brulee. I think they were about $8~?

The presentation was pretty nice on both of these. Then we dug into it. OMG... I think this is the first time we all thought something was really bad. The creme brulee didn't really have the bruleed hard sugar on the top. The custard wasn't like a creme brulee custard. The texture was strange, more like a thick pudding or something? The cheesecake was the really bad one. It tasted like it was a really old frozen cake that had been thawed out. You can taste the "old-ness". And the texture of the cheesecake was gummy. GUMMY!!! :( It was gross! We had to flag down the waiter and tell him to take it away.

It wasn't a very pleasant meal. Overly salted foods and yucky old desserts. Plus the lack of attention from the wait staff from beginning to end was unacceptable. They comped the desserts, which they should, but it was like no one really cared there. The place has such potential. They really need to do some revamping to make things better. I know I won't be back for sure, no matter how good their deals are. :(

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