The very impressive dining room at Twenty8 NoMad
So what's been happening at NoMad?
If you're unfamiliar with the hotel, it took over what was the site of The Bow Street Magistrates' Court in Covent Garden, originally opening back in 2021. It started off as a London outpost of a New York hotel, but as the original has now become New York's The Ned, this is now the sole NoMad.
Right now, there are two things of note happening. First off, their excellent cocktail bar Side Hustle has launched a series of collaborative tacos with some very big names and secondly, the main restaurant has been given a light redesign and is now Twenty8 NoMad, a New York-inspired brasserie.
Let's start with the taco.
NoMad's bar Side Hustle, one of our favourite bars in town, recently launched Tacos with Friends, where they've picked some high-profile names to create tacos for the menu in the bar. They've just finished a collab with Brat's Tomos Parry and now it's the turn of actor Will Poulter, known for his appearances in The Bear, Guardians of the Galaxy and lots more besides. And this is not the usual phoned-in celebrity tie-in. Will has done more than merely putting his name to the taco, as he worked with NoMad's Executive Chef Zak Gregoire in the kitchen to create it and, when we visited, he was even serving them in the bar.
We were somewhat taken aback when Will himself came over to deliver our tacos kitted out in his apron, so we completely forgot to take a photo. So, here's a pic of him in the kitchen that night.
The Sweet Caroline taco (named after his mother) - featuring pickled honeydew (a reference to The Bear) and braised pork carnitas with sweet and spicy habanero £10. It is honestly a very, very good taco, with a touch of heat in there too.
Based on our experience, it's 100% worth heading into Side Hustle for a cocktail and what's an excellent taco, celeb chef or not. Will's taco is available until 5 July 2025, but if you miss that one, next up is Jesse Tyler Ferguson (best known for Modern Family, who's over in London in a play right now).
Onto the restaurant - what's changed there?
If you've been to the restaurant in its previous incarnation, you'll know that it's housed in a hugely impressive triple-height room, topped off with a glass roof. It's one of London's best-looking dining rooms, and as such, they haven't messed with things too much.
The new look restaurant of Twenty8 NoMad.
The key changes have been the layout and the colour palette. Before, it was a bright enough room but now things have been decidedly warmed up. The biggest change is that the central "bench" (for lack of a better way to describe it), which divided the room in two is gone and the layout is much more open as a result. That particular space was always a bit cramped and the new layout is a welcome change.
And what about the food?
That's had an overhaul too and it's more classic NYC-style brasserie in its approach with many of the dishes directly inspired by the chef's time in New York. The truffle and foie gras-stuffed chicken is apparently still on offer, but it wasn't on the menu when we dined there. Here's a taste of what we had:
Wild garlic flatbread, burrata, Aleppo pepper (£16) - with the dough recipe taken from a place the chef worked at in Little Italy.
Grilled bone marrow, sourdough, pickled plum (£18) - a great twist on roasted bone marrow.
There are a few new sharing dishes for the main course, including Spanish sea bass with snow pea salad (£95) and on our visit, the chicken dish was a chicken Milanese to share (£65). But we had to go for this one:
Galician Blonde ribeye, sauce bordelaise, mac & cheese (£170) - yes, that price is steep but this was a simply massive steak and easily enough for three. Beautifully cooked too, and the sauce was divine.
The pretty huge mac & cheese that comes with the steak.
Other non-sharing mains include lobster pasta (£34) and steak frites for £38, which is not too bad for a high-end hotel in London. As far as desserts are concerned, we're slightly annoyed with ourselves for not ordering the huge pretzel, so keep an eye out for that, but these two certainly did the job.
Samoa girl scout cookie sundae - vanilla soft serve, coconut caramel, caramel crumble, hot chocolate sauce and mini Samoa cookies (£12)
A simple tiramisu (£12), but really well presented.
What about drinks?
Both Side Hustle and Twenty8 Nomad feature excellent cocktails and it'll be hard to make a wrong move in either space. Upstairs in Side Hustle, we can recommend their own take on a tequila sunrise which was fantastic.
Downstairs in the restaurant, you should be paying attention to the martini menu. Here, everything's available in either normal or mini size (£19/£10). The martinis are pre-mixed, stored in the freezer and poured at your table, ensuring they are properly ice cold. So yes, you're going to want to start with one of those.
Strawberry Vesper Martini (Plymouth Gin, Grey Goose Vodka, Lillet Blanc, Strawberry, Lemon Twist, £19) with the citrus elements preventing the strawberry from making the cocktail too sweet. A fantastic martini.
Overall thoughts
As far as Side Hustle goes, it remains one of London's best bars and Will Poulter's taco is a very good reason to visit/revisit right now. As for the dining room downstairs, we were already fans of this space from before, but the redesign has been a clear improvement. Combine that with a brasserie-style affair done extremely well, phenomenal steak and very friendly staff, it's an easy recommendation. In fact, we have already often recommended NoMad to people looking for a special night out in the area, and based on this dinner we'll be continuing to do so.
More about NoMad
Where is it? 28 Bow St, London WC2E 7AW
How to book: Book online - book Twenty8 Nomad, book Side Hustle
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @twenty8_nomad and @sidehustlelondon.
Hot Dinners ate as guests of NoMad.
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