We went last night (2/23/13) with family to celebrate my 41st birthday, as well as take advantage of the 502 Restaurant Week deals.
We had a reservation and were seated within seconds of walking in the door.
We started the evening with a few of the house bourbon mixed drinks The Waysider and the Bitchy (something or other). Im not a huge fan of Bourbon but these two drinks are both awesome and a great way to start the evening.
Our table did a mixture of the two offered appetizers from the 502 menu, the onion and white bean soup, and the beet salad. I personally had the onion and white bean soup with chicken fat croutons and it was delicious. My 10 month old daughter who, accompanied us for dinner, was also a huge fan of the soup.
Dinner for the evening was a choice of either skirt steak or a roasted chicken. While the meats in both courses were delicious and well prepared I think the stand outs were the sides. The steak was served with sweet creamed carrots that when mixed with the chimichurri suace from the steak was out of this world. The same for the creamy polenta served with the chicken, incredible.
Over all the staff were amazingly prompt and attentive. The service was exemplary and they were very accommodating of us dining with our ten month old daughter.
The only thing keeping them from 5 stars was the lack of a changing table/platform in either the men's or ladies restrooms to change our daughter on prior to heading home.
We are huge fans will definitely be back.
My part, of our party of eight, arrived a few minutes late and we found the staff to be helpful and we were seated immediately. Â As we were in a decent sized party I expected the service to spotty through the night and really the beginning when we were ordering so many different cocktails is the only time I had to wait a little long for anything and that was understandable (bourbon cocktail, wine, rocks drinks, more cocktails).
We ordered our apps and entrees at staggered times and our server, and the back of the house, had no problem getting food out to us in acceptable intervals. Â I ordered both the appetizer and the entree specials which were a salmon carpaccio, and a bone-in pork chop. Â Both were above my standards and were very flavorful. Â I would say my only critique would be a finer knife work on the carpaccio. Â The bone-in pork chop was a great quality cut of meat and had just the right amount of fat. Â
The myriad of other drinks, apps, and entrees that I tried were all great.  I will however say that I am not a fan of aoli with my mussels, the aoli overpowers the flavor of the mussels to much.  My favorite entree, other than mine, was the braised  pork cheek.  The flavor and texture were spot on, maybe it could be served with a little more garnish so as to not be so lonely on the plate though.  My friend who ordered the cheek looked at my plate and was jealous of my portion.  Although in the end he was very satisfied. Â
I tried the Meyer Lemon Pot de Creme for dessert and was a little underwhelmed. Â I was expecting the strong scent and flavor that you get when you cut into a fresh Meyer Lemon and it just wasn't there.
Overall would come back and would recommend.
Absolutely wonderful experience. Wonderful service by a very attentive, knowledgable staff.  Started our evening with drinks and a starter of mussels with spiced garbanzos and a lemon aioli (everything was good, but the mussels I especially enjoyed)  Mussels were perfectly prepared  and the perfect beginning for our entre of braised pork cheeks (wife's choice) and the seared black grouper for me. We capped of the meal sharing a chocolate devils food cake with coffee ice cream.  Decca is now one of our favorites in Louisville!
Review Source:No good...
Portions ok or very small bases on what you order. One scallop for $13 is a joke.
Barely 5 oz of New York strip for $30 is even more ridiculous.
The table next to us didn't help, the most obnoxious and loud table you could have asked for our anniversary.
Not worth the $200 for 2....
I've been here for happy hour, drinks, desserts and coffee and dinner, and I've never been disappointed. I've also experienced all three settings that the restaurant has to offer - the beautiful patio with babbling water feature, the underground dark bar and lounge and the high-ceilinged, sparse dining room. This location has everything you could be looking for.
The cocktail menu is unique, with many ginger beer concoctions. I applaud them for offering several signature non-alcoholic cocktails for the non-drinkers/designated drivers in your group.
For dinner, we've had the mussels, mustard green salad, pumpkin pasta, roasted chicken and the root vegetable gratin. The portion of mussels is gigantic. You could easily make an entree out of that one. Everything was delicious, but I probably wouldn't order the mustard green salad again due to the peanut brittle sprinkled on it. It was an interesting idea, but it didn't suit my taste.
The bread was melt-in-your-mouth good. It must be made with butter or lard to get that nice greasy crust. And they bring you as much as you want! Heaven!
The desserts are lovely and most come accompanied with terrific house-made ice creams.
On our last visit, we were treated to cinnamon, sea salt, caramel popcorn at the end of our meal. It was so good that I wanted to order an entire bag to take home. Too bad it's not a menu item.
I've only been Decca once so far and I want to start and say plan to give it another shot.
This review reflects my first visit where I ordered pretty light. I started with their most robust red wine by the glass which I think was the Foxglove and it was good. I then ordered spaghettini and the side of their broccoli. Before the meal came they brought us fresh-baked focaccia which was good but unremarkable. All of our meal came at the same time which was fine and expected. The Spaghettini and all the pastas were said to be made in house.  It was was tossed with fresh peas and roasted garlic and sea urchin. Despite my excitement about a dish using sea urchin, the flavor was uncomplicated and not really there. The pasta was on the softer side, not al dente. The garlic aroma was there but overpowered by a kind of slightly sticky gummy sauce but did not evoke the flavor of  sea urchin.  While I appreciate small portion sizes because I think portions in the United States are obnoxious, the size of this portion and it's ingredients in relation to the price and quality was equally obnoxious.
What I did appreciate and find very tasty was the side of broccoli which was tossed with anchovy and surface crushed almonds. The broccoli was perfectly tender almost juicy and absolute perfection. I devoured it like it was steak. Because of the broccoli, I plan to give Decca another shot. Â I may go in and just order all their vegetable sides.
We finished with a yogurt panna cotta with pomegranate and pistachio. This as well was well done. Slightly tart, creamy, and not too heavy it was a perfect ending to a meal.
In the end i may have just ordered the dud dish on the menu. Since other pieces of the meal performed well, I'm anxious to try again. Perhaps I will file this place as somewhere with potential.
Note: this is a review for a slow Monday night. My hotel suggested this place. Dining alone. Not the warmest welcome (more like "Dining alone? That's sad") whatever hipster hostess. Real nice room jazz band downstairs piped into the restaurant made for a nice vibe. Salad: mustard greens, peanut brittle, etc. v tasty. Â Biggest disappointment was the seared black cod. Room temperature, rubbery not flakey. Nothing else on the plate really helped (roasted grapes, carmalized cauliflower, I swear I think this was a leftover they were keeping warm. ) all sounded good on paper. Â Very meh on the plate. Â Veggie gratin side VERY salty. And I like me some cheesy and salty but this was ridiculous. Could only get through half the cod. Ordered pumpkin agnolotti to try and salvage the meal. Now, as slight as it was, that was a winner. But as all the other guests left and I was last person in the dining room, I did feel like an afterthought. Very average service. Very "let's get this guy out of here so we can go home." check just slapped down, no "thank you", no nothing. I spent a nice chunk of change and left regretting my decision to dine here. Maybe an off night. Maybe you really need to order the meat. Whatever. I went down to Rye for a drink and the place was still humming. Should have eaten at Rye!!! Felt it would have been a more complete experience. Ate solo at proof the night before and had a 5-star experience. And with only two nights in town, I'll be kicking myself for wasting one of them here.
Review Source:Yep! Â Good! Â Yes!
Decca is a great spot! Â The downstairs bar (grotto) is perfect for a happy hour or a late night drink. Â And sometimes they have live music which is awesome.
The restaurant is huge with two floors for dining, plus this downstairs bar. Â Wow. Â My only complaint about the atmosphere is the noise. Â With all hardwood it can get a bit noisy in the space on a crowded night. Â The noise did not take away from the amazing food, though.
We started with the asparagus appetizer (get it, you will not be sorry) with a great citrus cream sauce. I then had the beef cheek for dinner. Â An awesome meat that has the consistency of pot roast but with a super rich flavor. Â The sides are served family style so we went with autumn squash. Â I don't much care for squash typically but LOVED this. Â It was delightful. Â We then finished off the meal with a lemon poppyseed cake that was quite tasty.
While this is not some place that will do for a weekly meal due to the expensive prices, it is the perfect spot for a special occasion meal or night out on the town.
Hmmmm. Generally, I had a nice experience. Would I make this a regular choice on my culinary radar? No.
*It is a beautifully designed space.
*The basement bar area was cool, although it kinda reminded me of high school parties at my rich friends houses.
*Service was good
*Absolutely too loud. It wasn't even to capacity and we had to shout across the table. This is the most annoying thing about most new restaurants in this city.
*Not one vegetarian entree. I am not a vegetarian, but I also don't always eat steak, pork chops, etc. The pasta is considered a "second course" and not entree size. They had one interesting veg pumpkin thing, but well, I was hungry and that was not going to cut it.
On to the food...I ended up with kale brussel sprout salad. It was $12. Seriously. The salad was good. Â Lots of baby kale and not much brussel sprout or nuts or fruit. The concept was a good one, translation on the plate a bit rough. It is hard to eat, and I resorted to using my fingers a few times to pick up the sprigs of baby kale to bite off the leaves.
I ordered the shrimp, chorizo, gigante beans entree. Man alive SAAAALLLLTTTTYYYYY. Whoa. I am puffy just typing this review and hope my blood pressure has returned to it's normal self. I expected the chorizo to be a bit salty. And don't get me wrong...this girl LOVES her salt. But, it was also the beans. The table ordered a side of beans as well, and I tried those...yes, lil salt bombs...to the point they were almost inedible. The table also ordered the roasted squash side. It was good. It was more sweet than savory. Butter was the strong winner in the squash with sweetness being second.
They have a great wine list and cocktail list. They brought out the cocktail with a wood like stirrer. I asked for a straw and was informed they do not use straws for environmental reasons. I told the server that was hilarious. Shouldn't serve steak for environmental reasons, too, but it 's on the menu. I am all for green, but really?
All in all, we all enjoyed ourselves. Service was fine. It isn't a place that totally wow'ed me. Would I go back? mmmmm....maybe, but only if it was a suggestion from others that wanted to meet up. It wouldn't be on my immediate list.
I stared out at Mayan Cafe and thought the next time I want to drop some coin on a fancy dinner...I will go there. It's hands down one of the best restaurants in the city.
Okay so I will come right out and say it, Decca is expensive. Â However it's worth every single penny. Â The food is art. Â The drinks are stiff and delicious. Â The staff is friendly and helpful all while being efficient. Â The atmosphere is great and is only accentuated by the magnificent old Louisville architecture. Â Start with a drink in the basement, work your way out to the back patio area where you can enjoy some live music, then grab a bite to eat on the second floor porch which is a quick trip up the exterior spiral staircase. Â Your wallet will take a beating, but get over it and enjoy the ride.
Review Source:Beautiful setting but bad acoustics - loud. I had skirt steak for $24. Â Good but very salty, and for the price should have included a small salad. Â Martini for $10 was tiny - one gulp. Â Good service. Â My guest had fish that looked nice but had poor taste and slimey consistency. Â Real skill is required in Louisville with fish, and this one failed. Â Overall ok, excusing the fish, but poor value for money.
Review Source:I went to Decca on a Saturday night to grab a drink with friends. The staff was always there to open doors for us throughout our visit (they seemed to come out of nowhere!). Â They directed us to the bar, which was downstairs. Â It was a small bar with maybe 12ish seats but the actual room downstairs was a good size and had lots of comfy looking couches to sit on. Â
My friends and I decided to take our drinks outside instead since the weather was nice (and because the crowd at the bar looked a lot more serious and older than we did). Â The outdoor area was awesome with lots of seating. Â It wasn't very crowded so we were able to get a table right away. Â There was a band playing, not sure who but they were good. Â
Nice night + nice atmosphere = perfect. Â The food menu (and drink menu) was pretty expensive, but when you go to a place like that it is more about entertainment/experience than getting a ton of food for your money :)
A group of us (6 adults) dined at Decca to bid farewell to a dear friend and his wife who will be leaving town soon to a new chapter in their lives. We decided to try the restaurant while walking around the NuLu area after a few drinks at the Garage Bar down the street.
We expected the food to match the restaurant's wonderful ambience, mood and decor. Unfortunately, our dining experience was extremely disappointing. The dish I had ordered (at the recommendation of the restaurant staff) ,"Fresh Pappardelle, Moroccan Lamb ", was extremely salty - to the point that it was inedible. Â I provided this feedback to the server who said he would "let the chef know" and left it that. There was no offer or mention of a replacement meal or an alternate item from the menu.
Our friends also made the observation (unanimously) that the portion sizes were too "controlled" (ie, small). Â We weren't advised of the portion sizes prior to placing our order. Â I would have expected the server to suggest supplementing our entrees with heavy appetizers.
Having spent over 14 years in the in the restaurant industry myself, I am aware of the importance of a satisfied (and retained) customer. Regrettably, I am not one of those customers as far as Decca is concerned. Â I will never be able to recommend this restaurant to friends or colleagues.
We went for a last minute dinner on a Tuesday night. Made reservations through Opentable on the way to the restaurant. When we walked in the door, the host's reaction made it seem like they had been expecting us for weeks. We were seated at a small two top in the first dining room on the second floor. The whole space was very nicely and simply decorated, with just a few pieces of art tastefully arranged on the subtle off-white walls. My only criticism on the the design of the space would probably be the art itself, which was modern in an amateurish and pandering way, but I usually get shushed for being too critical of small details like this, so it is unlikely that most diners would even notice it.
Service was very prompt and attentive in spite of the fact that our server was also handling an eight-top birthday party with an infant and small child right next to us. Waters were brought promptly and drink order was taken and filled with the same speed.
We ordered mussels, duck liver, and quail to start with. The mussels were an interesting take on moules frites, which would have worked better if the four peppercorns were more apparent in the broth. Also, the aioli was a little out of place and stiff enough that you could only scoop it up with the crispy potato coins. If you tried to use the mussels, you'd just end up rolling the whole dollop around the plate. The quail was perfectly cooked, which can be easy to overdo with such a small, lean bird, but everything on the plate was seasoned so sparingly that there just wasn't much flavor, which is not what I had expected from a dish with a caramelized fennel puree as a major component. While both of those two dishes were OK but not great, the duck liver terrine was excellent: the cherry mostarda and pickled vegetables were perfect accoutrement and while I'm sure the staff is inundated with requests for extra bread, I would implore you to go with the provided number of slices. The quality of the bread is excellent, but too much of it would obscure the flavor and texture of the terrine, which as I said before, was well nigh perfect.
For our pasta course, we had the pappardelle with lamb sugo and the spaghettini with sea urchin and fresh peas. From looking at the menu beforehand, we already knew we wanted the spaghettini as we are both big sea urchin fans. This dish was everything I had wanted it to be. Rich and creamy with nice sweetness from the spring peas and a briny depth from the urchin. The only possible drawback would be that there was a little more fat than the pasta could handle and it left a small pool of oil in the bottom of the bowl, which I personally wouldn't even count as a criticism in a dish with an ingredient as rich as sea urchin. Our server recommended the pappardelle for our second pasta on the merits of the sugo. The braised lamb was extremely tender and perfectly season, the preserved lemon was assertive without being overwhelming and provided a nice acidic brightness, and the pappardelle itself was among the best fresh pasta I've ever had.
We chose the white shrimp a la plancha and the slow braised beef cheek for our main courses, both of which were excellent. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the chorizo, gigante beans, and chermoula could not have worked any better together than they did in this dish. The beef cheek was also excellent, just barely fork tender and with the beefy buttery quality I usually associate with this dish balance with a touch of spice and acidity from the horseradish creme fraiche. The watercress was a nice accompaniment, but was a little light and didn't provide the starchy vehicle for sauce and shredded meat that I usually like with a braised dish of this kind. We had anticipated that from the menu description and had ordered a side of polenta with our mains to fill that gap, but in the only real service misstep of the evening, our polenta never arrived and by that point we had consumed enough food that we weren't really missing it enough to remind our server we had asked for it when we made our initial order.
Fortunately, our missing starch and the leisurely pace we afforded ourselves (and the staff did a great job of not rushing) for the meal allowed us to convince ourselves we had room for coffee and one dessert. Both the coffee and espresso (available only in double shots, which most people with barista experience in restaurants will know is a good sign) were excellent and the devil's food cake with coffee ice cream and meringues was a very good accompaniment to them. The meringues were of the delicate crispy kind and were served almost like a light candy garnish to the dish. The coffee ice cream had a very strong, very well defined coffee flavor that went well with the rich chocolate flavor of the cake.
All in all, one of the best meals we've had in Louisville in a long time.
Service was excellent. The staff was very attentive. Â One suggestion would be to to have black napkins available for individuals wearing dark trousers- white lint from white napkins is unacceptable when spending this kind of money for a meal.
The food was underwhelming. Â Menu was innovative, but the food lacked in flavor and depth. I don't know if I will give it another try because there are other more exciting dining alternatives in the NuLu area.
I'll give this place one more try but my group of 7 had a very bad experience here, service-wise. Â The food, however, was awesome. Â But since my husband and I's bill was 160 bucks just for the two of us, and the serivce was terrible, it gave us a pretty bad taste in our mouths and it's plain unacceptable when we're spending that kind of money and we were entertaining from friends from NYC. Â Our very expensive leftover food was thrown away, there was some rudeness going on, reservations were screwed up, 45 minutes for our drinks which came AFTER dinner was finished, once our food was served we were totally forgotten about, and apparently the server thought we skipped out on the bill when asking where we were to our friends and we were outside smoking and the whole rest of our party was still at the table. Â I know this a new place but that is not ok ever when you pay that kind of money for dinner. Â Maybe some better training should have taken place. Â Like I said earlier though, the food is awesome. Â But I've also heard from others, if you want rude service, go to Decca. Â I'll maybe try it, one more time for a second chance.
We could have had a much finer experince at Proof or Jack Fry's with IMPECCABLE service for the same amount of money.
I think I went into this restaurant with too many expectations based on some glowing local reviews.
This is what I thought about what our group ordered:
1. Mussels, Four Peppercorns, Aioli, Crispy Potato Coins
The potato coins and aioli were odd with the mussels. I would just rather have a crusty loaf of bread to dip into the broth. The broth was good, but not my favorite in town.
2. Shaved Market Vegetable Salad, Fior di Latte, Creamy Nicoise Vinaigrette
I love bitter leaves mixed into a salad, but this was bitter bite after bitter bite. Perhaps I got a bad mix, willing to give it another try.
3. Fresh Pappardelle, Moroccan Lamb, Preserved Meyer Lemon, Mint
This was my favorite dish of the night. The pasta was indeed fresh and the spices and preserved lemon made the dish.
4. White Shrimp, Spanish Chorizo, Baked Gigante Beans, Chermoula
This was the worst thing that we ordered. The shrimp had a frozen aftertaste to them and the sauce over salted (as were a lot of our dishes).
5. Hard Wood Grilled Skirt Steak, Bone Marrow Butter, Aged Balsamic
Again another dish that was good, but not my favorite steak in town (also it was a bit salty).
6. Giant Peruvian Lima Beans, Marjoram
I am someone who loves salt, so for me to say something is salty means it is SALTY. I took one bite and pushed these away. Nothing remarkable and can't see myself ordering them again.
The restaurant is beautiful and we are hoping to try it again to see if maybe we will get some earth-moving bites of food;)
Great food, great ambiance, great staff.
Went with a friend of mine last week: we decided that to get to taste as much of the menu as possible, we would split 4 courses, which was more than enough food - as tempting as the panna cotta sounded, by the time dessert rolled around, we were stuffed. (ultimately though, ordering the panna cotta was a good decision!)
We each started with a cocktail: mine was good, but forgettable, hers is no longer on the menu.
Mussels were superb (and I'm not big on seafood) They are served with small, fried potato medallions & a light aioli; the broth was delicious to dip their house bread in.
Cavatelli was also great, but now that I've tried it, I'd probably go with something else over a $12, small-portion pasta dish.
The beef cheek was out of this world: unbelievably tender.
Checked out the lounge downstairs: perfect date setting. Went upstairs to see the lovely private dining room & soon-to-be-open upstairs patio seating. Can't wait for their gorgeous ground-level patio to open!
Multiple floor restaurant lounge with multiple experiences.
When you walk into Decca you are greeted by a host in a large foyer. At this time you have an option to head to the patio, lounge, or dining area. Each area of Decca's elaborate building gives its own unique experience, so I will break them down by area. My boyfriend and I attended on a busy Friday night with another couple for our first dinner date.
The lounge area is in the basement. The lounge is open a little later then the dining area to accommodate the post dinner crowd. We did not stay long in the lounge but the way it was furnished with couches and comfortably lit by candles made it very appealing. We got our first warning about the cost of the restaurant from a young Nulu 20 something explaining it was $12 for a decent glass of Chardonnay. The acoustics were enhanced by stone walls and between the bar guests, singer, and conversations it was pretty loud. We referenced this area of as the Euro experience.
The Lobby/Main Floor has a open dining area, kitchen, and patio. The patio is gorgeous and fenced in. There is a large fountain running through a portion of it and I was told a stage in the back for more live music. It was still a little chilly for our April night, but never fear there is a large gas fire pit with a wrap around bench for new and current friends to huddle around while waiting for a table. We called this patio area the Midsummer experience.
The second floor, which you will need an escort to get to, contains more dining tables, an addition patio, and a small room with nostalgia items. We had our dinner service on this floor. The whole seating space arrangement was perfect, no one was on top of each other, but there was a solid placing of tables. We made reservations and got sat immediately even though the restaurant was almost full. Obviously this place is aware of customer service and it's size because we waited for nothing and were attended regularly. Â I love restaurants were I am clearly drinking my water, but my glass is never empty, yet some how I never see it filled. I call this excellent attention to detail Ninja Service.
The Food...Our group did not order complimentary bread, but I saw them baking it in sheets and cutting it up for each table. I am sure the freshly baked bread was delicious. Our group tried the mussels, five minute egg salad, and the Nicoise salad for appetizers. The mussels were amazing and had some type of citrus sauce. The salads were delicious, but price wise should have been cut in half. Portions are side salad size but cost is full salad size. Really $12 for an egg and croutons...
For drinks the menu has a full choice of cocktail, wine, and beer. As a motto we always try for a perfect check and we each got different drinks that were well suited for us. For dinner we had Beef Cheek that melted in your mouth, the Shitake Mushroom Pasta that was well textured, and Shrimp and Chorizo which is one of the best dishes I have ever tasted. I am not certain how they got their beans on the Shrimp and Chorizo so moist and flavorful, but I will be back again to have this savory dish! For dessert the table shared the chocolate cake and stated even the small slice was rich enough to satisfy there taste buds. We called this experience Dantes' Paradiso.
When the bill came we were dismayed at the cost. We were not shocked, because the prices are clearly listed, but this is definitely not going to be a restaurant that everyone can attend regularly. However, this restaurant has sunk in the personnel, the atmosphere, the square feet, and above else the menu to demand a solid price. If you get what you pay for then at Decca you get it all, we call this experience having your cake and eating it too.
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
