Nook's Pourhouse Neighborhood Bar & Grille

We went with 2 friends on Friday evening at 6pm. This was our first visit and we were hoping for the best.  Unfortunately that is not what we got.  There are several problems with this place.  The first problem is it is extremely noisy.  You cannot  carry on a conversation because you cannot hear the person sitting across the table from you.  There was a one man band playing very loud music in the bar and between that and the chatter in the bar and dining room you could not hear each other speak.  The waitress was prompt and we got our food and drinks in a timely manner. As an appetizer we ordered fried pickle chips which were really terrible.  Seemed to be frozen then deep fried.  I ordered a flank steak sandwich which came with home made chips.  The chips were good but need some sort of a dip.  My food came in a basket which I dislike due to cleanliness issues and the fact that I was attempting to cut my sandwich (it was overstuffed so you could not bite it) the basket made that difficult. We will definitely not be returning unless something is done so you can have dinner and conversation in the dining room.  Overall the food was mediocre at best but factor in the noise level and this is certainly not a place that we will run back to.  So sad, we had high hopes.

We really wanted to like this place, having given up on Bungs, and tired of the same Bordentown restaurants. There are no alternatives south of here. On a Thurs nite, the place was packed, $1 off draft beers, the PBR is only one dollar. They have 20 beers on tap. Waitstaff is cute, friendly and efficient.
Basically a very large room, on this packed night, was full of fussy 2 to 6 yr olds, you could not hear yourself think much less hear your dining partners. With tile floors and a hard ceiling, it was deafening. They really need to tone the noise down somehow.  
The downside is the kitchen, of which the waitstaff complain about but have no control, and unfortunately neither does the chef. We started with a dozen clams, tiny but swimming in a delicious sauce. For $14, a tad high. My pork chop was large and tasty but a bit overdone/dry. I asked for very well done fries which was ignored. Another ordered their steak med/rare and got well done, but again tasty. Bro got vodka rigatoni and asked for something like shrimp to be added, but got it plain. Except for the noise, which would be a challenge to fix, the kitchen needs time to work out the kinks. Probably try it again in a few months.

I work about 1/2 a mile from Nook's and was SO excited that this place was opening.  Our waitress, Shannon, was AMAZING - super efficient, talkative (but not in an annoying way) and very friendly.  I started with a crock of french onion soup: it. was. delicious!  Cheesy goodness, salty broth, many onions - everything I look for in french onion soup - definitely 5 stars.  My friend got 6 wings - looked a bit small - but he seemed happy with them.  We also had a Blue Moon each, which were served wonderfully cold.  For our main course my friend had salmon, which was served over asparagus - he enjoyed it very much.  I got the 12oz. NY strip, prepared "medium".  Unfortunately my steak was overcooked (no pink in center), but it was still tender enough that I was able to cut it with a butter knife!  The steak was served over mashed potatoes with a large sliced portabella on top and a side of broccoli.  I only had one bite of broccoli - it was a bit crunchy for my taste.  The potatoes were homemade with skins mixed in - yum.  The steak was juicy and the mushroom was cooked to perfection.  Our second beers were not as cold and my glass had a crack in it on both sides - not the fault of anyone but the bartender.  The waitress quickly rectified this situation.  The overall concensus - great place to eat, listen to music, and drink.  I'll definitely be back although I got a new job out of the area!