No Hos at the NoHo?

Editor's update: The NoHo ain't no mo'. They have closed da do'. They have opened a new restaurant on South MacDill called the Bistro Bleu.

"Hey Babe, I just read on the 'net about a new restaurant, you wanna go there tonight?"  "Sure!" replied my trophy bride, "Where is it?"  I told her that The NoHo Bistro is located on North Armenia Ave. just above the interstate.  "The what bistro?"  I repeated the name of the place, The NoHo Bistro.  "What's up with that", she asked?  "Is this place saying that if you be a ho you aren't allowed to eat there?  I don't think that's right.  Hos are people too and they need to eat just like the rest of us.  That is just not right," she rattled on.  I don't condone discrimination, but we made reservations and went to the NoHo anyway.

This is a small and quaint neighborhood restaurant located in a neighborhood that doesn't have the most stellar of reputations, but it was clean and nicely decorated in a French bistro kind of way.  We were seated and attended to promptly by Tomas, our server for the evening.

We started by requesting a bottle of an excellent Spanish rioja from a small but adequate wine list.  From there my lady ordered the mixed greens salad that she greatly approved of.  I chose the scallop ceviche...I love ceviche.  I didn't love this one.  The marinade was a soupy, gelatinous concoction of unknown origin almost completely devoid of taste.  The thinly sliced scallops were drenched in this mixture and piled on top of a bed of seaweed.  The seaweed was the saving grace here, but grace wasn't saved by much.

For our entrée we both ordered the flat iron steak, a much overlooked cut of beef, with a baked potato and sautéed mushrooms on the side.  The potatoes and mushrooms were very tasty, the steaks, not so much.  Both steaks came out exactly as ordered.  There just wasn't a lot of flavor. Also disappointing was the chocolate carrot cake that my bride had salivated over for most of the day.  The cake was dry as if it had been re-heated in the microwave way too long.  Dinner with 20% tip came to $132.00.

The NoHo Bistro did not provide a memorable dining experience, but we did discover that they do not discriminate against you even if you be a ho.  The restaurant relocated from North Howard Ave. to North Armenia and since The NoArm Bistro would have sounded odd, to say the least, the owners decided to stay with NoHo.