text: My husband and I went to NOCA for my birthday dinner on a Wednesday night We had heard really great things about it and we were happy with our overall experience Here is how it wasnnFirst the ProsnThe food and drinks were fantastic Seriously delicious I had the Deaths Door cocktail and my husband tried the Nocarita Both were awesome The Deaths Door was a gin based drink and I am not a fan of gin that was perfectly balanced with just the right sweetness and alcoholy goodness YUM My husbands Nocarita was also quite tasty I preferred my Deaths Door but that is a matter of personal taste I think nnOur amuse bouche that night was a chilled pumpkin soup with hazelnut mascarpone served in a cute little espresso cup It made the perfect first impression of what was to come It was so flavorful I could have had a gallon of it and been a happy lady They should put that soup as a regular menu item because I would go back to NOCA just for thatnnFor apps my husband had the Simple Salad that was perfectly dressed and had a thoughtful variety of ingredients that elevated the ubiquitous green salad to something unique I had the Bacon Chowder soup with Mussels that both tasted and smelled delicious So so so good Some really nice ladies at the table next to us even commented on how good my soup smelled nnFor our main courses I had the famous Lobsta Roll with Duck Fat Fries Oh my It lived up to the hype My sandwich was comprised of big chunks of lobster dressed in a decadent creamy sauce balanced with a slightly tangy corn and red pepper relish that perfectly complimented the lobster salad It was all nestled in a butterytoasty roll with the fries and a dipping aioli sauce on the side The portion was perfect and satisfying Really I cannot say enough good things about my sandwich nMy husband had the Rotelle with sausage and Tuscan kale Again it was delicious The pasta was perfectly cooked and the sausage and kale were a perfect compliment Sausage can sometimes be overpowering but this was not at all It was mild and flavorful at the same time The pasta sauce was indescribably good It was buttery and savory and did not oversaturate the pasta It was as perfect as a restaurant pasta dish can get nnFor dessert my husband had the donuts with three sweet dipping sauces which were good I had the Nocabar which I preferred to the donuts It was just the right size and tasted like a grown up version of a Twix bar on steroids The Nocabar was the perfect ending to my birthday meal and did not disappoint The grape flavored cotton candy was fun and a nice touch We had commercially bought and packaged chocolate mints for our parting gift I think they ran out of the cellophane bagged housemade cookies that I saw people leaving with at the beginning of our meal nnOkay now the ConsnnThe service was not great It was okay at best When we walked in there was not a host or hostess to greet us Instead we stood awkwardly at the door for a good minutes waiting to be recognized They were not that busy as it was a Wednesday night which made it all the more frustrating When we finally did get greeted and seated there was no apology for the wait we did have a reservation Our server was nice but not too attentive She seemed bored The course timing was paced appropriately and the bus boy did keep our water glasses filled Overall we were certainly not impressed with the service I think NOCA needs to work on training their wait staff nnThe prices were high and did not match the level of service we received I do not mind paying for a quality restaurant experience but based on my experience at NOCA the service made our visit less than what it could have beenespecially when we got the final bill I AM GOING TO if you are going to charge the prices that were featured at NOCA both the service and the food needs to sing In this case the food was worthy but the service was not nnOverall I would go back to NOCA for the food If they stepped up their service then NOCA would become one of my favorite spots I asked my husband to rate our NOCA experience before writing this review and I think his description was perfect He said The food was rating out of the service was a out of at best nn As it stands I have other places that I would want to check out before going back to NOCA places that have both their food AND service dialed in However I think that if you have not been to NOCA before it is worth a visit to check out the amazing food for yourself