This past Saturday night was a date night for my wife and I. We had a party to attend later in the evening, so we took advantage of my in-laws watching our son and headed out to dinner, just the two of us. Originally I had wanted to try something downtown that I wouldn’t want to drag our son to, but with a Reds game that night most of the places I had in mind were quickly filling up. Instead we headed over the river to Covington to see what we could find.

Outside Chez Nora

Once we hit the historic MainStrasse Village with all the outdoor dining we parked the car and wandered over to Chez Nora. An employee inside the restaurant told us we were welcome to select our own table outside, so we sat at a table right on Main Street where we could hear the music that was being played on the plaza across the street. Our server arrived before long and took our drink order. Despite not being very knowledgeable about their beer selections, he was very familiar with the food menu.

Bread Basket

After placing our orders, a basket of fresh and warm bread was dropped off. We were told that it did have pistachios in it, which was great for us, but also would probably be beneficial to anyone with a food allergy. The bread was great, and our server offered to get us a second basket, but we were trying to save room for our meals.

Dinner Salad

My entrée included a side and I chose the dinner salad, which did not cost extra. It’s always frustrating when a restaurant tries to charge extra for a side salad instead of another side dish. The mix of greens was fresh, but otherwise the salad was very standard.

Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya

For dinner I chose the chicken and sausage jambalaya ($13 with a side). It arrived before I could even finish eating my salad and was very hot! The amount of meat in the dish was excellent, as it appeared nearly an entire Andouille sausage was included in addition to a whole chicken breast. The portion was large and the chicken was very tender. Unfortunately I could have used a little more spice. A bottle of Tabasco was provided, but I would have preferred to have the heat already packed inside. With that said the flavor combination was good and I ate nearly the entire dish.

Crab Cake Appetizer

My wife went with the signature crab cake appetizer ($14) – a delicious blend of jumbo lump and claw crab meat, served with their rémoulade sauce. I don’t eat much seafood so I did not have a bite of her dish but she made several remarks to just how good the crab cakes were. The crab cake dinner is also available for $21 and includes two sides. I’m not sure if the dinner is two or more crab cakes, but my guess is two.

Overall we had a great dining experience at Chez Nora. The food was good to great, service was quick and friendly, and the outdoor tables in the neighborhood are hard to beat.