Disappointed: Hob Nob Restaurant, West Monroe

This is a quick restaurant review.

Alana and I have been to the Hob Nob in West Monroe a few times. It was one of our favorite steak places, even if it was too pricey to do very often. It was one of our favorites. I wonder if they've gone through new owners, or if they changed chefs, because tonight's dining experience was incredibly disappointing.

Alana ordered catfish and shrimp. She left more than half of it untouched. The batter on both had a weird taste. I couldn't place it, but it seemed to be acidic, almost a vinegar taste. It made the fish and shrimp unpalatable.

I ordered a rib eye. The steak was cooked properly, but it was covered in way too much pepper. The only taste on my first bite was an intense pepper taste. I could hardly taste the meat at all.

The salad was pretty sad. It was mostly lettuce with some croutons and shredded carrots, covered in dressing. I had two halves of a baby tomato, but I didn't eat them as they had dark (black?) bits on them and didn't look the least bit appetizing.

The Diet Coke was watered down, but it's bar soda, so you have to expect that. The baked potato was good.

The juke box blared a couple of times with country music, and the lighting was really, really dim where we sat. That's the Hob Nob, though, and nothing we didn't expect.

The waitress was efficient, though she didn't ask how our food was, nor did she notice Alana had only eaten half the meal (she didn't ask how it was or if we wanted a to go box).

So, not the least bit impressed. This was a place we really liked to go to, and now with this meal we're wondering if we'll ever be back; it's unlikely. Don't know what they did to it. Maybe this was just a bad night, but the place is too expensive to take that risk lightly. No, we didn't tell the manager, as there didn't seem to be one anywhere around, just a lot of young waitresses in black t-shirts and short jean shorts. Hob Nob was never "classy" but it seems to have gone way down hill since the renovation.