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Those whom have been following us for some time back might have recalled seeing a post on Nomad Bakehouse not too long ago that is situated at Depot Heights Shopping Centre — while the opening of a bakery created much hype for them in its earlier days, it does seem that these folks had recently settled for a change of concept in recent times. Still located at the same premises as it was recently, Nomad Bakehouse has since revamped their concept is now known as Nomad. Turns out, it does seem that these folks are formerly known as GASTRONÔMAD at some point of time a number of years ago — they were operating out of a space at Thomson V Two for a short period of time, being a halal restaurant that serves up modern fusion cuisine. There hadn’t been too much of a change in how their space at Depot Heights Shopping Centre has been decked — still occupying the same half a unit that they were operating from when they were Nomad Bakehouse, dine-in seating comprising of a limited number of dining tables and chairs are available outside of the space. With the change of concept, Nomad now serves up pastas, salads and pizzas — the only dessert item on the menu would be the Tiramisu, while the beverages that Nomad offers includes a variety of teas and espresso-based specialty coffee; jus to name a few.
It is interesting to note that Nomad does provide its patrons with a whole lot of flexibility with the pasta, salad and pizza offerings that they have to offer — patrons whom are looking for a fuss-free experience may opt for the pre-determined options that are listed on the menu; that being said, there is always the option for DIY where one can choose their desired types of pasta, sauces and toppings to their fancy. The Grandma’s Meatball Spaghetti Pasta is one of those pasta items which Nomad lists as a pasta with pre-determined elements; one which is described to come with Spaghetti, Chicken Meatball, Cherry Tomato and Spicy Marinara on the online ordering website of Nomad. Coming with spaghetti that had been tossed in Spicy Marinara sauce, the Marinara sauce here comes infused with chili padi seeds that provide a bit of a tingle to the tastebuds — just the right amount of spice to provide some level of a heat without causing a raging fire to the tastebuds. The sauce also carried a pretty well-rounded tangy note from the tomatoes that went into the making of the sauce; the spaghetti being coated with sufficient sauce for flavour whilst being done to an al-dente texture as well that gave it a good bite. The chicken meatballs were absolutely on point; seemingly pan-fried, we liked how the chicken meatballs came with slight hint of seasoning that would see them pair particularly well with Aglio Olio pasta — it also came with a slightly crusted exterior from the pan-frying process, whilst being absolutely tender to chew through as well. The Gnocchi Bolognese in the meanwhile comes with elements such as potato gnocchi and slow cooked beef; coming with a bolognese sauce, we liked how tangy the tomato-infused sauce was in the Gnocchi Bolognese — the addition of beef provided a bit more depth in the flavours of the sauce as compared to the Spicy Marinara that was featured in the Grandma’s Meatball Spaghetti Pasta. We liked how the beef here wasn’t too gamey, and worked well with the potato gnocchi that provides a little bite and chew — a pasta dish that was all about a contrast of textures and flavours that we enjoyed.
The Tiramisu served up at Nomad is one that is non-alcoholic considering how Nomad is a Muslim-owned establishment; coming with coffee-soaked sponge layers and cream cheese, this was surprisingly not too sweet — we also liked how the coffee-soaked sponge came absorbing all of that coffee, though we did find that it would probably came with a little bit more oomph if there was more body in the coffee used here. It is a little bit of a shame that Nomad had did away with the Nomad Bakehouse concept — after all, it does seem that artisanal breads and Viennoiseries is pretty much all the rage these days and the trend for such bakeshop / bakehouses are not going away any time soon as well. That being said, we do understand that it is hard work to churn out the sort of variety of danishes, breads and other bakes that they have to offer previously, and that falling back to pasta, salad and pizza is likely something more manageable for these folks given this was something that they had done previously as well. Having only tried their pasta offerings, we do feel that these folks do know what they are doing — their pasta offerings being able to match up against that of what some cafes serve up. It does remain a question if Nomad’s current concept is one that is viable within the environment that it operates in especially since there are also other establishments around its vicinity that provides similar cuisines with a better dine-in environment. That being said, we do hope that things to work out for them in the long run.
