Lots of Tapas at Novo Lounge

Dann and I actually went to Novo Lounge when it first launched, taking our children with us. We ended up having a bit of a chaotic time, particularly due to some picky eaters who weren’t really sure what they were ordering before it arrived. We’ve been back a few times to grab drinks during their happy hour, but decided to try them out again for dinner, with a friend of ours, after an evening of playing Pokemon Go. Novo Lounge has a lot of community activities going on; drag bingo, board game nights, and on this particular night there was salsa practice happening! It’s great to see a venue become such a staple in the community and fun that they run so many events.

Strawberry Sling, Mango & Passion Fruit Daiquiri & Long Island Iced Tea

It was happy hour when we arrived at Novo Lounge, so I had a strawberry sling, which is very fruity and cool, great strawberry taste and a passion fruit daiquiri, which is frozen and blended. This one tasted a lot of mango was very refreshing. Dann got a Long Island iced tea, which he enjoyed (seems to be his go-to at the moment). Our friend Rob who was also there with us got a fun fruity drink too, which he enjoyed. We do go to Novo Lounge just for the happy hour, as previously mentioned, as they have a good selection of fruity, fun drinks that don’t cost too much.

Tapas Boards

As Dann and I often split food, we went with the Tapas Board so that we could each pick three little dishes to try. This sort of board system does take up a lot of space, but there are tons of options for it, which is fun. The food, generally, at Novo Lounge is a mix of things from chicken wings to edamame guacamole to burgers. We ended up getting hummus which came with a bit of bread (though we did need to purchase additional bread due to how much hummus there was). The hummus itself was very creamy and we both enjoyed the toppings, especially the red pepper. The next item is bang bang cauliflower, which isn’t like any other bang bang dish we’ve had. It was covered in mayo and chilli ketchup, but overall wasn’t very spicy at all. The batter was crispy though! We also got potatoes bravas, which is fried potato chunks with a sort of tomato sauce and garlic mayo. The mayo was fantastic, though the potatoes could have been fried for longer.

Our other board options at Novo Lounge were some garlic and parmesan chicken wings, which were absolutely delicious. I really liked how crispy these were, they were breaded, and there was tons of garlic and parmesan flavor in them. I am craving them just thinking about them! We got the aubergine parmigiana, which was very saucy! The aubergine could have been cooked longer for me, and the dish came out room temperature at best, which was a bit disappointing. Lastly, we got the spicy beef quesadilla which was absolutely packed with beef. Like the bang bang cauliflower, it wasn’t very spicy, but the flavor was good overall.

Rob got a Burger

Rob got a really packed full of toppings burger, which came with fries and coleslaw. He said that the coleslaw was pretty good and enjoyed his burger too. The amount of toppings on it seems impressive and his fries looked very well cooked. I cannot comment much on his food, but he seemed happy and satisfied with it!

Novo Lounge always feels like a “posh Witherspoon’s” with a menu that has a lot of agreeable foods that are done in a more fancy manor. Each time I have eaten food here, I have found dishes I loved and dishes that missed the mark a bit. I do quite like how local the Novo Lounge feels, with it’s Harlow themed mural. The inside is quite eclectic in decoration and I do enjoy how unique the place feels.

Check out some of our other restaurant reviews!