Live from Peoria, Illinois it’s Sunday Afternoon with your host, Noir and a whole bunch of special guests! Now please welcome this week’s host, from restaurant row in Peoria Heights, Noir Tapas &I Rendezvous Lounge!
Here we are on a chilly-ass Sunday in mid-April. I have a feeling we’re going to go from this to 95 degree weather. The Noir building is really an impressive building here on restaurant row in the Heights. There’s tables set up for outside dining, but that’s not going to happen in this weather. There’s a sign announcing the weekly brunch feast, let’s go in and start this Sunday afternoon at Noir!
I love how nice and dark it is in here! It’s like walking out of that rotten daylight right into nighttime! I love it! Another thing I love at Noir is the classy lit-up bar, so let’s go have a seat at it.
There’s Matt who’s tending bar today and serving up a daytime screwdriver with a smile! I’ve met Matt on other MBIP adventures and he’s a great guy and a wonderful bartender.
They have an extensive brunch menu and you can see it online by clicking here. Matt suggested the Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict and that sounded good to me so that’s what I ordered. Noir is known for their cocktails here, many of them are unique recipes you can only get here. There’s awards behind the bar and Matt said I could go back and take some photos of them.
And here they are! I was there when they won the Zoo Brew and Wine Too award and you can see that post by clicking here.
The restaurant draws its name from “film noir” and the back wall is the theatre where noir films are projected. Matt told me that Breakfast at Tiffany’s is what’s played every week during the brunch hours. I’ve never seen this movie and look, Jed Clampett’s in it! I expected Jethro to show up eating a giant bowl of cereal at any minute! Below the film is Bloody Mary bar where you can garnish your drink.
I love the dark and comforting atmosphere in here. Booths line the draped walls opposite the bar and there’s a whole wall filled with vintage cinema art and photos.
Walking around I spied some familiar faces at a booth! There’s Julie who was just on the blog last week and next to her is attorney James Kelly who we met when Julie and James were nice enough to let me eat lunch in the lunch room at James' Law Firm building. Rounding out the crew at this table are from the back: Bethany and Kyle Coffin and Julie’s brother Max. Great to see all of them in here!
Ashley was delivering a meal and was nice enough to let me take a photo of it. This is the full English breakfast offered on Sunday for brunch. it's is quite a meal and it includes the following: Sausage links, bacon, two eggs (cooked any style), homemade baked beans, mushrooms, toast and a grilled tomato. This is an authentic English breakfast, Georgie and Galen who own Noir are originally from England, so they know what they’re doing!
Meanwhile, back at the bar, it’s time for brunch to happen! Matt delivers the Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict and they look unbelievable!
Eggs Benedict usually has a slice of Canadian bacon under the egg and that version is on the menu, but this is a little twist on the classic recipe. They substitute smoked salmon for the Canadian bacon and it really takes it over the top! You can read more about it in the review below, but this was so tasty and a perfect mid-day portion of food!
As the afternoon was winding down, owner Georgie showed up and I got a picture of her with her friend Jared who I had a nice conversation with at the bar. Great to see Georgie as always and she had some exciting news, her, Galen and Raul, who’s the executive chef have opened up another restaurant! Photos and information of this are directly below!
Georgie sent me these photos and they’ve opened up a Taco-themed restaurant called, Something 2 Taco ‘Bout on Main Street in the space that used to house B Easy. You can see the items offered on the menu and like B Easy, it’s pretty much a take-away place, but Georgie said when the weather gets nicer there will be tables on the sidewalk for dining. I’ll be stopping by to sample some of the items soon! They opened up on St. Patricks Day and Georgie said that business has been great and they’re getting really nice feedback from customers. The hours are: Tuesday - Friday: 11am-2pm and then dinner from 6pm to 5am—Saturday’s and Sundays 8pm- 5am for late night! So once again there’s a place for a quick lunch or late night snack here! In the last photo are the three owners: Raul Salazar, Galen Moore, Georgie Hill.
As the afternoon was coming to an end, I met the two men who were working in the kitchen and made the wonderful Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict, Tyler and Scotty. Really nice guys and they did a fantastic job on the food. In the last photo Georgie’s with Pat Clark who is a videographer here in Peoria. You can check out his website here and he’s done lots of work in L.A. shooting and directing music videos like this one for Chanel West Coast which has over two million views on YouTube! Very impressive and his video are fantastic!
Thanks to Matt, Georgie and everyone at Noir for a fun and tasty Sunday afternoon at their weekly Sunday Brunch! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
As I mentioned earlier in the post, Noir has quite an extensive brunch menu that’s offered on Sunday’s from 10am to 2pm. There’s everything from the classic Eggs Benedict, a Noir Skillet and three types of omelettes. There’s also more unique fare offered as well including the full English Breakfast, deviled eggs, Chorizo and Egg Tacos and Avocado Toast.
I took Matt’s suggestion and tried the Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict. When he brought it out I was happy I took his suggestion because the dish looked absolutely delicious. The base is two toasted and buttered English muffins topped with poached eggs, freshly made Hollandaise sauce and it’s topped off with a generous portion of smoked salmon. The poached eggs were done perfectly and the yolk and Hollandaise sauce soaked into the English muffin for a rich and creamy taste treat. The smoked salmon added a nice savory flavor to the richness of the dish and balanced it out in such a delicious manner. I’ve never had Eggs Benedict before but I just set the bar pretty high for the next place I try them out, because I don’t think this recipe can be topped!
GG Rating
Four Galloping Gourmets—This was a perfect and tasty dish for a fun Sunday afternoon treat. If you haven’t tried the brunch at Noir, I recommend it highly!
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Noir Tapas & Rendezvous Lounge
4606 North Prospect Road
Peoria Heights
309-740-2001
facecrack page
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Related Posts: Sunday Brunch @ Childers Eatery and Publik House.
My niece Caylin got married last Saturday and it was a fantastic and fun celebration! She married Patrick Dunbar, who’s a great guy and his mom Linda is a faithful MBIP reader all the way over in Tulsa! They’re headed to Mexico on their honeymoon right now. Hopefully the spiders will leave them alone.
Congratulations to Caylin and Patrick and I wish you a lot of love and happiness through the years. Caylin’s sisters, Casie and Cara and their husband’s, Anthony and John came to Peoria for the wedding and it was wonderful to see all of them! Cheers to all of you and I hope to see you all again soon!