When I was scrolling through Yelp for a new restaurant to try, the Noori Chicken franchise famous for Korean fried chicken and sauces caught my eye. For a restaurant that was only a few months old, its five-star rating was surprising, and since I had never tried Korean fried chicken before, I thought it would be a good place to start.
The first thing I noticed when I arrived at the restaurant was that it was in a desolate, lifeless area in San Jose — but perhaps coming on a Sunday morning at 11 a.m. was part of the reason. When I walked in, the restaurant had two digitized kiosks to order from instead of a cashier, which is a great touch for introverted people.
The menu offered seven different sauces with a standard pack of chicken wings, and the only vegetarian options available were fries and onion rings. I ordered the Noori Jumbo Wings (with eight pieces, four with Yum Yum sauce, and four with Hot & Spicy sauce), large Magic Fries, and a chicken fajita. The total order cost about $50 (including tax and the tip), which I thought was expensive since it only came with enough food for two or three people.
During the wait, I scanned the restaurant and noticed that there wasn’t any Korean cultural decor, and the theme was generic. With an uninsulated ceiling and wooden booths instead of cushions, it was cold and uncomfortable.
When the food arrived, the presentation was appealing if not a little messy, with sauce coating the sides of the to-go boxes it was plated in. In addition, there is a station for water and customers have to clean up the table after eating, so it isn’t a good choice for a fine-dining occasion.
I was pleasantly surprised with the perfect crisp on the chicken wings. However, they were a nightmare to eat, as I seemed to have crunched down on a different bone every time I bit into the wing, and the meat itself was sparse. Compared to the chicken wings I’ve eaten before, they were unsatisfying.
Half of the wings were coated in the Hot & Spicy sauce, which had an undertone of sweetness and a slight kick of pepper that caused a little eye-watering, but was well-balanced nonetheless; this sauce was definitely my favorite flavor. On the other hand, the Yum Yum sauce came cold, on the side, and had a thicker consistency. I didn’t enjoy it because of its slight sweetness and drastic difference in temperature from the wings.
The chicken fajita tortilla tasted somewhat undercooked, and the filling itself, made up of vegetables and chewy pieces of chicken, was slightly oversalted. Put together, the fajita resembled something that you could easily make at home and wasn’t worth ordering.
The Magic Fries were the best item I ordered, though I didn’t enjoy the “magic” part of them: a fine, sweet powder that was sprinkled on top of the fries. The savory fry flavor didn’t go well with the sweetness, and I ended up drowning the fries in ketchup to overpower it. However, the fries themselves were well-made, crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside, and I got a lot for $7.99, so I could have ordered regular fries instead.
Overall, everything was made with high-quality ingredients, but I personally did not enjoy the flavor palate or atmosphere, and I likely won’t go back.