Noriko
After a long, stressful day at work, my favorite thing to do is to stumble into a cozy, moody bar for a drink and some good food. Not only was there a snow storm today, but I also had to deal with some especially annoying work drama which kept me at the office until nearly 7:00 p.m. The only upside to being in the loop at that hour is that there is not another Metra train to chauffer me off to Bucktown until 7:25, which is jussst enough time for me to justify taking myself out to dinner so I don’t have to wait (in this regard, the bar is extremely low). A few days ago, a friend of mine sent me an IG reel from a food influencer who had visited the recently opened, Noriko. The food sounded delicious and it was just the vibe I was looking for, so I braved the snow storm and walked over.
Noriko is hidden beneath popular Korean BBQ spot, Perilla. The space is beautifully and thoughtfully designed, from the cozy bar seats with their individual footrests, to the soft lighting integrated throughout the space, to the large mirror that spans south side of the bar, giving the illusion of a much larger space. The colors are rich and earthy and I felt right at home as I took my seat center stage. Just look at this beaut:
My own pics could never do this place justice (and were taking too long to load) so please enjoy this photo from their website in all its glory.
Without further ado, let’s dive into this meal.
THE DRINK
Although the cocktail menu was alluring, I’m still not drinking, so I opted for the Maplewood Rad Hydroz Sparkling Hop Water in Bodacious Berry Lemonade (say that five times fast). It was essentially a berry La Croix, which I wasn’t mad about, but I would have appreciated some more mocktail/NA options. The only other NA drink on the menu was a phony negroni (a growing trend it seems), but I can’t say that NA spirits really interest me. When I drink, it’s rarely because I like the taste of the tequila or whiskey I’m drinking - that’s why I mix it with so much juice and sugar. So a fake version of something that doesn’t taste great to begin with doesn’t make much sense to me, but I digress.
THE FIRST COURSE
If you know me, you know your girl loves a fusion dish, so I had to try the Nori Chips and Dip, the dip being an edamame hummus, toped with Chili Crunch and green onion. I mean, just kill me now. I didn’t know I could fantasize about a snack, but I’ll never smoke weed again and not instantly crave this hummus. This is a dish that I immediately wanted to go home and recreate and mark my words, I will try, but when I don’t make it half as well, I’ll be running back to Noriko to order it again and again.
The nori chips are fried with just the right amount of some kind of batter that makes them the perfect amount of crunchy to withstand being dipped, while still remaining light and airy. Not to mention, they’re seasoned to perfection with a salty, savory blend.
And then the hummus…when I want hummus, I want something creamy and velvety and this hummus hit every single spot. AND THEN the chili crisp??? Let’s be real, Trader Joe’s has been putting the chili crip on hummus for a minute now, but I’d buy out all the Trader Joe’s in the Chicagoland area if their chili crip hummus tasted like this. This chili crip packed just the right amount of heat and had a great, umami flavor. It’s so disappointing to get a chili crip that just tastes like spicy oil - that was definitely not this. This dish is a must order.
THE SECOND COURSE
This is the Benitoro Lox (cured king salmon belly, smoked trout roe, sour cream cheese, everything furikake, scallion). I was presented this dish by one of the chefs, who described it as their take on a lox bagel. I’ve never been a huge breakfast person, but if this dish were presented to me on a toasty, mini Thomas bagel, I’d eat breakfast every day for the rest of my life. and maybe twice on Sundays.
The salmon was so fresh and tender and was perfectly complimented by the slightly tangy, cheesy cream, crunchy everything furikake (another fusion I didn’t know I needed, but loved), and surprise element - picked red onions. IMO, There are few dishes that aren’t made better by a picked red onion and in this dish, it provided a great little crunch and vinegary bite that really tied everything together. I finished this baby up in just a few bites and would have licked the bowl clean if I could have gotten away with it.
THE HANDROLLS
To start, I know, the pictures are terrible and don’t do these rolls justice. It’s a work in progress; leave me alone.
These things were tasty little treats. There’s something about food this size that really excites me. I love trying as many things as I can when I go to a new restaurant, which is why I force anyone who eats out with me to share plates. But this is the hardest part of dining solo - I can only share with me, myself, and I. When the bites are this small, and I can order several different things, I’m a happy camper.
Noriko offers a few different pre-set handroll menus consisting of 3-5 handrolls, but a couple of the premium rolls caught my eye so I decided to order a la carte. The server suggested I order 5-6 rolls, which with the appetizers felt like a bit much, so I just chose three. In hindsight, I definitely could have put away a couple more, but I felt full enough after three so it wasn’t necessary. Each roll is about 3 bites and consists of rice, the protein of choice, and usually another unique element or two.
I picked these three:
Spicy Octopus: cucumber, garlic crunch, spicy mayo
Bay Scallop Dynamite: baked spicy scallop, masago, scallion, spicy mayo, sweet soy
Bluefin Tuna Toro: fatty tuna, pickled wasabi, seasoned soy
Honestly, I wanted to like the octopus and scallop more. The flavors of both were great, but the proteins were a bit toothy. The thing I love most about octopus and scallop are their tender texture when cooked well. Maybe that’s just not to be expected with this presentation (so don’t come for me), but I wish they were both more tender. I would have preferred raw scallop, but that’s just me. I will say that a guy next to me was raving about how the scallop roll was one of the best he’s ever had, so my opinion is obviously subjective.
That tuna tho… Toro is in my top three favorite proteins in the world, so it’s no surprise I loved this one, but wowwwww talk about melt in your mouth. This handroll was velvety, flavorful, and the perfect finish to my meal. When the chef asked how it was I answered honesty - that I could eat about a dozen more of those suckers.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Noriko is lovely. In addition to the great food, the hospitality I experienced was fantastic. Their lovely hostess squeezed me in despite my lack of a reservation, which I very much appreciated. Chef Lim, whose work station was right in front of me, was also very hospitable and continually checked in with me to make sure I was enjoying my meal and that it was paced at the right speed for me. Overall, this was a fantastic experience. I’ll definitely be back soon to try out more menu items and devour a couple servings of that hummus.
