Nowon East Village

Came in last week with my friends who were visiting from Florida... had to bring them to Nowon. Food is always ridiculous and the vibe is on point. I will say this time the service was extraordinary. Andrea, Sydney, and I think it was Lexy? These 3 CRUSHED it. There were 2 bday's and they had the place smackin. I'll forever be a customer here and continue to bring people here. Make sure you get a legendary burger and the chopped cheese app. Fueeeeeego. Special shout out to Andrea - she really made the experience great and gave incredible recommendations for everything.

DELICIOUS I'm usually weary of places that are labeled "viral" but Nowon serves dishes that are outstanding.A small restaurant that's perfect for any occasion.As soon as we walked in we were greeted with an extremely friendly & helpful hostess. We arrived a bit early but were seated at the bar so we could wait for our table inside. After a few short minutes we were seated at our table. We opted for their classic which is a 7 course meal of some of their most popular dishes. The whipped ricotta toast was REALLY good, followed by their broccolini which of course was delicious. The chopped cheese rice cakes were our favorite! It was packed with flavor, had a healthy amount of meat with a good hearty amount of cheese.Next was the Nowon fried chicken, this was really good. The soy garlic was not overpowering & the chicken was fried really well but it would have been nice if it were double fried just to get the extra crunch. The last pieces of the course came together. The legendary burger was as advertised, cooked well and really delicious. I really enjoyed that it was a traditional burger & not a smashed burger (that has taken over the city). Our least favorite of the entire meal unfortunately was the honey garlic tots. The tots were cooked in my opinion perfect as they really crispy & not how most places serve you soggy tots. What lacked a bit was the honey garlic butter which was just a little too oily for my liking & didn't have that much flavor. For dessert we tried the black sesame crème brûlée. We were really surprised at how good this was. Almost perfect, I would definitely get this every time I go to Nowon.

We were very excited to try Nowon after reading all the rave reviews and seeing some TikTok videos online. It was a solid experience but didn't live up to the hype we had built up for. That being said, the burger is solid but could have used more Korean flavors/more sauce - it tasted like a good regular burger to me. The rice cakes were good and the tots were really yummy. Everything was good but nothing blew our minds as we expected. I'd recommend trying once for yourself.Solid for a date night experience.

The restaurant is dimly lit, small, and the tables are close together. I thought it was cold and loud and had to lean in to hear. The service was friendly and we ordered the classic which came with the whipped ricotta toast, broccolini a la ceasar, soy garlic fried chicken, rice cakes, honey garlic butter tots, cheeseburger, and pear panna cotta. There was a lot of food, it was very filling, most of the items were unique. The panna cotta was only the only item that was just okay, with a thicker than usual texture. However, this meal the last thing I ate that day, and I woke up in the middle of the night very sick. I was very sick throughout the rest of the night and into the next day. I can't say for sure that it was from this meal, as my friend didn't get sick, but it is the only thing I ate within 12 hrs of getting sick. I've never had food poisoning before and I didn't throw up past the next day of eating this. Also, we had a reservation and I had marked that it was my friends birthday on it. When I arrived, the hostess asked me if it was my birthday or my friends. I told her and I didn't think to mention it to the server since the hostess had already asked. While we were there there were 2 other birthdays and they brought out a sparkler with a small dessert. They didn't end up bringing one for my friend, and I didn't ask. I'm sure if I asked they would've brought one, but if you are celebrating a birthday, you might want to check in with your server. Overall the food tasted good and I always enjoy a prefix experience, but I would be hesitant to eat here again.

I came here three weeks ago. I loved this place so we ordered the starting menu and I loved everything which I was given. This is my first time here so I have no other experience to compare it to. Secondly I do not go to a lot of Korean restaurants. I do go to a lot of Korean fried chicken places. First the chopped cheese rice cakes are delicious. The ricotta toast was so delicious. The broccolini Cesar salad was flavorful and fresh. I liked it because the broccolini was crunchy and with the Cesar dressing a very good dish. The chicken was also good but my friend said the other chicken was better. The burger was also really tasty and juicy. She also said the portions are smaller now than when she last came. We had one round of drinks and it was so good; they made me a rum punch and it was a nice blend of flavors. The service was great; the dishes were timed properly we did not feel rushed. The waitress was very friendly and had great engaging energy. The space is great you can do a group event or eat alone. I loved this dinner and I still think about these delicious dishes. I do want to return to try other dishes and would also like to go to their Brooklyn location to try their pizzas. I am counting the days until til we meet again.

Nowon is marketed as a hip-hop underground elevated casual vibe, but the music during the first half of our meal was subpar strip club music which was thankfully saved by hip hop legends and throwback classics in the second half. The concept of Korean American fusion isn't new, and the food fell short of expectations. Service is efficient but pretty standoff-ish. The food came out fast enough but the people around us ruined the vibe. To the right were mind numbing tech bros and to the left was a corporate finance couple trying to convince themselves that they were interesting. The menu of fusion dishes overpromised and underdelivered. The best dish was the parmesan broccolini. The soy fried chicken was good but nothing you can't get at Bonchon. The rest of the dishes tasted like standard American food with the addition of one Asian ingredient to justify the label of "fusion". For the 55pp price tag, we were expecting better execution. The best part of the meal wasn't even the food, but the soju flight and lychee infused soju which is fairly priced compared to prices for alcohol in the rest of the city.Even though we left full and partially buzzed, we would've preferred getting a burger from 7th street and bar hop from there. Better experience without the pretension and price tag.

FOOD: 5/5The food is TO DIE FOR here, and that's what really matters! They have an extensive menu of Korean-American fusion fare that's beloved, but we came specifically for their multi-course set tasting menu. There's an option to choose between the 5 course and 7 course tasting option, and of course we went with the 7. You need to have your whole party/table participate to do it, and they split the fare into groups of 2 - perfect for date night or a table alike. 7 courses: $52ppWe had:Whipped ricotta toastCharred broccolini a la CaesarNowon fried chickenChopped cheese rice cakesHoney garlic butter totslegendary cheeseburgerchef's choice dessert (black sesame creme brulee)Everything was UNREAL. Like truly magical flavors one of the best meals I've had in a while. The burger deserves all the love it gets.So, why isn't my rating 5 stars?SERVICE & AMBIANCE: 3.5/5The service experience here is not great. From the moment we stepped in, we felt rushed. Rushed to our table, rushed to order, and the 7 courses came out at breakneck speed. I can't remember if there was a time constraint on the reservation, but either way, we felt like we were being pushed out within an hour. Various different servers came out with our courses, sometimes more than one course at once. This just made what should be an enjoyable, timed coursed meal into a race. They are SO busy and popular which is amazing, but the tables are so crowded that you're basically sharing tables with everyone next to you. It's still worth it to eat their food, but man it really affects the ambiance and experience I think they're trying to create.

We decided to stop by on a Tuesday night... Maybe that was our mistake?? I don't know, nowon lovers, you tell me. The staff was sweet and attentive; and I loved the y2k throwback playlist. But the food was terribly disappointing. The smash burger was chewy and overcooked. If you were blindfolded, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this and the rice cake. The bun was terribly dry and thick, and had way too many sesame seeds. This legendary burger was way too salty and too saucy. Tbh if you throw in some kimchi onto a big Mac burger, your taste buds would be much more appreciative. Nowon should get this burger! Stay away-- thr worst smash burger I've ever had, period. The rice cakes were pretty good tho. The ratio was off -- needed more rice cakes. Much thanks to the bartender for recommending this dish!

If possible, make a reservation instead of walking in! Favorite items to order:Whipped Ricotta toast Extraordinary Tots (both honey garlic butter and curry are good) Jae's chicken bunSmoked truffle burger Things I've tried that are good but nothing extraordinary:Chopped cheese rice cakes Nowon Fried Chicken Legendary Cheeseburger

Nowon is an absolute gem of a place and I come here for two reasons - their legendary burger and chopped cheese rice cakes. Their burger lives up to the hype so 100% would recommend ordering this. Their rice cakes are a sleeper hit and should be talked about more, so don't miss out on these either. For dessert, I recently tried their black sesame crème brûlée and it was *divine*!This spot gets pretty busy so try to snag a reservation if you can. Service is fast and friendly. And for my gluten-free folks, Nowon is a great choice! They have GF buns, some GF apps, and their wok dishes are all GF - so you'll have plenty of options. Highly recommend!!