XO Kitchen — Restaurant in Norwich

You probably already know this, but when you arrive somewhere expecting the best and go away feeling you've had nothing approaching it you feel doubly disappointed.

Honestly, we thought we were in for a proper treat when we had the pork toast as a starter - it truly was something special!

That being said, we got an order of the Korean fried chicken that we had been reassured was a signature dish at XO kitchen and order a special of Japanese meatballs. Sad to say both dishes fell way short of expectation.

The Korean fried chicken was soggy - as if it had been saturated in sauce - which gave it quite a clammy, slimy texture. It didn't come with chips but instead was crowned with a mountain of needless inedible frizz that just served to get in the way and clutter up the little table.

The Japanese meatball special was one of the most disappointing dishes I have ever tried. It looked like something you'd find in a farmyard that needed shovelling up and it was served on a piece of bland white bread with the crust cut off. What I dared to try of it was dense and intensely chewy. This was 3am homemade student food and not something you'd ever expect from a professional kitchen.

Service was wildly variable. It was extraordinarily busy when we arrived but we did have to continually look around and eventually start waving at staff to get attention after there didn't seem much of a better way to catch their eye. Without wanting to sound too mean, it seemed that some staff were welcoming and others would rather we were not there.

I'd say that XO kitchen was a staggering miss on this occasion, and for the money we spent I'd say it was very disappointing overall.

However, I'd also like to acknowledge that it's a restaurant that takes risks with its menu and embraces creativity and in the creative quarter of Norwich, this is not necessarily a bad thing. It is important that chefs express themselves, challenge status quos and keep ideas fresh for the demanding palate of casual diners in the 21st century.

Still think someone should have noticed that the Japanese meatballs looked like duck...

XO Kitchen-

Okay, in advance, I want to give a disclaimer that I’m sure this was a one off experience and that the staff looked like they were doing their absolute best all night!

We made a booking around the 2nd February for Saturday the 5th at 9pm because it was supposed to be busy earlier on. It was my fancy birthday dinner with my partner and I was so excited to try the food that I’ve seen on Instagram!

We arrive and a staff member looks at us like we’ve burst in with no warning. The place was rammed and overbooked. We were seated at the front of the restaurant where people would usually take drinks before their meal. The person who I assume was the manager rushed over after about fifteen minutes and apologised and said someone had overbooked the place and that we should come back on a Tuesday if we wanted a better experience. She was very sweet and obviously very stressed so this is no slight on her but it was quite ridiculous.

Food and drink orders were taken after a while. It was disappointing as the specials board came down in this time and the thing I wanted to order was all out. Drinks took around twenty minutes to arrive, my partners rum and coke coming relatively quickly but my espresso martini took a good while. Then my partner’s food came after another twenty minutes , alongside the sides.

My food took around a further twenty minutes to arrive whilst my partner’s became cold. The manager came over and apologised and gave us a free round of drinks, which I certainly appreciated. Apparently my dinner had been given to another table and had ‘gone missing’ and then I’d kind of been forgotten about. But I was really quite hungry.

My food finally arrived and we thoroughly enjoyed the dinner! The food is honestly amazing. I’m just not entirely happy with how the situation was managed with the overbooking and how it was very slightly suggested that it was our fault for coming on a busy Saturday.

So overall, come here for the food but maybe be prepared to be quite patient and maybe eat beforehand (especially if you’re getting...

This is a great little restaurant for sharing with a group of friends. However, the place is very small and right, tables are grouped very close together.

The ordering system is slightly unusual, they take orders based on sit down time.

We arrived and were ready to order, but had to wait around 20 - 25 minutes for our order to be taken because there were other tables who had sat down ahead of us who hadn’t ordered yet. The food service is also quite slow which explains the slow ordering system they’ve put in place to help keep the kitchen manageable.

All the dishes were beautifully presented. However the food is hit and miss. If they spent as much time working on the flavours as they do the presentation, this could be award winning!

Whipped tofu was absolutely amazing. Very rich, creamy and delicious. This is a must try dish.

Cheeseburger wontons is fusion food gone completely wrong. The combination just doesn’t work. Wontons we’re over fried and very dark in colour, avoid this one.

Prawn tacos were okay, it’s worth trying but I wouldn’t get it again.

Roasted pork was very tender. Deep flavours and big portion size.

The Korean fried chicken is overhyped. It’s definitely not authentic flavours where you would expect that classic gochujang spicy sauce. This is a very westernised take on Korean fried chicken. Cool presentation though!

Duck fried rice was on the specials, it was okay, but nothing special.

These guys take a very liberal approach to the fusion concept and present very westernised versions of classic Asian cuisine.

The whipped tofu is definitely the star of the show, if you’re coming here that’s one dish...